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Is it possible to match old hardwood with new?

3 years ago

My floor contractor scope was to patch a demolish chimney to match existing hardwood floor. Then sand and varnish the floor (keep the colour natural)
After sanding and varnish the new floor the new hardwood does not match the existing.
Apparently both the new and existing are birch.
Could my contractor have selected a better type of birch to match the existing?
Is this acceptable?

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Comments (9)

millworkman
3 years ago
Yes he may have been able to but tough to say without more info. Did he sand the balance of the existing flooring? Really the only way to match is to strip and then finish everything at the same time. Patching rarely will match.
ShadyWillowFarm
3 years ago
Why not just stain it to match?
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You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.
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Those "gaps" are mild. They are normal. They are expected. They tell the story that they are original. They are meant to be there. The new floors will eventually do that too...which means they will match (eventually). It might take a decade...but it will happen. And don't forget that once everything is sanded down, you will be VERY surprised at how those "gaps" seem to go away (visually). Why, you ask? Because some of that is dirt. Once the floor has been sanded down (1-2mm of wood is taken off with the sanding), the dark material between the planks gets shaved off as well. And voila...they look cleaner (because they are). Relax about the absolutely normal spacing between planks. Unless you have museum quality climate control, this LITTLE bit of shrinkage is normal and to be expected with every floor (especially if it is 30 years old).
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I have white oak floors throughout. Pictures will tell us whether red oak was used. Please post a few.
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I recently renovated my 1969 split level house with original red oak floors. On the main floor, I completely refinished and wove in new red oak were there was previously tile and it is all one color now. But, at the landing of the top level, I did not redo the wood floors, picture attached. As you can see they are noticeably different, which I think makes it work. Trying to match and missing is not good. Make it look intentional. I'm not familiar with prefinished hardwoods. Can they be refinished at some point? If so, you'll want to be sure that if you ever do refinish all the floors, they can eventually wind up the same color.
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josecirujano
Original Author
3 years ago
Yes after patching with raw birch flooring. The entire room was sanded and varnish with cristal clear oil.
josecirujano
Original Author
3 years ago
Yes, staining could an option. Would the correct type of birch made avoid the problem? Is that hard to select it?
ptreckel
3 years ago
The wood should have been feathered into the existing flooring, not banded and butted, for a seamless finish. This is not done properly. I would request a re-do.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
3 years ago
Yes, the match can be better with red birch.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
The patch wood is a higher grade than the existing wood. As G & S suggest red birch would have been better.

A WELL established wood flooring expert would be able to find the grade (Select, Common #1, #2, Character, rustic, etc) to match the SPECIES.

I'm going to bet you have the wrong SPECIES and you have the wrong GRADE. A 'clean' grade has NO colour variation. A more rustic grade has LOTS of colour variation (like yours) with knots (like yours).

And NO Professional Wood flooring installer (who holds his head high when he tells people what he does for a living) would leave the 'picture frame' boards in place. They would have ripped those up, they would have LACED in the CORRECT species/grade of plank and then refinished everything.

And most wood flooring pros do NOT tear down chimneys/fireplaces.

Just sayin'.
josecirujano
Original Author
3 years ago
This was done by a flooring company. I was holding the payment for this portion of the contract. Trying to investigate the root cause. Thanks so much for the explanation.
SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
I would find a way to send a sample of your existing floor to have it identified. This costs $100 and takes about a week to get the results. There are national labs that test wood species. That's where you start.

Once you have the test results you compare it to the species listed on your receipt/contract. You will also speak with the shop manager about the way the 'guys' (this is the type of patch we would see from a 'guy/gal' who can swing a hammer...not a pro flooring installer) handled the patch. You ask WHY they did not lace in the wood. And why the grade of wood that was slotted in was not 'flagged' by the crew as WRONG.

And you also ask why the full sand/refinish was allowed to go ahead with these issues outstanding. If it doesn't look right to you then why would a 'pro' (ahem...I don't think you had one on your job) think this was OK?

While you wait, you bring in an NWFA Certified Flooring Installer (www.nwfa.org) to see what they recommend for moving forward/real cost to do this part of the job.

Who hired the flooring company to demolish a fireplace/chimney?

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