Hardwood flooring
Wood Floor Stain and Color Matching
Stain samples made on your own floor, so you see the color before we commit to it.
The same stain looks different on white oak, red oak and walnut, and different again under morning light and evening light. That is why we never choose a color from a brochure alone — we make samples on your wood, in your room.
Color matching matters most when new flooring meets old: an addition, a repaired section, or new stairs that need to look like the floor around them.
How we make stain samples
After the floor is sanded, we lay out several small samples side by side on the actual boards, each one labelled with its stain mix. You look at them in daylight and with the room lights on, and we adjust until the color is right.
For a match to existing floors we mix and test until the new section sits next to the old without a visible line, allowing for the way the existing finish has aged.
What changes the final color
A stain is only one part of the finished color.
- Species: oak, walnut and pine each take stain differently
- Sanding: how fine the last pass is changes how much stain the wood absorbs
- Finish: oil, water-based and other topcoats each shift the tone slightly
- Light: the same floor reads warmer or cooler depending on the windows and fixtures
Matching new work to old floors
Additions and remodels often join a new floor to one that has been in the house for years. The old finish may have yellowed or faded, and the wood itself darkens with light. We sample against the oldest visible part of the existing floor, near the joint, and adjust the mix in small steps until the two floors read as one.
Where the two floors cannot be made to match closely enough, we suggest a threshold or a change of direction so the joint looks planned.
Licensed and bonded — CSLB #625535
How we run the job
- 01Look at the existing floors, furniture and light in the room.
- 02Sand a test area to the same grit as the final floor.
- 03Apply labelled samples side by side.
- 04Adjust the mix until you approve one sample.
- 05Finish the floor with the approved stain and topcoat.
Our work
Stain & Color Matching: job photos
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- Can you match a floor that is decades old?
- Usually. Old finishes change color over time, so we sample against the existing floor and adjust the mix until the new boards blend in.
- Do I approve the color before the whole floor is stained?
- Yes. Nothing is stained beyond the samples until you have chosen one.
- How is color matching priced?
- Describe the job with "Get your estimate". You get a ballpark from our own price list before the site visit, then a written estimate once we have measured and seen the floor.