Polished floorboards.. old and new dont match colours

We are in the midst of our big PPOR reno. Last week, we had our parquetry floors polished. Mostly its old timber, but the first room you come to we have replaced the carpet with parquetry since we knocked down the wall between kitchen and this roon. So, we have one room of new and the rest old.
The guy recommended using a water based polish, because he said it doesnt change colour if you have mats on floor etc. We also liked the idea of not being as toxic/ damaging to the lungs, because of my health. http://www.bona.net.au/HomeOwners/Products11/Mega2.aspx?cat=Coatings
He also said that when you sand back the old timbers the new timbers will match the old. We pushed the point and he insisted that it was correct.
Anyway, it was a load of BS. The colours of the timbers are totally different. I didnt expect them to match completely, but they look nothing alike. He knew there was a problem with it when it was done as well, cause he talked to our painter about it and the painter said he had to stain it/ fix it.

Anyway, we have refused to pay so he is coming back to have a look (according to him, he is not responsible for the colour and doesnt know anything about staining.. what type of floor sander is this guy!!?!!). Any suggestions on what we do, or experience with staining using a water based product.

He said initially that he didnt have the sand the floors back again to put a stain on... now he says he does. To be honest, we dont trust anything he says.
I am planning to get another floor sander to look at it as well, even if we get him to fix the job. and it looks like we might be needing to head to Fair Trading. bugger, we dont have time/ energy for this.
 
Look out, Penny, you may be accused of whinging! :rolleyes:

Seriously, though, that's a really disappointing outcome. Hope your first sander can come up with the goods and save you any additional hassle.
 
the floor sander came back this afternoon. My hubby wasnt home, so we probably had a better outcome :rolleyes:... he really dislikes the guy!
So, he is saying we can stain the wood, using any sort of a stain (oil or water based). then he will sand that area, do 2 coats of water based polish. then do a 3rd sand over the whole level, and do a 3rd coat of polish. So, the new area will get a stain plus 3 polish, and the other area get a final coat, to help it to blend in.

I am technically challenged, so I need confirmation of the following..

*can we use an oil based stain if we are using a water based polish? He says yes but you cant do the other way around.
*does his plan in terms of sanding and polishing sound like it will work to integrate the new with the old.

he wants us/ the painter to work out what stain to use. so we have some samples to work with. I think he's not prepared to make a call on colours and not have it match again. He also says we can get a smaller amount with other brands, so it will cost us less. Luckily the painter is excellent, and happy to do the extra work for us. He's currently doing his 4th big job for us, so he's got a lot of work from us in the past.

Funniest part. the painter is Korean and there are some sounds that they pronounce the same eg F and P. So, he's telling me this brand to look at for the stain. I really couldnt understand what he was saying. It sounded like "p iss washing". So, I asked him to spell it, which he couldnt. so he asked an offsider to txt it to him.. turns out its "feast watson". gave me a few laughs in amongst the frustration.

Anyway, the lesson is to use tradesmen who you like.. this guy was irritating from the beginning. Gut feel is a key indicator for us in whether you want to have someone in your house or not. Price is far less important for us than a quality finish and a pleasant personality!
 
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This is a really difficult area. Personally I wouldn't try and stain the floors to match as it is quite problematic.

When sunlight doesn't get access to floors the timber oxidises at different rates. Under lino the timber will be lighter than under carpet which will be lighter than exposed floors etc.

This creates a patchy look which in most cases will run across boards and be hard to micro manage.

There may be an option to stain the entire floor, which could reduce the effect of the mismatching colours, but most likely wont make it disappear all together.

The oil/water based combination of stain and sealer should be fine
 
i agree with the above.

Stripping a section back and trying to stain and match it to the older flooring will be quite difficult and may not give you a satisfactory finish. i'd also be concerned that originally he said he didnt know how to stain but now he's willing to give it a shot! with the painters help of course 'cause you know painters stain parquetry floors on a daily basis
 
When sunlight doesn't get access to floors the timber oxidises at different rates. Under lino the timber will be lighter than under carpet which will be lighter than exposed floors etc.

apparently this doesnt happen with the water based finishes (UV protection).... we'll have to wait and see if this is correct, although we are unlikely to have mats down anywhere

t had happened previously downstairs where there was a large mat in the room, but this has been rectified with the sanding/ polishing and the colours now match perfectly. This part, at least, has worked...
 
i agree with the above.

Stripping a section back and trying to stain and match it to the older flooring will be quite difficult and may not give you a satisfactory finish. i'd also be concerned that originally he said he didnt know how to stain but now he's willing to give it a shot! with the painters help of course 'cause you know painters stain parquetry floors on a daily basis

I trust the painter alot more than the floor sander! He's fairly confident the plan will work, and will double check with the product manager.

We cant leave it as it is.. i'll try to get photos uploaded tomorrow... its very very obvious and ugly, and its at the entrance to the house, most highly visible room.

The old parquetry is so much darker, I think if we stain it as well, it will just keep staying darker. hopefully the one coat of polish will help to match them. It wont be perfect, but I think it will be better than now. The parquetry is already not quite matchiing, because its not available in the same size now. But we have had floorboards before which didnt match in size, and because it was the same colour, you didnt notice where it changed.

We have stained some sample parquetry with a stain at various ratios of stain and whatever it is that you mix it with, and we'll see how the samples look.
 
Just managed to get the photos downloaded.. maybe a bit late, but at least you can see what we are faced with.
 

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It's too noticeable for my liking. And why don't the lines match up?

We knew the lines wouldnt match up. apparently its not possible to buy parquetry in the same sizes these days.

and yes...way too noticeable. Thats why we need to stain the new section.

i've attached a photo of our first sample stain.. not quite right, it needs to be a little lighter, but it gives me some hope that we can get close. (its in the middle of the old parquetry floor).

But I think we should get the painter to do the staining... he has organised the sample, and I trust him much more than the floor guy..
 

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I can't believe he told you it would match in with a coat of clear over it. The areas are like chalk and cheese

we were doubtful, but he was very insistent!

He even brought a hand sander in to show us how much lighter it would be once sanded...
 
Did he supply/install the new section?

yep.. he said its the same timber (blackbutt?) as the old section, but I dont believe anything he says.

the old section as alot more variety in the colour than the new section, which will contribute to the challenge of matching.

I wish we'd insisted on him staining the whole lot to begin with..
 
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