We just had our 2 1/4" red oak floors refinished and stained a medium brown. There are what I would call "splotches" on many of the boards. See the photos for examples. I'm wondering if this is just how the oak takes the stain, or if this was something related to the prep or staining of the floors? They were water-popped. Thanks.

I've circled some of the blotches in red, but there are lots in the photos:


Another example (the floor looks washed out because of the camera lighting)

Those areas are completely normal. It appears that your contractor did a good job sanding and staining. All species of wood will have those splotches where the grain is either denser or softer than the surrounding wood.

Maple and Pine are notorious for showing these splotches much more which is why most contractors avoid staining those species. Maple flooring would have those splotches everywhere under normal staining procedures.

Getting back to your floor , if your contractor had done a bad job, those splotches would reach across multiple boards rather than be isolated to one board at a time.There's no way to be sloppy like that and have the splotch exactly within one board at a time unless it were something like foot prints.

natural variations of wood texture and grain result in what you seeing. not really a defect more a personality defect if anything.

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

Here's another picture I had, more of the same thing. Now that you mention it, the upper right corner almost looks like a footprint. I doubt it really is, but I'll go take another look in person. Thanks again for the help.