desperately in need of help (restained floor colour matching

[jasmine80]

hi, carpenter has just sanded and stained our prestained oak flooring but did not match the original colour . he used cuprinol trade wood preserver dark oak.
is this even the correct stain to use? do i need to get some one to re san and re stain? thanks very much

 

[WoodYouLike]

He sanded the wood bare, exposing "new wood" and removing the old "matured" patina of your floor. Your re-finished floor has to mature all over again to start resembling the old colour (which, when pristine new, would have been different too).

If he used the correct stain is hard to tell for anyone here, not having seen the old colour, nor the new colour of your wooden floor.

 

[tall_tone]

Getting an exact match to an original colour is almost impossible. I note from the instructions on Cuprinols site that you can apply multiple coats. If the colour you need to match is darker, you may find a second or third coat brings you closer. If you are already too dark it's back to the sander.

As Wood You Like mentions, these stains mature and change over time. It is possible that the two colours will become closer over time?

TT

 

[jasmine80]

Thank you both for your replys. I feel a lot better about it now. He did sand it fully down to the original oak.We will see what it looks like after the second coat.

Thank you for the great advice.

 

[mac391]

Looked on the cuprinol website and it says it's a "horticultural/structural wood preserver" ??

Sounds like something you'd put on a barn or fence to me !! And it's solvent based...

I'd check it out more thoroughly before going ahead with another coat.

 

[jasmine80]

is solvent based bad? its just that i have an 8 month old with health complications (brain haemorrage and seizures) and dont really want to expose him to anything dodgy. thanks

 

[mac391]

You need to contact your fitter straight away. Only you know what your son's health problems are. Ask your fitter for the exact substance he used and go from there..

 

[jasmine80]

well its all gone a bit tits up to be honest. the wooden floorboards they laid where the chimney breast was are now cupping and coming away from the concrete floor and they are saying its because we put the heating on too high ( which they told us to do as the varnish they put on top of the stain hadnt dried after 6 days ! so relations are not pleasant at the moment but i have the tin of varnish they used so will ring technical advice to check whether its harmful. thanks x

 

[mac391]

Hi jasmine,
Just so i understand what you've had done, am i right that you had the chimney breast removed and some replacemnt oak put in it's place? and it's that part they couldn't match up with the colour?

i know exactly why your boards have cupped and why the varnish took 6 days to dry which i'll tell you later. In the meantime, we need to know what varnish/preserver is on that floor ???

I've just had another look at the cuprinol website, it's actually made by ICI paints www.icipaints.co.uk There are 2 types of wood preserver, "cuprinol exterior wood preserver" and wood preserver clear, however, i can't find the dark oak that you mentioned but both are solvent based and the PDF files make for quite scary reading.

Still, i might just be looking at the wrong product. If you can tell me exactly "word for word" what it says on the tin i can have another look. I wouldn't panic just yet until we know the exact product used.

You could always try the link above and see if you can find it yourself and let me know.

Some solvent based products are still used for interior use but you can't sand them in the usual way, it's a health hazard and gives off harmful fumes. Ring them if you can but it's bank holiday !!

 

[tall_tone]

http://www.woodcaredirect.co.uk/pdfs/Cuprinol Light OakDark Oak Wood Preserver.pdf

Although it's not from the Cuprinol web site direct, it seems to be the right data sheet given the description you gave for the product.

It does say that the product can be varnished, but it also says "drying time 2-5 days" and "Treated wood should be allowed to dry for 6-8 weeks before laying certain types of floor covering"

For wood stains it is difficult (in my opinion) to beat Morells
http://www.morrells.co.uk/products/wood/12
Their waterbased lacquer may be fairly poor, but the stains are some of the best in the industry, and I know they can be overcoated the next day.

mac391. I think I know exactly what your going to say...

 

[mac391]

Good one tall tone,
I think you might have the right product, i searched all over ICI for it. It doesn't sound quite like what i found but still, it is a solvent based wood preserver on new oak boards ??? in a lounge room. Why??

I can only assume it was used because the concrete base the floor was fitted to was damp or new (really damp)

 

[jasmine80]

hi guys thanks so much for your responses!! yes the chimney breast was removed and new oak flooring out down in the gap. we originally (2 years ago) had laid pre stained oak floor so when they put new oak to fill the gap they sanded the whole floor - new and old wood , then they put 2 layers of cuprinol trade wood preserver in dark oak. then they put 1 layer of ronseal ultra tough matt clear varnish. am so worried about this , it looks terrible but more worried about the little one crawling all over it. is any one able to recommend anyone in the st albans/hertfordshire area we could get to fix it? i realise itll be expensive to fix

thanks again for all your help

 

[tall_tone]

The solvents from the product will evaporate fairly quickly, when dry (3-5 days) they should have applied the Ronseal. Given another 7 days and the product should be dry.

It may look terrible, but it should be dry and now safe to let the little one across it. If the cupping is too severe or the boards are loose, it may be not be.

Depending upon how the wood is cupping, depends upon where the moisture or drying effect is coming from.
If the edges of the boards are coming up, the upper surface has shrunk or the bottom part has expanded. This effect is most likely caused by moisture under the board, although it can be caused by drying the surface (the room) excessively (Installing an Aga cooker or something like that)

When the middle of the board comes up, that indicates the surface of the board has expanded or the bottom has shrunk. Too much moisture on the surface, or too dry underneath (under floor heating)

If the boards are dried out very quickly when placed into the adhesive, this can cause problems with the adhesive aswell.

TT

 

[jasmine80]

forgot to say the concrete floor had had self levelling stuff put on the week before as the floor was not level where the chimney breast had been. new oak was also laid upstairs on top of old floorboards where the chimney breast came out.

 

[mac391]

Hi jasmine

Yes TT is right that when dry the preserver is harmless. It's when it is being applied or sanded that it can be harmful.

Still, i've never heard of this being used on internal finished oak flooring, it is used as a preserver aginst rot and decay of fence posts, joists etc.

I would call ICI 08702 421 100 and ask their opinion first. It can be used indoors but unprotected (no mask) people should stay away from treated areas for 48hrs.

There should also have been a DPM (damp proof membrane) placed on the concrete where the chimney breast was, this is why your boards are cupping. Your joiner should have known about this and a levelling screed alone is not enough.

I understand you want it repairing but I would get advice not only from ICI but another opinion aswell. You could try your local council health & safety officer. Sorry i don't know anyone round your area but if i was called by you to fix this, the first thing i'd do is call health & safety.

Good luck