Can you stain maple hardwood floors?
The cons of maple flooring Discolours over time – As with any solid wood, with constant exposure to light it will yellow over time. If there is one specific part of the floor that will be exposed to direct sunlight from a window it will discolour faster than other parts of the floor leading to a two tone effect.
Yes, gray! It’s an up and coming trend. As background, it’s easy to get the gray color in pre-finished maple or birch floors. Because these woods are closed pored, they absorb the stains differently and some of the darker brown stains turn gray on maple and birch (see picture to the right).
The best solution for the do-it-yourself finisher is to avoid using stains on the problem woods and use a Wood Dye instead. Because maple has such tight grain, pigment type stains don’t soak into the wood, except where there is a spot with more open grain. Try using dyes, such as TransTint or Transfast.
What is the best way to stain maple?
Contractor: No, maple doesn’t take stain well. Contractors are at a disadvantage when refinishing wood floors on site, because they cannot replicate the unique processes used in factory finishing in the field.
