Match existing hardwood but stain different colors in different rooms?
Hi,
We're in the middle of a remodel and still figuring out what we want to do with flooring. Our house was built in '66 and we have the original oak 2" width floors. We are adding some extensions to the house, but are debating whether or not we should keep the existing hardwood floors and match them in the extensions as well as in the kitchen/dining(which do not currently have hardwood) or just rip them out and put in new engineered hardwood (that's darker). Costwise, it seems like keeping the existing floors and matching them would be more cost effective. Some things that complicate our decision:
1) We have the same hardwood in our bedrooms, but since we are living here during the remodel, we don't want to move out of them. (Favors keeping the existing wood)
2) We would like to have floors that are darker in color (Doesn't favor either option)
3) We're not sure if (assuming we can match the same grade wood) the matched hardwood would stain the same as the existing hardwood. (Not sure which this may favor)
That being said, would the design aesthetic of having the bedrooms the existing color, but having everything else a different, darker color be undesirable? We don't plan on moving at all.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide
Comments (8)
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Is it unusual to have different color hardwood floors...
Comments (2)Are you serious? I have different wood in every single room. And each room has multiple kinds of wood. And the hallways are different from the rooms. And in my bedroom I just used all of the stuff I had used elsewhere - it's actually my favorite floor. All wood looks nice together IMO. And why stain? If you want something darker, get something darker. But keep in mind that dark woods show dirt and scratches very easily - more so than lighter woods. Something like oak, with a lot of grain, is good at hiding. Just go around and look at different woods and then design each room the way you like. The wood will all go together in the end. Good luck....See MoreAnyone lay hardwood in kitchen and match to existing hardwood?
Comments (5)I had the exact same issue. Initially they thought they could do it. But my house is old and when they did the demo they said the way they did the spacing of the supports under the wood on the older section cannot be duplicated today and the floor would never look even and the old section would always be a little higher and "squeaky". Ended up doing the whole floor. However, the hallways are old hardwood as well and the transition (via a doorway) seems fine....See MoreAnyone install hardwood to match existing hardwood?
Comments (20)Redroze, I'm just getting back online and seeing your questions, so I'll try to answer what I can. My new floor in the LR/DR was not pre-finished, it was all site-finished. I did put a pre-finished floor down in my office (no pics, sorry) because I work from home and didn't have time to be without my office for the week it would have taken to have floor sanded etc. The pre-finished does have a different feel to it than the site-finished. I wouldn't say it's grooved, just a more defined difference in between the individual planks. The office doesn't adjoin any other room, except the tiled hallway, so I didn't worry so much about the wood being different there. I see from your pictures what you mean about running the planks the same way and wanting to be sure things don't look odd. One idea might be to take up some of your FR planks, like the first 12 or so, and then put them back down interwoven with the new planks. That way there's not a clear line in between the 2 rooms, but rather a more gradual blending. Here's another couple of pictures, this time of my family room. The first one is a before shot of the hardwood floor + a rug-like carpet. The floor created a frame around the carpet. I had the carpet taken up and new hardwood put in where the carpet originally was, then everything sanded and refinished. You absolutely can't tell where the old wood was vs where the new started. In this case, the new is random width because it opens directly to the kitchen (as opposed to the LR/DR which is all the same width). So, one house, all new site-finished floors in the LR & DR, all new pre-finished floor in the office, original/refinished in the kitchen, and half&half refinished + original in the family room. Boy did we have dust! Hope this helps! New:...See MoreDifferent Hardwood Floor in Living Room From "Wood" Tile in Hallway?
Comments (15)The house is 100 years old which means the floors might be the same age. It is entirely possible that the wood has had its day. A wood floor can only be sanded/refinished so many times and then it is finished. It needs to be replaced. Before you decide on 'other' flooring for the house, PLEASE find out if there is enough wood on the EXISTING floor to get another sand/refinish. To do this, you simply need to find a cross section of the wood. This is often found around floor registers or at the floor's edge (in front of a door, or at a step, some place where you see a transition strip). Find a spot to look at the cross section and then MEASURE the amount of wood sitting ABOVE the tongue. You need a minimum of 3mm of wood to achieve a sand and refinish. The other thing I would like to point out is the wood is in rough shape...but the finish (just from the glow in the pics) looks OK. I'm wondering if the previous owners did a 'buff and coat' (adding a layer of finish rather than having a full sand and refinish). This might be because of resale or it might be because there isn't enough wood left to achieve a full sand and refinish. And is this part of the home and addition? If it is, then the age of the floor/addition might be to your advantage....See MoreRelated Professionals
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7 years agoIMO, any room with a door can have completely different colors of floor, walls, etc. Do not worry about your bedroom floors being different any more than you would worry about your bathroom floor being different. In fact, anything that distinguishes one area from another can allow different floors to coexist. See the photos below.
English Country in Northome · More InfoIn my own home, the bottom floor is tile except for the kitchen where I wanted the comparable softness of wood under my feet. Even the tile does not match completely as the entry has a different size tile in the same color.
Dining Room · More InfoUser thanked mindshift- 7 years ago
What has been already posted is good advice. I just have one thing to add---hopefully this helps your decision.
"3) We're not sure if (assuming we can match the same grade wood) the
matched hardwood would stain the same as the existing hardwood. (Not
sure which this may favor)"
I can guarantee you will not be able to match the hardwood in your home with new wood of the same species. Unless you can get that flooring which was manufactured in the 60's.Reason? Wood from the same tree can be different. Wood from the same species will be different, even when the trees were growing side by side. Wood from different decades will be different.
Example: The left side is oak plywood(bought at Home Depot) in 1991. The right side is oak plywood(from Home Depot) bought in 2017.
User thanked User - 7 years ago
Cancork Floor Inc.