Desperately need help: Woodstain over old Varnish won't dry!

[Mike]

13 years ago the floor was stained with a standard woodstain then varnished with Rustin's Clear Acrylic Gloss Floor Coating; All was well.

About three years later the floor was recovered with Blackfriars Polyurethane Stained Varnish. The varnish took about a week to dry; apparently, the polyurethane reacted with the old acrylic coating. The floor was left with that covering and has been used daily for the past 10 years. I assumed it was dry!

However, I have just taken advice about recovering the floor and about 12 hours ago I cleaned the floor with weak mix of disinfectant/water, left it to fully dry then applied Rustin's Wood Dye

to the entire area. I used a cloth to wipe the surplus away from areas where the old varnish was intact but the dye did come into contact with the entire floor surface. The areas that were bare wood have dried, while the areas with old varnish have reacted again and now that part of the floor is 'tacky' or sticky to the touch.

So I need advice about how to sort this by tomorrow. I have a tin of Rustin's Clear Acrylic Gloss Floor Coating and/or a tin of Blackfriars Polyurethane Stained Varnish, a fan heater, a clean brush and all the shops are closed for xmas.

Is it possible to get this dry and varnished by tomorrow, if so how and which finish should I use?

Thanks for any advice.

[L Beck]

I'm no expert, but I believe when re-staining a hard wood floor you needed to have completely removed all old varnishes, etc. As you stated, where the wood was bare it has dried. That's the secret. You need to get all of that off the floor, then buff or sand it good, then stain and later varnish if desired.

[Mike]

This is not practical though, there would be far too much dust and general upheaval and I simply don't have time.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Then don't bitch that you made a mess. There is a right way to do things. Mixing chemicals will have a reaction. You might get lucky with some heat, but there is really no way of knowing for sure until you try it. Adding another chemical may make it better or worse. Try a small spot. Perhaps you can wipe it up and clean off the gunk with mineral spirits, but, that is flammable and presents a danger.

After the holidays, take the time to do it properly and you will be rewarded in the end. Ed

[Mike G]

Stain is meant to go onto wood not varnish.

What ever happens it isn't going to be accomplished by tomorrow.

My suggestion, stop trying to half ass the job, sand the floor to the wood, and start from scratch.

If the floor is gong to be heavily walked on tomorrow use mineral spirits and get all the stain up off the varnished parts and reconcile yourself to the fact that it is going to look like hell until you have time to do the job right.

[JSin]

Well then the alternative is not going to be much better which would be to chemically strip the whole floor sand and refinish. What you have is a chemical reaction. The chems you have put down do not mix well and as such are not drying properly.

I know it is not what you want to hear but the first response was correct. As you have stated Time is against you and I do not think there will be a solution before Xmas.

Also don't put down more finishes it is only going to make the problem worse. As it stands the solution is sand the floor. And follow the manufacturers instructions for the use of thier product. There is no real quick fix for this.

[George M. Kazaka]

Mike wash it with cold water and Ivory soap,

It is and old refinishers trick Has always worked for me Let us know if you try it and if it works

[CW]

[Eric Ryder]

Yeah! and slaughter a few chickens at midnight to be certain!!

[Mike]

I have put carpet rugs down on the vital areas and they are not sticking to the slightly tacky areas of the surface. There is no way I am prepared to sand the floor down to the wood, there would be far too much dust and I quite like the worn look it has now, it just needs to be finished.

I will take George's advice, then I'll simply wait untill it eventually dries. When it does, I'll varnish over the lot, give it about three coats and job's done.

[Mike]

I'll try and obtain some ivory soap today and give it a try. I'll post back here to let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the tip.

[Mike]

I had at least one other choice, and now thanks to George it seems I have two.

[L Beck]

"Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over."

I was also hoping to have a floor done my Christmas - my bathroom floor. When we took up the toilet part of the sub-floor and the plumbing under the toilet was toast. There wasn't enough to even add a flange repair kit to. We probably could have jury-rigged something to get us by, but instead we opted to fix it all correctly. However, this is all taking time, and as a result, not only will I not have a floor by Christmas, there won't be any toilet in there either, because we're not reinstalling the toilet until the new floor is down. And working all day between when we found this and Christmas eve really cuts down our home repair time. Thank goodness for multi-bathroom homes and porta-potties.

LB

[Mike G]

Well,, you know what your priorities have to be better then anyone else so all I can do is say good luck and wish you the best for the holidays.

[George M. Kazaka]

Mike My apologies, I read your Post rather Hastily, I didn't see where you put JUST stain on top of the varnish Stain will never dry it needs a top coat which is what i thought was being tacky and not completely drying. When doing refinishing work and Or recoation work the top coat sometimes does not get completely hard and stays tacky to the touch What I mentioned happens to be a cure for it, Don't know why but it does work, Especially on Shellac and Varnish. I doubt that you will not find this in the books that are written by the so called Guros of finishing geared to the novice market. Either way it will cause no harm to what you have. What you need to do is get a coat of topcoat on it problem is if you are brushing the brush will pick up the stain and cause a bigger mess than what you have. Best bet is to wash the stain off with Mineral spirits , Go back to Go do not collect the 200.00 and start over again. When Company comes blame it on the weather and after the holidays you have to do it all over again, But when you do Get a little Info on the proper way to do it. Good Luck, and Merry Christmas to all, and to all goodnight, George

[George Watson]

the different products you are puttng on your floor are not compatable with each other

use paint/ vanish stripper get back to the bare wood and use only one make type of product

[Mike]

"bitch" ?

I have followed the instructions accompanying the product.

I'm considering this once the festivities are over, tye rugs I mentioned previously have helped temporarily.

What danger? It's not a running river of flammable goo, it's very

*slightly* tacky varnish.

I'm not sanding it down. If a wooden floor must be sanded down (or chemically stripped) each time the varnish is renewed, I'll just ceramic tile it as the former is completely impractical imo.

It's supposed to be a finished attractive floor, not a full time occupation.

[Mike]

I've gathered that now, given the date and that it's still tacky. :-(

AFA Sanding it down is concerned, I find this ridiculous. If this measure was required every time the rest of the house needs a lick of paint, it'd never get done.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

From what I read on their web page, the product is made for bare wood and you put it over varnish or some type of finish. OK, you followd the instructions, but used the wrong product.

The mineral spirits may pose a hazzard. It will give off vapors as it dries and the vapor can ignite. Not as bad as gasoline, but still a potential hazzard.

Renewing the top coat of varnish is easy. Staining the already varnished wood is a whole different story. That is what caused your problem from the start. Perhaps a different product would work. Perhaps a urethane with a tint will give you the finish and color you desire.

It will be if done right from the start. You will get many years of good use and little effort if done properly. Ed

[Anonymous]

PAINT / STAIN .. two different animals. Paint sits ON the surface for protection and has a colorant in it. Stain goes IN the wood, giving the actual wood fibers color, which is then sealed in and protected with a topcoat of varnish, shellac, etc. IN order to color the wood fibers, they MUST be exposed, which is a condition you do not have. You have stated that you followed the manufacturer's directions explicitly, but I cannot ever recall seeing a can of stain that did not include in the directions a statement along the lines of : "to be used only on clean BARE wood".

Sounds like you have chosen the wrong product or you are misusing the one you got.

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