| Are you trying to match an existing floor? |
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Each day Wood Floors Plus helps hundreds of consumers that are in the same predicament. Either the builder or previous owner put flooring in a small part of your home and now you would like to put that same exact floor in the rest of your house. It sounds great on paper, but in reality there are a couple of problems that need to be faced:
- Flooring will change over time. Sunlight causes the most changes. Some woods like Brazilian Cherry (Jatoba) will turn darker red since they are Photosensitivity. Most urethane finishes on wood and vinyl will turn yellow or amber with exposure to sunlight. Wear will affect every carpet, laminate, wood, or tile floor. Unfortunately, there is no way to take a brand new floor and make it look like it has been down for 10 years.
- Technology changes pretty quickly in flooring. The locking systems on locking wood and laminate floors change every couple years. The finishes change in clarity and durability (and of course appearance). Most new wood floors have UV-inhibitors in the finish that diminish or delay the affects of sunlight on the finish.
- Manufacturers do not always stay the same (or even stay in business). Many large manufacturers produce flooring in many different plants and there will be subtle differences in flooring produced at each plant. There are enough subtle differences between manufacturers that using a similar but different product may stand out.
- Flooring will have differences between runs even when produced in the same plant, but at different times. Wood flooring is a natural product, so there can be subtle differences in grain. The stain may take a little darker on one run compared to another. These differences become very obvious when placing a new floor next to an old floor.
Basically, there is no way to make your new floor look exactly the same as your old floor. So what should you do? Throw your hands in the air and leave down that dirty, old carpet? No way! There are options available:
- Find the closest match, put it in and hope it gets closer in appearance over time. Many people choose this route. If the new and old floors are not directly against each other, many will not even notice the difference. If the two floors are adjacent, use a decorative border or transition between the floors. Often, changing the direction of the new floor will make the appearance difference less.
- Go with a completely different style or width. If your existing floor is 2 1/4" wide oak consider going with a different species, width, color, or all three!. If your floor has a smooth finish, consider something distressed. It often looks better to have an intentional difference rather than an accidental.
- Go with a completely different product. If you have a wood floor down, consider tile or vinyl. This may be the best option, since it is a very obvious and intentional change.
Putting a new floor down next to an existing floor can be a challenge. Even though it may seem like a difficult decision, keep in mind that millions of people each year are going through the same exact process. It is your floor and your home, use the flooring combination that looks best to you!
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