So the floors in both rooms were left as is and not refinished when the wall was removed?

Exactly.

Was hoping to save money.

The right side is good. The left not so. Why not try to match the left side before redoing it entirely?

It kind of looks like the contractor didn’t apply the stain evenly. I suppose he’s been paid in full and that is why he is not willing to address the issue?

The perpendicular is fine (it's a little bit of a cheap-out, but I don't blame you for that!). However, you do need to try to get the color matched better. You may have to have that removed and a new piece inserted. That you will check the color match on before it is installed.

Are you re-decorating the room as it looks sparse with just the chairs- if so maybe if you had the sofa or a sofa table along the old dividing line it will "hide it"

Was thinking I might put the couch along the line there but then I just recreated the same room divider I got rid of. I am redecorating. New couch coming tomorrow.
Yes. I paid contractor in full. Didn't notice the difference till the polyurethane dried. I have called contractor many times but he just keeps saying it's the nature of the wood. He won't help. I just hate looking at it but alternative is to redo all the floors so the color matches and that's going to cost $$$$$$$$$. Was hoping for a silver bullet fix. Contractor won't even tell me what brand and color he used. Thanks for your suggestions.

Honestly, it doesn’t bother me. It looks like an old house with a wall removed. I live in an old house (130 years old or so.). The odd thresholds and differing floors are just old house character. You wonder when that door was added or was this room a porch previously.

on the first floor alone, we have hardwood, carpet, cork tile, parquet tile and even a section of cement! That doesn’t even count the different floors in the four first floor bathrooms!

House only 20 years old. I took down the pony wall to make the tiny family room look bigger. All floors are hardwood so I would have to refinish them all.

first, finish decorating and live with it for a while. the flaw might become less noticeable to you over time. would it work to put in a huge rug that covers that strip? or does it encroach too much into the dining area?

as for a fix, a flooring company might be able to sand and restain that strip w/o removing it. never hurts to ask.

are you handy at all? if you really can't afford a pro fix and want a stop gap, you might be able to get it to blend in better with carefully applied dark gel stain on the left side, feathered out to blend in with the right. tape off the old boards and lightly stand first (you might need to retape as you work since it will get damaged while you sand).

however, this would be just a temp fix until it could be redone the right way.

here's a tutorial: https://www.artsychicksrule.com/update-stairs-with-gel-stain/

Would you consider this fix? You have the charcoal rug in the family room, and the black fireplace surround….(I don’t see a sofa).

Make the dark gray more important by bring in fabric and art.

the vertical oak strip is solid wood? it should take stain like the rest. I'm guessing the wood was burnished and wouldn't take any more stain. Or, it wasn't properly stripped and there was already a finish on it.

the contractor did it himself? these guys are usually jack of all trades. He may not be an expert in wood finishing.

what was done exactly? the steps? what products used? (Wait, He won't tell you??? WTH? why not? what a jerk.)

if you sand the wood grain too smooth w/too fine of grit, it 'burnishes' or closes off the grain, and doesn't allow absorption. I've encountered this on many wood pieces I've done. It needs to be 'roughed up' with a lower grit

redo the strip only. sand it back down to raw wood and refinish it correctly. a flooring specialist should be able to do just that if you don't want to try it.

I'm suggesting this because you don't have to live with it like that. It can be refinished to match the current stain. The flooring guy shouldn't have to redo the entire floor. find someone who will just do that one strip. it's not a big deal.

Also, if the stain redo doesn’t happen - maybe look into an oversized area rug - one that goes up to that line - you could look at broadloom cut down and bound to the size needed.

The house is 20 years old. That means the wood floors are roughly 5-7 years away from a FULL sand and refinish anyway. If you do NOT want to spend the $500 to tape, sand, stain and reapply the finish...then leave it be. You will stop noticing it by the time the full sand/refinish happens.

I would personally put the $500 into a savings account and let it sit there until the full refinish needs to happen. In 5-7 years it should earn another $100 towards the refinish. Nothing to sneeze at.

SJ,,,what savings account do you have that takes 500 bucks and earn $100 in 5-7 years?? lol. have you checked rates for savings?? 0.01% is the rate for a standard savings. it's not the old days where you could get 3 or 4% interest

now, mutual funds, ok, that will work.

I think it is something that no one will even think about unless you point it out. Complete your room and enjoy it. I would have no problem with it.

I'm in Canada so we have some pretty decent returns on savings options. A decent GIC can get you that hundred bucks. I know cause I have one.

wow. our savings have in the toilet for a decade now. it's ridiculous. I know because I have a few CD's that barely make 1/2 %.

You should push your contractor re: telling you what type of wood/stain he used. It’s your house and you paid him for the wood/stain/labor. i would ask him again - nicely.

If you read above, it was a pony wall, not a full wall.

First, it all looks like Red Oak to me so I think White Oak is a misdirection.

The cross strip looks lighter on the right because of the light exposure on the left and narrower graining while the wider grain on the right picks up more stain and looks darker. A seemingly obvious solution (aka silver bullet) would be to lightly abrade the surface finish on the cross pieces and apply a coat or two of tinted poly, then a clear coat. We often add up to 8 ounces of Duraseal stain to a gallon of oil poly. It doesn't change the color a lot but it does mix well and we have no adhesion problems. When it dries It can be darker than when wet and it's easy to get it too dark so the best approach is to use multiple thin coats to sort of sneak up on the correct color.

DO NOT try to apply any stain over the poly without sanding to raw wood. It won't adhere and your problem will be worse.

FYI, even if/when all the floors are refinished the cross pieces would likely look lighter. They're newer wood, run perpendicular to the rest and catch the light differently. Look at some room scene pictures of parquet floors and you'll see.