Dark Hardwood Floors:
Think of dark hardwood floors like having a brand new black truck. The black truck will always look better than any other vehicle when it is clean. However, that black truck will need washed again in a few days. The same goes for your dark hardwood floors! Your hardwood floors will look absolutely amazing when they are clean. That’s the best part of having dark hardwood floors. On the flip side, you will just have to clean them more often than light hardwood floors.
Designer Rule-Of-Thumb
Dark hardwood floor color = light wall paint color
Light hardwood floor color = dark wall paint color
How do I choose the correct dark stain?
Most floor contractors will put down some color samples on your floor. This process typically takes about an hour. The floor contractor will tape off an area of the floor that has plenty of natural light. If you are requesting a dark stain consultation then expect to see 5-10 color variations.
Contractor Rule-Of-Thumb – If the contractor is not getting the color dark enough for your taste, then ask them to water-pop the sample area and reapply the stain. This process will open the grains and allow the stain to get a deeper and darker penetration. This process is illustrated below with the two samples on the bottom right. They are both the same color.
Sometimes you have to go dark!
In some cases, your contractor will sand the entire floor and find out that there are (pee stains, burns, or other imperfections) that will not come out. You now have two options. One, pay extra money to have each board replaced. This will cost up to $100 per board replacement. Your second option, which is the most cost effective way, is to camouflage the imperfections by staining the hardwood floors dark. Typically, rough hardwood floors that look like the picture below, tend to go dark. Most of the time, you will not even notice the imperfections after staining dark.
Cleaning dark hardwoods
Dark hardwood floors will get dirty fast! Don’t let that steer you away from choosing a dark stain color. Most cleaning kits come with a dry tack and a wet tack cloth. You must use the dry tack cloth daily! This will keep the dust off the floor. The dust is what causes scratches and the dry tack will be used mostly. The wet tack should be used once per month or right before you have company over. Make sure to always have forward motion while cleaning. Never back track or you will loose all the dirt from the cleaning cloths.
