Software
Houzz Logo Print
natalie_surace33

When your flooring is discontinued - halfway through your project

6 years ago

We've run into a MAJOR DIY flooring install issue. We just finished installing this beautiful handscraped 6.25'' birch hardwood, not realizing that we were one box short of completing the project, and our flooring has been discontinued.


We've looked everywhere for this floor or a similar one, but can't find anything at a 6.25'' width that matches. The closest options we have found have been 6.5''. So, my thinking is maybe our best option is to go with that and trim each board down somehow. Or to buy a 6.25'' hardwood in a different color and try to stain it. Help! What are our options here??



Comments (18)

  • PRO
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Did you contact the manufacturer?

    Do you want to reveal the name and numbers and see if the forum can crowdsource the material for you?


    Much of this flooring is made in China and sold under a variety of proprietary names.

  • 6 years ago

    Contacting the manufacturer is a great idea. You said you've looked everywhere, and would that include surplus or outlet stores? I've found matching flooring years later when discontinued items have hit the surplus market. Barring that, I think it would be better to have the same species of wood trimmed down if needed than to go with a different wood altogether. Stain matching is sophisticated enough now with computer imaging that if you went to a stain specialty store with a sample, they could probably help you get a close match.

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks all! The floor is Birch Angelina GNRRBI61480 Red River Collection By Garrison Hardwood. I have reached out to Garrison but haven't heard back yet.


    What you can't see in the picture is that this wood runs all through our master bedroom and walk in closet. We kept carpet in the hallway for the last few years as we worked on other construction there. So it has been about 3 years since the flooring was discontinued, originally purchased at Lumber Liquidators. It doesn't run into any other areas, so the closet would be the only option for recovering wood for the hallway, and I'm not sure it would be enough.


    Craigslist and surplus stores are good ideas. I have done searches online, but haven't posted anything or reached out to surplus locations.

  • 6 years ago

    In that case (LL...sigh...not much to be done...the manufacturer has probably already folded and reopened as someone else making something else) you are better off removing the hallway stuff (end the wood at the bedroom door) and get something as CLOSE to the same colour as possible.


    With LL stuff that is more than 3 years old, you are going to have a very hard time digging anything up. They had a tendency to ship remnants to a central warehouse to be redistributed or sold off en masse to the lowest bidder.

  • 6 years ago

    That's what I'm worried about. :( Thank you everyone for the help.

  • 6 years ago

    Do a trim in the hallway that is a different width. Even if you have to do a trim that is two boards wide that is a different width. It will just look like a creative pattern idea.

  • 6 years ago

    Or, you could take the flooring from under the bed and do your best to match under bed. Usually,sometimes the bed only really fits properly in one space so you never see that portion of the floor.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    I would abandon the discontinued flooring. Only use it in areas you can separate with carpet. There isn't going to be an elegant way to change widths where you have already started laying a different width, especially in a narrow hallway which your photo shows. It's just click floor--easy to install or de-install.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    Take the wood from the closet finish doing that piece you are missing and do something interesting in the closet even the 6.5 wide in the closet .

  • 6 years ago

    Patricia is right. It has always been common to harvest from closets to patch carpet and wood flooring. Few parties are held in walk-in closets so only your closest family will ever be in there and they will just be so happy this project is done!

  • 6 years ago

    A quarter in difference in boards is not hugely obvious, I don't think. How would it look to alternate those sizes in a space? You have options if you work with the larger size. Could you harvest enough from closets and under bed areas to finish the visible areas with the original 6.25" and have left over to alternate with the 6.5"?

  • 6 years ago

    So since you only need one box, how much area do you actually need to finish? If it's just the hallway, I'd be inclined to use the 6.5" one that actually matches. It's going against the wall (at least that's what your picture shows) and you're talking maybe 2 and 1/2 planks? Plus I'm assuming you're going to baseboards and possibly quarter round shoe molding, so I don't think the difference in plank sizes will be that noticeable. Plus, how many people are actually going to be hanging around in the upstairs hallway?

  • 6 years ago

    It is a little difficult to analyze the situation without seeing more of the house. My thoughts: 1) Keep calling the manufacturer although beware that slight color variations can be glaring. 2) You can most probably do a nice pattern that combines your 6.25-inch boards with the available 6.5-inch boards. 3) Think about doing a pattern that has a contrasting, darker wood at the floor edges (even something that is almost black). With some creative thought, I think you can bring in a different wood that will make this floor look nicer and more detailed than using just one type of wood.

  • 6 years ago

    Unfortunately, we did nail down the flooring. Is there still a way to recover it if we did? It certainly won't be a high-traffic area, so I'm trying to see if I can get anything to match that is maybe 6.5'' and slightly off (but not so much that it's noticeable).

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    If, you can remove a few boards without damaging it. You can complete one of those rows. Then remove the remainder. And continue with the 6.5" if, it is a good match.

  • PRO
    6 years ago

    A Fein type saw can be used with metal cutting blades. Cut horizontally between the floor and subfloor where the fasteners are at the tongued edge of each board. This will cut off the fasteners so pieces can be removed without damage. You would need to remove a row to access the tongue side.

    I suspect it would be near impossible to find a good match in respect to color, texture and gloss level. Even a small difference would stand out in the area pictured.