SHOP PRODUCTS
Houzz Logo Print
kent_lind

Expanding to match existing hardwood floor?

Kent Lind
8 years ago

My wife and I are looking at buying an existing house that currently has hardwood in the kitchen and hallways but carpeting in the living and formal dining. It is basically a fairly open U-shaped layout around a central staircase so there are long thresholds between carpet and hardwood along one side of the living room and along both sides of the kitchen. All told it is probably around 500 sf of hardwood and 1000 sf of carpet.

Looking forward we would most likely want to rip out all the old carpet and replace all of it with new hardwood. I'm wondering if it is even realistic to think about keeping the existing hardwood and refinishing it to match the new, or just ripping it all out along with the carpet and starting fresh. The old stuff is oak but with a dark redish cherry type finish which I'd rather have in more of a natural lighter shade anyway so it would require sanding down to the bare wood and refinishing.

Anyone here have experience trying to match new floors to old ones? is it worth the effort or do you just start from scratch?

Comments (5)