I am a field supervisor for a residential and commercial contractor in New York City. For reasons that don’t really matter, I had to screw and plug holes in a newly installed Eucalyptus (Jarrah) floor. When I put in the plugs the grain and color match was almost perfect; however, after the floor was sanded, the plugs no longer matched, and they stand out from various standpoints. To make matters worse, the flooring sub tried to fix the problem by covering them with a mixture of sealer and sawdust.
Before the finish goes on (sealer followed by two coats of a latex satin finish polyurethane) is there anything I can do to more closely match the color and grain of the plugs?
Please help, I’m on a deadline.
Thanks, Jeremy
Replies
Jeremy, these plugs looked so close you couldn't stand it b/4 the floor was sanded? I'm having trouble understanding or thinking of what could make them change so much. I impress even myself when plugging on stairs or wherever when it's finished. I mean except for that hairline circle, it virtually dissappears. Are you pretty much figuring on redrilling and plugging again? Is it the color or the way the hole's drilled appearance that bothers you? The best plugs come from the same pc (scrap) or sometimes better yet, the flip side of the pc getting plugged. This case you don't have that as an option. Best of luck.
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Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Edited 10/9/2002 8:56:06 PM ET by calvin
Thanks. The plugs were cut from the most similar looking piece of flooring I could find (the plugged boards are in the middle of the floor, so there were no off-cuts from them) but just slight variations in grain direction and color intensity make them stand out now. Jarrah is very varied in color and grain, but usually not within one board, and especially not in neat little 1/2" patches.
Oh well, but at least they're less noticeable today than they were yesterday when the sub put the sealer/sawdust fix on them.
It sounds as if the flooring and the plugs had varying amounts of patina on their surface that allowed them to match initially, but when the wood was sanded, that patina was removed and they now no longer match.
Now that there's sealer and dust on them, it would be impossible to get bleach to penetrate if it's the plugs that are too dark. If it's the plugs that were too light, you'd be faced with staining each one. In either event, I think you'd have to sand them back now and treat the plugs accordingly. No fun.
Another option would be to sand the sealer off the plugs and stain the whole floor. No absolute guarantees there, either.
Maybe Luvditchburns will be along to offer other suggestions.
Did you make your own plugs or did you buy them ready-made? Most storebought plugs I've seen are endgrain plugs because they are cheaper to manufacture out of dowel stock. If they are endgrain plugs they will always take stain and finish differntly from the rest of the floor ( especially stain.) If you redrill and plug, get a plug cutter and make your own from flat grain or vertical grain as needed.(Use the scrap ends of the flooring.)
Patrick-----
Ditto WreathmanDitch
I did cut the plugs myself from the closest matching board I could find. Thanks.