Blotchy Stain on Hardwood Floors

[Awarner]

We just purchased a 1920's home and have hired someone to refinish the floors prior to moving in. I have attached a photo of the results from staining the fir floors in two rooms, this is pretty typical for all rooms with fir.

I feel the stain is blotchy and uneven. Has the contractor made an error? Should I ask him to start over or is this typical for older floors? I guess I would like to know if I am being overly ctitical?

Move in day is only 3 days away. Also, the lighting is different in each room which makes the color seem off in the photos.

[Awarner]

Lester,

I appreciate your response.

After seeing the floors I have done some research and now realize staining fir is not straight forward. I would have expected the floor contractor to either voice concern at the start, know how to stain this wood properly, or at least ask for my approval once the blotchy stain was laid.

In your opinion would I be off base to ask for the floors to be redone? 

 

[gee-dub]

I'm not Lester but, fortunately almost everyone on here has an opinion ;-)

Once upon a time the customer was always right.  When it comes to trade skills today, I am happy if I can just get someone to do the job well enough that it is not too much trouble to finish up for them.

In my opinion, someone offering to perform a job should know how to do that job.  The person doing the floors should be familiar with different materials and how they should be handled.  Having failed to have that knowledge or the reason for choosing to not discuss the expected result with you are things that we may never know or understand ;-)

I would think about what portions of the floor are going to be exposed as expanses of open area.  Patches of floor that appear in traffic paths or between sofa and coffee table are not going to be as obvious as an open prairie of blotchy surface.  If you can live with it I would be tempted to move on and remember to warn others if they ask "who did you floors?".

You are caught at that awkward impasse of having the guy who "did it wrong" try and "fix it".  If you ask about the blotch and he tries to discount it or act like "fir just does that", you really don't want him trying to "fix it" anyway.  If he gives you an intelligent response you can proceed from there as you see fit.