How to match floor finish?

[mfenechcamer]

Hi everyone,

I recently sanded back a section of my floors to repair some damage, but I’m having trouble matching the finish with the existing flooring.

So far, I’ve tried Oil-Based CFP Clear Gloss and tinted it with Oil-Based Honey, but both results came out darker than the original finish (as shown in the photo).

Does anyone have advice on which product or approach I should try to achieve a better match?

  

[Jason]

Hi @mfenechcamer,

Welcome to Bunnings Workshop. It's great to have you join the community. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand around the house or garden.

Matching existing finishes is always very challenging as the existing coating will have changed over time - for example fading in the sunlight. Even if you know the exact product that went on the rest of the floor, this patch could still look significantly different. 

How big is the whole area? To get consistency you might have to consider sanding the whole area. Otherwise I'm sure our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts will be happy to suggest other product and colour combinations to try. 

Thanks,

Jason

[JacobZ]

Hi @mfenechcamer,

As my colleague @Jason has said, matching existing finishes is incredibly difficult and where the product is unknown and the timber is at different stages of weathering, it is more often than not, almost impossible. 

Unfortunately, I would only be guessing if I were to recommend a product.

The only way you can get a truly uniform finish is to sand it all back and start again.

A process of trial and error may find you a close match, but this would get expensive and frustrating quite quickly unless you got lucky early on. 

An experienced floor finisher who has used a variety of products on a variety of timber species may be able to match the existing coating. This could be worth exploring if you weren't willing to sand it all back.

If you'd like to sand it back and start again, you can use How To Sand Timber Floors and How To Seal Timber Floors as a guide.

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob