We are having our hardwood floors stained and refinished. They put down sample stains for us to pick from today and the standard stains (bottom row) came out much lighter than anything I've seen in pictures online or sample swatch pictures online for each respective stain. The top row indicates that denature alcohol is applied prior to the stain to achieve a darker end result. The use of the alcohol is an extra $0.50 per sq ft. I would have expected the standard stain without alcohol to come out like the top row, so I'm curious if they're doing their best to push us to spend an extra $700 by applying a super light "standard coat" of each stain on the bottom row -

And really the pic doesn't do the coloring justice. They are even lighter in person.

Haven't heard anything about using denatured alcohol (which would be an added cost), but the guys that originally did our hardwood floors told me that they spray the wood flooring with water prior to staining in order to allow the wood to swell thereby opening the pores so it accepts the stain better and more evenly.

That's the same method I've always used when staining wood as the pores open and accept the staining better versus staining the dry wood. Cheaper than applying a wood conditioning pretreatment that they sell along with wood stains and basically does the same thing.

Yeah I think I've seen that referred to as "water popping" the wood prior to staining. It must be the same concept.

I just found it a little odd that the standard stain came out so much lighter than I have seen in any pictures and was curious if folks had run into something similar. We are leaning towards the darker versions and so I'm a little bitter about shelling out an additional $700 I hadn't planned on.

Is he mixing it with the stain? DA would act like a thinner, and should lighten the color.

I've been told to pick the color you want then go a shade or two lighter because it is always darker than you think it will be. It's almost like the top row is the stain and the bottom row is the stain with DA. Seems like they are up to fishy stuff.

seems odd to have to apply two different substances to get the shade of stain you want.

I think he's applying the DA first to open up the pores of the wood so it takes the stain better, but I'm not sure if that's scientifically accurate. That being said, I think they applied a super thin coat on the bottom row to push us towards the extra charge.

I could confront the guy, but I think he'll just say it is what it is, take it or leave it.

The wood is darker because the pores open up and absorb more stain, similar to using pre-stain. From what I've found online, it looks like some people will mix denatured alcohol with water, so it will dry more quickly

The stain colors online and also on swatches are typically close but not 100% accurate. The color varies with type of wood and how it was sanded.

As for denatured alcohol and water, it's to help the floor dry. What he is doing is water popping the floor to raise/open the grain. Water popping floors produces a darker color of the stain and that's why you see the variation with his samples.