We often get asked to stain maple and hickory floors.  We try to dissuade our clients from doing this, as these woods do not take stain well.  When we tell customers this, they sometimes get suspicious and annoyed, as if were are trying to lie to them.  I can understand that, as many hickory and maple kitchen cabinets and pre-finished floors do come stained.
However, those products are created in a factory controlled environment and they use different types of fast dry, spray-on coatings.  The coatings we use on site are gravity permeable and slow drying.

This is what the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association says about  the subject:

“Due to the extremely tight cellular structure and variable grain patterns inherent in northern hard maple, the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA) does not recommend staining or bleaching maple strip flooring under any circumstances.

While small areas of individual flooring strips may accept stain without difficulty, it has been our experience that much of the maple surface will appear uneven and “blotchy” following the application of most stains or bleaching agents.

MFMA strongly suggests contacting your floor finish manufacturer directly for specific tinting product recommendations and application instructions.”

If you have additional questions, contact MFMA’s Technical Director at 847-480-9138.

As whenever you go outside your industry’s best practices, you open yourself to liability.  We at Natural Wood Floors, think the risks are too high.  We want our customers happy as possible.