SJMcCarthy is the flooring expert. hopefully she sees this.

Did he redo the old floor along w/the new one? I mean, did he completely sand down the older floors and stain both sides together?

it looks like the older floor has darkened w/age. your flooring guy should have realized this and done something to the newer wood to even it out w/the old. He should have stained the new floor separately to match the older side.

that new wood you have is not White Oak. it's red oak. is that what you wanted? honestly, both floors should have gotten a little darker tone to them to hide the pinkish tones of the new side. something like one of these

if these were my floors, I would have stripped the old to bare wood and done a test to see if I could get them to match each other w/a walnut color.

If he assured you they would match, (they don't) and assured you the herringbone will lighten (it won't,,,) then have him redo them.

@Nadiya - I like your dark stain. I would have been willing to add a color if I knew the floors would not match after they were refinished. However, no one mention that was a possibility.

@Beth - All previously existing floors were sanded down prior to finishing with the new floors. However, why do you think the new floors are red oak? The order was for white oak and they looked just like the pre-existing floors when all of the wood was sanded and raw. That is why I was so shocked when they came out two different colors.

That's why I made my contractor do samples it was easy for me because of the expansion of the kitchen I could play with the old wood to try and match to the wood tile. My contractor said no problem I can match the wood to any wood tile you buy, but I knew it was impossible different wood types stain different anyway I instead on the samples there still a difference in the tile and wood but not much I hope you can fix this. Best of luck!

Was there any stain applied at all? if so, do you know if he water popped only the new wood? by doing that it opens the grain pores so it accepts the stain more readily. if he did just the new boards and not the old boards, the new would have taken a bit darker.

is it white oak? hmmm, sure does look like red oak. But if you say it's White,,ok. Maybe it's just your lighting.

@Beth - Before it was finished, all wood (old and new) looked like the wood in your white oak picture. The one hesitation I have is that the contractor says even if I stained it, the two woods would always look different due to age o the original hardwood. I understand a little bit of difference but this is just a huge difference that look like a mistake.

both floors looked identical to each other in tone and color before he put on the clear coat? so there was no stain? once he clear coated, the old side darkened and the new side stayed light? the old floor is broken in and the grain is readily open (plus it's aged and already has darkened) the new floor is tighter so unless he water popped just that side, it's going to accept finishes different that the old side.

i've seen them match new oak to old oak and pair up the colors perfectly. your guy is making excuses because he obviously didn't know how to do it.

and yes I agree, the two floors look like two separate colors. I would not accept it. if there is no stain, then just sand off the clear coat and get someone who knows how to apply a stain.

We haven't used Street Shoe in a long time. But, they can apply a coat of Street shoe Emulsion to help darken and bring the amber closer to the original patina, instead of the regular clear sealer. Then apply two coats of regular street shoe on top. You will have the unwanted yellow or golden floor, but it will be a closer match.

The other option for a film forming system is to resand everything and do a Bona system: 1 or 2 Bona's Nordic Seal and 2 HD.

My comment is not to solve your problem (I know nothing about staining), but I like the darker tone better. It is so much richer than the lighter one.

Even if the stain can be matched you still have two distinct patterns abutting.

What if you “framed” the lighter floor with a dark stain?

Something on this idea:

I have a feeling the OLD floor (the herring bone) is red oak. The new floor (the lighter floor at the bottom of the pic) looks to be white oak. The grain pattern in Red oak is VERY strong (like you see in the herring bone). The grain pattern in white oak is much finer/less busy. This is demonstrated in the bottom of the photo.

And when White Ok has a water based finish applied over top, it does not amber....but the golden TANNINS pull towards the surface and cause a goldening effect. It takes time for this to occur. Please ask the refinisher if s/he used the SEALANT on the white oak before applying Streetshoe. If s/he did NOT...then the bottom floor will slowly turn yellow (not orange...but yellow).

Red Oak, on the other hand doesn't need this. But red oak has a strong salmon/cinnamon/pinkish caste to it when a water based finish is applied. I think this is what we are seeing in the darker herring bone.

Did ANYONE send away a sample of the old herring bone floor to a lab to ensure you were matching the species?

I agree. My first thought was that the herringbone is red oak. Even if it's an old floor, I don't think an unstained white oak floor would show so much color.

@G&S - The one thing I really hate is yellow/orange colored floors so I would love to avoid that as the final result of an expensive remodeling process. However, I don't understand your suggestion of using Bona system. Will that solve the yellow color issue? Will that solve the issue regarding the difference in color between the two floors?

@Judy - Flooring actually has a sort of natural frame around the herringbone flooring.

@SJ - After I saw the results, I asked the flooring contractor if he thought the oak floors were different species. He said that both were white oak. However, the wood was never sent out to a lab. In fact, no one ever mentioned that as an option or a concern.

So is there anything that can be done to even out the color distinctions other the lighter version more yellow? I prefer that the floors either be light or brown. Anything other than yellow...

Using the Bona system with nordic seal will give you the Scandinavian look, eliminating the yellow. It's a pale tan look. Will it blend the new and old? It is a possibility. Are both new and old flooring the same wood specie? Cannot tell from the images. My opinion, the installer laid new red oak and the existing is 80 year old white oak. Difficult to tell due to lighting and the angle of the picture. The installer can try taking more material off of the old floors to see if, they can get down to brighter wood, before applying the finishes.

Thanks G & S for the recommendation. The light Nordic look was exactly the look I was looking to achieve.

We used Bona Traffic on this floor, white oak, no stain.

Kristen,,those are beautiful. And so is that island. Is that your design as well? just curious what supports you have for that gorgeous stone! (what's the name of it?) Sure hop someone doesn't slam a chair into the open spot on the end!

Thank you! There are hidden flat metal supports under the overhang. The waterfall did not need additional support. This is Lucent quartzite.

very nice!

@Kristen - Love, love, love that waterfall counter and walnut cabinets. My cabinets will be walnut and white so that is why I wanted to hardwood flooring with a cool color tone.