The end result was gorgeous.
Water popping oak floors.
The purpose of water popping is to raise the grain by swelling the wood fibers and opening of the pores in the wood.
Allows for a more even application of the stain.
The water popping process also makes sanding marks blend into the rest of the wood grain helping to reduce swirl marks and other marks from the big machine.
Generally you would do a water pop on an oak floor when you are staining it.
Helps the stain penetrate the wood.
When the floor is water popped properly all of the hardwood floors grain is evened out and becomes equal.
The drawbacks to doing a water pop are first and foremost it costs more.
Water popping is usually done before using a water based finish.
The water popping process helps ensure your newly finished floors produce a beautiful rich color and most importantly an even coverage.
To make sure that the floor looked its best we water popped the floor to open up the pores and raise the wood s grains then applied four coats on top the owner wanted an extra coat because he had a big dog.
Now when the stain is applied there will be no worries about any areas accepting the stain differently and ending up with a blotchy floor.
Helps to reduce sanding marks.
How to water pop a hardwood floor for a perfect stain.
If the flooring is going to be kept natural without a stain color the water popping step isn t necessary.
Benefit 2 it makes the stain color darker and richer.
Learning about the difference in applying stain to dry floors versus the water pop technique.
After the water evaporates the fibers stay in the swelled position and the cleared pores take stain much more evenly.