You can create “faux” wood out of almost anything! I’ve done my white garage door, my black front door and now my entire wood floor and staircase! It is time consuming, but the results are fabulous and you can just save a fortune if you’re wiling to do the work. In fact, I love the look so much that even when working with raw wood I could “just stain,” I use this same technique to add some drama to the piece. Practice to get the feel before you tackle a major project, but then go to town and have at it! I would add this caution - if you have big dogs and little boys driving trucks and tractors all over, I would not recommend this technique. Get a new floor, something like LVT would be good! But, if you take good care of your home and don’t wear your shoes in the house as a practical matter, then this floor will last you years and save you thousands.

Investment

Money | Depends on what you're doing and what supplies you already have. Refer to supply list below.

Time | Again, depends on the size of the project. Refer to “steps.”

Supplies*

• Painters Tape - oodles!!! I used nearly 1,000 sq ft for 350 sq feet of flooring

• TSP product of choice to clean floor

• Faux Effects Stain & Seal in Rich Brown.

• Chip brush a little wider than the width of your existing boards, or the width you want to tape and your board to end up. My boards were 3 ½” wide and I used a 4” chip brush.

• Tack cloth

• Bona Traffic HD sealer (I used Satin finish, which is really pretty darn close to a matte)

• Padco pad

Steps

• Clean your floor to be as immaculate and lint free as you possibly can.

• Tape every other board (see attached video)

• Apply stain with grain of wood with chip brush. Make sure brush marks are STRAIGHT. Work with wet edge by brushing back into your stopping point.

• Let dry two hours.

• Walk on gently with socks and remove tape.

• Apply stain using same method, but no tape on the “opposite boards.”

• Let dry two hours.

• Apply Bona Traffic HD. This product only has a shelf life of 4 hours once mixed. One gallon covers 350-400 sq feet and you need two coats, so order accordingly. You’ll do one coat, let dry 2-3 hours and then do second coat. Apply this generously (but not sloppy) with the Padco pad. You can use a pole extension if you are comfortable with that; I just used my knees. :) Do NOT overwork the product - if you go back over your gel stain more than once, you will pull it off with the sealer and then you are SOL. So, no wine, no dinking around, get it on and get off the floor. Bona Traffic HD cures 80% within 24 hours and 100% cured within 3 days. Magic, I’m telling you!

Enjoy the Project

Playlist | CheaperThanWine

Wine | Sorry, we don't get any for this project! Straight lines and fast moving! :)

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