I made a "miscalculation" on a new toilet and have an area that I need to fix. Original floors unstained (I think) oak. 8 years ago I had them stained darker. I picked the color and bought some touch up stain- Minwax English Chestnut. I am 95% sure that is the color.

I sanded multiple times with different grits and applied 3 coats. It is not close to the original stain.

Any ideas? Can it being 8 years old (the can I have) matter? The room is a powder room with no windows so there shouldn't be much fading of the original color.

2nd pic is of how it was and 3rd is after 3 coats (around 6 hours apart).

Bonus question: How do I determine of the sheen of the sealer?

 

Stains works by being absorbed by the wood. Since one application seals the wood, multiple coats are a waste of time. That floor looks a lot darker than a chestnut stain to me.

 

First, wood ages so darker wood will lighten and that could effect how the stain would match but my advice would be to get some different stains and test them on some samples of wood, hopefully even the flooring itself, rather than going directly to the flooring itself. It might take several trials of different combinations of statins to get something closer but it's probably not going to be perfect match at best.

 

I would assume the floor was originally finished prior to the commode being installed. That would mean you are trying to apply stain over poly and the wood won't absorb the stain. While not rated for floors I'd try painting it with a tinted poly like Minwax PolyShades. Just be sure to only apply it to the light areas.

 

Any poly that was there was sanded off. The lighter area was a good 1/16th of an inch higher since the dark part was sanded before darkening.

I'll have to pick up some different colors and experiment on some scrap wood.

 

Be sure you stir the stain, all the dark solids are on the bottom. As for sheen, gloss is very glossy, comparable to seeing your reflection in a mirror. Semi gloss is a little less, but still pretty glossy. Matte is just slightly glossy, you won't get a mirror reflection off it, it's more of a fuzzy diffuse reflection. Hard to judge but you only have 3 choices. Either way you should probably give the whole bathroom a couple fresh coats once you repair and seal the area you're working on.

 

I stirred it well. Could the color have changed being stored in my garage for 8 years? It is an unheated, attached garage that doesn't freeze, but has big temp swings (maybe from 35 in the winter to 95 in the summer).

Another question....could I have the right named stain and not the right base (oil vs. water)? Are they different shades?

 

The only way the stain in the can can be lighter is if either there are dry or unmixed solids at the bottom of the can or if thinner was added.

When your floor was refinished 8 yrs ago they would have sanded first. What was underneath the commode didn't get sanded. I believe that is where the issue lies.

 

I sanded it. I took a good 1/16th of an inch off.

 

You might get it close by trying several different stains, but matching an old floor is almost impossible.