Have a customer requesting a black floor. First they requested dark, so I made a sample of red oak stained Jacobean, and a Brazilian cherry sample. Now the are leaning towards a black floor. Im going to get some ebony stain and put it on white oak this time. Ive never popped the grain with water befor so Im thinking this may be a good floor to try it on. Any thoughts would be appreciated, also any recommendations on a black wood? walnut wont be dark enough. Thanks, Jim

wenge or possibly ipe (some gets red though)

Jim,

Glitsa makes a Sable Black stain which is about the blackest thing you can get. You might try staining some Brazilian Cherry. I've done it before with Old Masters Spanish Oak and it came out almost black (wasn't trying for black, just real dark). The BC stained easily.

John

Jim:

Jazzman's right. I bought a quart of Glitsa's sable black. It's made with charcoal. One application and it's the blackest floor I've ever seen. It's dead black.

Charlie in Arizona

I am assuming you are going to water pop. Never tried the Glitsa Sable Black but have heard it is the blackest stain available. Just depends on the color you are looking for. The new Nano stains have Ebony and a color called Kona. I tried the Kona on a water popped sample board of Red Oak and it is pretty darn black in my opinion. Have not tried their Ebony.

When you pop the white oak for ebony stain, be sure to add just a bit of paint thinner to the stain (that is if you're using DuraSeal QD stain) or else it will dry so fast you can't wipe it up without streaks.

Bob Perrow

It must be something in the water but I have had two contractors call me from different parts of the country doing black floors. The designers have decided on maple in one case and Ipe in the other. These are two of the toughest woods to stain a uniform, intense black.

The Glitsa Sable black is the blackest oil stain available to my knowledge. when I put that in the Glitsa stain line back in the 1980's I wanted a real black stain. All the ebony stains available have a blue tint and do not get dark enough.

And NO Charlie, it does not contain charcoal, just high quality black pigments.

Bill

What about dying the floor first. Then staining Ebony.

Bill:

Hmmm. Glitsa should be informed, because that's what their salesman told me.

Charlie

Jim,

The surest way to get a black/black floor is to use white oak, dye with black analine dye in water and follow with a coat of Sable Black oil stain. Cover it with any non yellowing finish.

When we get to dense woods such as maple and Brazilian cherry we are more restricted because of the density and lack of open grain.

Ipe has its own set of issues and is probably one of the worst woods to try this with. The resinous nature of Ipe makes it very difficult to get the black that the designer/customer may be expecting.

I always recommend trying samples of what we feel may work best for the particular situation but there is NO hard and fast rule when it comes to these species.

Please let us know what works for you.

Those working with maple, Ipe and other species please let us know what you finds that works.

Bill

Floorlayer2007 wrote :
> Bill:
>
> Hmmm. Glitsa should be informed, because that's what their salesman told
> me.
>
> Charlie

who is?

Why buy wood at all, if you want to paint the wood floor so it's unrecognizeable as a wood product why not just throw some paint on the subfloor. I don't get it.

Is this what you call an upgrade? I don't see whats been upgraded cept the color. You've been talking to an interior designer eh? lol

the one stain job I worked on was a black floor stain.

mixed bona ebony w/ bona black court line paint, then water popped. it gets pretty dark but you can still see grain.

Jim,

I had my first BLACK floor happen about a year and a half ago. it is tricky but i cannot suggest more. DO NOT DYE IT! it is a headache to figure out. I went that route the first time and it was difficult, but after much trial and error turned out fairly decent. The second one I did was about 2 weeks ago and it was 800 sq ft. red oak. I used this black "stain" from this local store and it was as black as my first one without the headache. I can't remember the name of the product, but I will find out tomorrow and post it up. here is their site, they make all their own stuff and have some rather unique innovations for floors. hope the best to you oh and matte finish looks TERRIBLE on black floors.

http://www.oldwesternpaint.com/index.html

DMC

If you use Glitsa Pastel stains, like Sable Black, make sure the finish you are planning using is compatible. Synteko, for example, is not as the label specifically calls Synteko out. If in doubt, give Glitsa call. They are always glad to talk about their products with guys who are in the field using them.