Colour varnish on clear?

tea and coffee

Got the floors sanded and varnished by a company. I stupidly didnt specify that I wanted them darkened and now he has put clear satin water based varnish on the floors. I didnt think they would come up so ghostly pale. They are white deal I think. Tongue and groove.
So in order to get a darker colour, could I lightly sand and then varnish over with a coloured Ronseal type varnish. Or am I effed and have to sand it right back and start again?? :-(

whizbang

They will darken again over time. Not by much, but it may be enough.

Try a small area with wood dye just for testing. I dont mean the stuff Ronseal call their varnishes so you can't sue them when it doesn't work.

Rustins will work, but it will have a different effect than if it was done on raw wood. Use a darker stain than required, because very little of it will penetrate.
Also do it quickly, before the scratches and heel marks show up!

tea and coffee

thanks for your post.. Do you mean try the woodstain over the varnish? I don't want to strip back the €100's of work that I just paid for to start over again if I can help it....so would prefer to just "paint" over the pale clear varnish, if possible. If not, and it needs to be stripped back fully, then I will leave it and get it done at a later stage

whizbang

tea and coffee

ok, well, that settles it then. I would need to strip it back.
I was hoping to just put this over the already varnished floor and be done with it :-( http://www.ronseal.co.uk/products/diamond-hard-floor-varnish

whizbang

Sorry, I meant, try this without any stripping first. then decide.

Its a hell of a lot less money wasted if it doesn't work.

cheif kaiser

Personally if it was me I would leave it alone, if you put coloured varnish over clear varnish it is going to just sit on top and be much more likely to chip and be very noticeable. Next time they need to be done, stain them first and then clearcoat.