CSLB C6 – Cabinet, Millwork & Finish Carpentry Practice Test

Uneven staining happens when the wood doesn’t absorb pigment evenly across its surface. Wood with very tight, uniform grain and small or few pores tends to take stain in a less predictable way, so you see patchy color rather than a smooth, uniform finish. Maple and birch are classic examples of this behavior: their dense, fine, close-grained structure provides limited pathways for the stain to penetrate, so differences in density or grain can cause the stain to collect more in some areas than others. Because of that, they’re the woods most likely to show uneven absorption unless you use a pre-stain conditioner or similar preparation to even out how the stain penetrates. The other woods listed have porosity and grain patterns that generally allow more uniform penetration with standard staining techniques, so they don’t tend to blotch in the same way.