All of the shoe trim is missing from my house (don’t ask me why!) and I need to put in new. However, much of my house has unpainted, stained wood; what is the best way to identify the type of wood so that I can best match it (note that I’ll refinish the old wood when I install the new so I don’t need to worry about matching the finish) Thanks, Mischa
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If you want to buy shoe moulding, its only readily available in a few species, like pine or oak. If you have a mill shop near you, they can make it in just about any species.
As far as the type of wood, there are several books that will help you indentify the type. I'm drawing a blank on the author of the one I use the most, but the name is (big surprise) Identifying Wood). One the other hand, I wouldn't go too crazy trying to match the species perfectly. Since shoe is a pretty small profile moulding, and its going to be stained, if you just get close with the grain pattern,its likely that no one will notice that its not the right species.
if you just get close with the grain pattern,its likely that no one will notice that its not the right species
Shep,
You'd notice.
I'd notice.
Sphere'd notice.
Heck, and all the rest of us here would notice.
Who are these non-noticer's of which you speak?
The common man?
Well, around here there's a
Well, around here there's a lot of chestnut trim in older homes. Chestnut is almost impossible to come by. I've used oak shoe in place of the old, broken chestnut shoe with success.
That's what I meant about trying to match the grain. If you use a little care, oak matches chestnut fairly well. And I've used poplar for cherry. When stained, it works surprisingly well.
And just how much time do you spend crawling around on floors, seeing if the shoe mldg. matches the rest of the trim? LOL
Ash is a better match for Chestnut. Like such.
can ya see the two? The rest is Walnut.
And just how much time do you spend crawling around on floors, seeing if the shoe mldg. matches the rest of the trim? LOL
Well, depends on how much I've had to drink........
If you can send them a small piece of your trim, The US forest service will ID samples of wood for no cost. see: http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/WoodID/idfact.html
Oh yeah, I finally remembered the author's name. Its R. Bruce Hoadley.