hardwood floor dilehma

Hello, I am currently remodeling a room in my house. The hardwood floor has a few spots of water damage that needs to be replaced. I already have the floor sanded down by 36 grit sandpaper, and the finish has been removed. I showed pictures to a professional flooring retailer and they believed it was red oak, that is also what I had thought. When you wipe the floor with a damp cloth the floor becomes darker. I received red oak samples, when dry they floor looks exactly alike, however when I dampen the floor and dampen the sample the floor becomes dark and the sample stays about the same color. I am worried that when I apply finish the original floor will be dark and the new flooring will be very light, making it very obvious.

Am I correct on this assumption, or when I add finish to the whole floor, the new flooring will become dark just like the older floor. If it is not red oak, then I am not too sure what the floor species the wood would be. Becoming really frustrated with this.

 

What type of finish do you intend to use? Oil base polys/urethanes will deepen the colors naturally in the wood while water based polys make little change other than giving the floor a sheen.

New wood never stains exactly the same as old wood but the odds are no one but you will notice. You might try applying poly to a small section of both the old and new and see how it looks. Are you wiping with a rag wet with water? or paint thinner?

 

My plan was to use bona waterborne finish. When I wiped the floor I was using water.

 

I received some answers from another forum and I actually think it is white oak, not red. When wet, they look very similar, and I think after sanding is completed they will match even more. After the finish is applied I don't think it will be even that noticeable.

 

There will always be differences in various pieces of wood, especially when they aren't from the same tree. I've seen white oak that looked red and red oak that was very light. An old sawmill man told me that a lot of the coloring is determined by the environment the tree grew in. The wood from a tree grown in rocky poor soil will look a lot different than the same species grown in good nutrient rich soil. The amount of rain fall will also affect the look of the wood.