Is it possible to match old hardwood with new?

5 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
5 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
5 years ago
Why not just stain it to match?
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josecirujano
Original Author
5 years ago
Yes after patching with raw birch flooring. The entire room was sanded and varnish with cristal clear oil.
josecirujano
Original Author
5 years ago
Yes, staining could an option. Would the correct type of birch made avoid the problem? Is that hard to select it?
ptreckel
5 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
5 years ago
Yes, the match can be better with red birch.
SJ McCarthy
5 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
5 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
4 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?