Does this layout look familiar to you? Hardwood throughout your whole bottom floor – except for the living room carpet that breaks it up. You wouldn’t be the first person to get tired of this look and wish your wood was continuous. It’s possible, but often not a simple solution to do this. Hardwood is a natural product, so even if you can find the exact same wood with the exact same stain in the exact same size available for purchase (unfortunately rare) you’re still at risk of the new floor looking “off” from your existing. With natural products there is variation, and with batches of stain too. If all the old wood and the new wood were mixed together you probably wouldn’t notice anything amiss. However, with a dividing line between the two it can be glaringly obvious that they’re different.
So now you’re asking the obvious: what can you do if using the same wood isn’t a good option? Let us help you with your choices!
- Buy unfinished hardwood in the same species and size of your existing wood. Install the new wood, sand it and the existing wood, and then stain all of it the same color. This choice is arguably the best in that it saves what you already have and achieves the continuous look you desire. The downside is that a sand & refinish project can be a big one. Dust will end up almost everywhere no matter how meticulously plastic is put up. The process is also time consuming – especially the dry time for the coats of finish – so several days or even more than a week is required for working. And if we’re talking about your main living area, that usually means you can’t even walk in your house for that time. For a great many people, moving out for a week isn’t an option.
- Buy new hardwood for your “patch” area in an attempt to match the old. This can either be done by buying unfinished and finishing that on-site, or by choosing a prefinished that you’ve carefully selected as a close match. The prefinished choice is the easiest on the wallet, but can be stressful with the pressure to select the exact right color. It’s also not uncommon for a prefinished wood to have slight variations from the samples, and even slight can be a big difference when installed. Even choosing stain on-site isn’t perfect as when it dries and is coated with a clear finish it can change color. If this is your choice, it’s a good idea to prepare yourself for the possibility that the wood won’t match, it will only come close. Only choose this option if you can live with that possibility!
- A spinoff of that choice is to buy new hardwood for your “patch” area that you don’t try to match to your existing wood, but instead compliment it. Buy the same species and size but in a harmonizing color. This eliminates the possibility of the color coming out wrong but allows you to have hardwood throughout your home. Often we advise customers to run this new wood perpendicular to the existing to really emphasize the differences. Not everyone loves this option as it isn’t quite the same as having the same floor throughout, but depending on the layout of your home it can really dress up your space!
- A spinoff of that choice is to buy new hardwood for your “patch” area that you don’t try to match to your existing wood, but instead compliment it. Buy the same species and size but in a harmonizing color. This eliminates the possibility of the color coming out wrong but allows you to have hardwood throughout your home. Often we advise customers to run this new wood perpendicular to the existing to really emphasize the differences. Not everyone loves this option as it isn’t quite the same as having the same floor throughout, but depending on the layout of your home it can really dress up your space!
- Tear out existing hardwood and replace with new hardwood (or anything else you want) everywhere. This choice is the most controversial. Who really wants to tear out perfectly fine hardwood floors? However this choice allows you to do anything you want with your floors – different style of hardwood (wide planks, rustic, etc.), luxury vinyl planks, or even tile! It also doesn’t take as long nor is as messy as the sand & refinish option. However, this choice can get expensive depending on how your existing hardwood is put down and what your new material choice is.
Whatever option you think best for you, we can help you achieve. We do free estimates always so getting quotes for different choices is no problem! We will walk you through every step of the way so this doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. Give us a call at 252.756.9308 to get started!