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Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor?

6/11/18       
Eric Anderson Member

Website: http://eahandmade.com

Looking for some advice here:

I'm a finish carpenter with a decent amount of wood finishing experience, only a modest amount of floor finishing experience.

I laid a new red oak floor down next to (what I know now is) an original white oak floor in my house. I did a lot of samples and settled on a golden oak Dura Seal stain for a close enough match. I finished with Bona HD Traffic, matte (water based 2 part epoxy).

After a year I am really regretting the color. By itself it's perfectly nice. Where it meets the white oak you can really notice a difference. Very pronounced orange and red tones in the red oak.

Stripping down to bare wood again is not an option for reasons I will not go into.

I would like to tint the existing tone with either a violet/gray or a green/gray to neutralize the oranges. At this point I know I will never match the original white oak. I just want something that's not so offensive. If it's can end up a gray/brown that would be ideal.

Here is my idea and I would like some input on whether or not you think it will work:

1. Screen the Bona matte topcoat

2. Put one or two very thin coats of water-based tint, once I work out what color balance will do the trick. For this I figured I would use minwax water-based wood stain, though I guess it could even be paint for this purpose.

3. Top coat that tint with another two coats of Bona Traffic.

My thinking is that I just need the tint to stick to the abraded original topcoat, and for the new topcoat to stick to that.

I know that water based stain on a large area will be difficult to avoid lap marks, but I'm hoping if I keep it very dilute I can make it pretty even over the course of a few coats.

i know that it's possible to tint the topcoat itself, though I don't know if it's doable with the 2-part stuff I'm using. Also I feel like I might have more control over the tinting if that's done separately from the topcoat.

Is there a potential problem in having a solid wood floor with what would ultimately be 4-5 coats of an epoxy coating? Is this too thick? Would this crack as boards move?

Would I have serious adhesion problems?

Could the final result end up murky?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts or suggestions. I know this is not the proper way to go about finishing a floor. I would like to know if I can salvage what I have. What I'm concerned about most is durability because worn areas will be super noticeable with two different color layers.

Thanks very much.

6/11/18       #3: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Leo G Member

It's doable. Stay away from MinWax anything. Use the proper colorants. You should be able to find a paint store that will have them. Sherwin Williams comes to mind.

6/11/18       #4: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
nick Member

I looked at the product data sheet, no mention of a film thickness limitation.
Just in case you haven't thought of it; make some samples that match your floor and play with those to get the color you want instead of the floor.
I agree with Leo just get some UTC's from your local paint store to make your shader...green, black & white is where I would start. Also get some plastic quart mixing cups and mix the colors in some 50/50 thinned finish or better yet get some single component material to get your color right before moving on to the 2 component material.

6/11/18       #5: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
rich c.

Sounds like a disaster to me. I've used green toned dye to kill red, applied directly to the raw wood. Orange dye to walnut to make it look aged. But applying on top of clear is just going to look like paint. It's not going to kill any color in the wood, since it won't be on the wood. Don't do it. Just wait until you are ready to refinish all the floors. Surprised you didn't notice the porosity in the grain of the red oak compared to the white before you laid it down.

6/11/18       #6: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Leo G Member

I've added green dye to kill red after the first coat has been applied. That's the way it's done. You need to use dye, not pigments. It needs to be diluted and thin so you don't over do it. And you will need to put a full coat of clear on top to protect it.

6/12/18       #7: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Brian Member

Do not use "UTC's" unless you want to deal with a slow drying, soft coating film for 3-4 months. Get yourself some dyes (Lockwood for waterbased) and mix up a bit and put it on a clean piece of glass, then lay it across the floor so you can see the color change before you make any serious changes.

6/12/18       #8: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Mark B Member

We have not used them in Bona but we have used Transtint dye a ton to tone after a first coat of finish. The main issue you will want to pay attention to with dye's is whether they are color fast especially in the sun. They are powerful and transparent so I'd think they may be a better option to retain clarity in the finish. Just our experience.

6/15/18       #9: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Dustin Member

Website: http://www.rhodeshardwoodflooring.com

Yes you can do this. Just do a lot of tests first. Make samples with scrap wood and use the exact finish/process that's on your floor on the samples. I would suggest tinting a universal sealer (aka dewaxed shellac) and doing light coats of it until you dial in the exact tone that you want. Universal sealer seems much better with lap lines than tinting waterbased finish. Another possible option is a product called Bona Nordic Seal. It's a sealer with a bit of white in it. It works great for killing red and golden tones. Hope this helps.

6/15/18       #10: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
TimG

I don't think any amount of tweaking will ever make red oak look like white. Try a sample, it may improve it some.

6/15/18       #11: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Leo G Member

You aren't trying to make white and red oak look the same. You are trying to match the colors to each other so it doesn't look so obvious. If the colors were the same it won't stick out, and you won't even notice the two different woods.

6/15/18       #12: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Shawn Turner  Member

Website: http://specializedfinishes.com

you sure can, sort of, I would just nudge it with a hue change. Using a super thin stain in between coats like this...

I would Clean the subject thoroughly with a scothchbrite green scrubbie and blue concentrate Dawn. Rinse well and allow to dry over night before sanding with purple 3M 180 or 220 if you can find some. Do not use garnet or open coat paper it will just pack out your paper resulting in an uneven sand. Vacuum dust.

Use Saman water based stain with XIM reducer and water mix. There is your water based stain, the Saman stain is very powerful. I use it as a tinting agent, it has several colors and primaries also.

Apply in any uniform fashion. Just make sure you make the stain strong enough so when you wipe it off it leaves a hue change.

Take a Yellow green color similar to raw sienna and make it very thin. This will cancel out that red so try just a little. Green and red are not friends. Try to apply on the clean sanded surface.

You can clean it off with soapy water if is wrong.

DO NOT!! Allow any puddling or even try to use as a glaze. If it is left on too thick your finish coat's adhesion abilities will be compromised.

Let stand for desired effect. Wipe off completely.

Let dry for a solid 24 hours of you are going to apply finish with a pad or brush.

You will see fogging more so if you do not allow the stain to dry. You can even sand it before finish with a clean brown paper grocery bag, remove dust and tada!!!

I finish homes in Aspen Colorado. Only High end, I have worked here for 21 years. I do not use any solvent based coatings on interior finishes

Sometimes the UBER rich people will demand oils for their ability to actually pronounce the character of woods.

I charge them triple, if they want it I will take my time and be safe and breathe easy.

Please do not tell anyone my secrets

Saman Stain Site

6/15/18       #13: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
rich c.

Leo G., the general public won't know the difference, but a woodworker should be able to spot the difference between white and red oak from the front door. If they filled the pores of the red oak it will be more difficult, but that's a remote possibility these days!

6/15/18       #14: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Leo G Member

Agreed. But most of us aren't woodworkers. And all you need to do is make the rest of the world not notice it.

6/15/18       #15: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Pete Anderson  Member

Website: petesfloors.wordpress.com

Area rugs are your friend!

6/18/18       #16: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Pat

Applying stain to anything other than bare wood sounds like a disaster to me. The "normal" way to do this is to tint your topcoats with an appropriate colorant and tone the wood until you reach your desired color. I'd reach out to Bona or your finish supplier before doing anything.

Cheers,
Pat

6/23/18       #18: Can I tint/topcoat a finished floor ...
Sean Jackson

...the main thing with adding green to red is how quick denseness of the colour accelerates, this can frequently trip up in matching jobs etc. Just another thought.


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