Hello everyone. I am in the process of removing a closet in our home which had been taking up space in our dining area (at the same time it opens up the house on the front as well).
The entire first floor has hardwood flooring (red oak I believe) put in by the previous owners. Now that the closet wall is gone, I need to patch the wood floor between the dining area and front door area. I can cut out strips of wood in the exsisting flooring easily and replace with new wood, but what I can’t really do is resand and refinish the entire floor.
The reason is the floor area is too big (the room is probably 15 x 30) and we can’t really afford to refinsh everything. Maybe when it shows more wear over the entire floor (the floor is only 2 years old).
My question is, what other options do I have? I’ve thought that if I could sand and stain each plank (staining it to match as best as possible) and intersperse the new pieces with existing planks, then that would solve my problem. I realize that I’m not going to get a perfect match, but the floor was only clear coated and the planks already down show a wide range of colors (this is not a uniform color/stain by any means).
The other option would be to put a perpendicular plank, but that would only serve to further highlight the location of the old closet wall.
Thanks for any suggestions and help with this.
Jeff Nichols
Replies
I've done this both ways in an old (1905) house. It's very difficult to match color and thickness, expecially if the existing planks are worn. Sanding and refinishing fixes the thickness problem, but not the color problem. So, the better option might be the perpendicular plank. There will be a strong contrast, but that may be more pleasing to the eye that the patchwork effect you will get by interspersing strips.
I think you've got the right idea by laying in the strips, the floor is only two years old. You won't have to worry too much about discoloration. You could rent a pad sander and just do the area you need, feather slightly into the older areas and if you're careful, the patch will be hard to spot.
sometimes board sometimes knot