Staining and poly times

[Southside]

Have a customer who wants some of my flooring to have a coat of stain one coat of oil based poly applied to it before they pick it up.  I have a warm, dust free space I can do the work in and have stained and applied poly to my own projects in the past but never paid attention to how long it took.  It's only a 170 square foot order so nothing outrageous, but I really don't know what to allow for labor.  

Can anyone give me some idea on time requirements?  Thanks in advance. 

[btulloh]

A couple questions:  Are these right out of the molder or is there any other prep work required?  Do you have enough saw horses or whatever to lay the whole lot out flat or will you need to do them in a couple batches?  One side finished?  Three sides? Or four sides?  (They will tend to bow a little if you just finish one side.)

If you've got enough horses to lay the whole batch out, it'll take 2-3 hours of just handling all together.  Once they're laid out, maybe 1 hour/side to stain, slightly more for the poly coat.  Probably five or six hours all total to be safe, but a bit more if you're doing all four sides.

[Southside]

Valid point, had not thought about any post moulder prep, and if they have to do any sanding once the floor is down that's going to cause a problem with the work.  Maybe best if I just take a pass on doing the additional work.  Thanks for the thoughts.  

[trimguy]

Any pre finished flooring that I have put down has had a slight bevel on the edge. Maybe this is what the customer is thinking and not going to sand it after installation. I would be worry about the poly cracking/ chipping when nailed tight together. Also , will you need " special " packing to protect the finished faces ?

[Brad_bb]

Well staining is not my specialty, which is why I would leave that to the painters/finishers.  Staining can be a tricky thing.  First there's getting the color that they want.  If it has to be matched, well that's almost an art.  Then there's the application.  Many woods need a stain pre-conditioner so that they take the stain more evenly.  

If you try to stain a wood that blotches without a pre-conditioner, you could have a mess on your hands, and a customer that doesn't want it and rejects your material/work.

[farmfromkansas]

Thinking if you had to sand a floor with a drum sander, might just want to use prefinished flooring.  But have found these random orbit floor sanders that work pretty well.  Rented one at Menards when I laid my shop floor, did not finish it, just sanded it so it is even.  Found that the coarse paper works best, the finer grits do nothing.

[Don P]

Yup, take a pass, you're getting sucked into their thinking problem.

[GAB]

If you decide to accept the challenge I would have them supply the stain and poly that way you will not get the color wrong.
GAB

[Walnut Beast]

A couple questions:  Are these right out of the molder or is there any other prep work required?  Do you have enough saw horses or whatever to lay the whole lot out flat or will you need to do them in a couple batches?  One side finished?  Three sides? Or four sides?  (They will tend to bow a little if you just finish one side.)

If you've got enough horses to lay the whole batch out, it'll take 2-3 hours of just handling all together.  Once they're laid out, maybe 1 hour/side to stain, slightly more for the poly coat.  Probably five or six hours all total to be safe, but a bit more if you're doing all four sides.

This is exactly right. Nothing complicated about doing it. They do make poly/stain all in one also 

[Trackerbuddy]

How badly do you need the money.  If baby needs shoes you'll have to figure it out. If business is good or this is a hobby I'd pass. Tell them there is too much dust in the shop for a good finish.
Sawdust smells good
Poly smells bad

[bluthum]

I would not recommend that, I wouldn't even try it for my own use. Pre finished flooring is done under extremely  controlled situations. 

[Southside]

or this is a hobby

Funny - when I got my first mill it was going to be a hobby, not sure how this all happened. "It will be fun" they said "get a sawmill"  ;D

[Dan_Shade]

I would decline. 

A few potential problems:

1.  The knife marks from the shaper/planer will be quite visible if stain is applied. The only way to avoid seeing the tool marks is to sand or handplane. 

2.  Depending on the accuracy of your setup, the boards may be high/low at the tongue and groove line.  This would require sanding after installation to resolve. 

3.   Keeping finished boards from getting scratched from your shop to the end location is another important thing to consider.