Q: We have a wood floor in our kitchen, with a satin finish. Our wood floor contractor tried to repair an area on the floor where the there was some damage. The problem is the finish on the repaired area looks much duller than the rest of the floor. How can we match the finish?
A: It can sometimes be hit and miss when not working from the same batch of finish. If it is duller I don’t know of anything short of trying to coat again.
Similar Q: We just laid unfinished red oak hardwood floors. After staining and 2 coats poly the floors looked pretty good for non professionals. My question is – I noticed a couple of problem areas that I wanted to fix, after sanding and reapplying stain and poly, and after everything dried, the fixed areas are a lot shinier then the rest of the floor (used the same poly). What’s the best way to fix and match the shine to the rest of the floor? Do I just need to resand the whole area?
A: I assume the finish is perhaps a satin, semi or matte finish. For most or many of these products, the paste which is added to the polyurethane needs to be mixed in well so that it is dispersed evenly throughout the product. The only finish I’ve used which doesn’t require much stirring is Poloplaz Primero. Having said all that, it is just about impossible to get an invisible blend on a patch in the middle of the board. The best we can hope for is to lightly but thoroughly sand the entire boards involved with a fine abrasive. After removing all the dust, tape off the boards along the edges, apply a thin coat of the well stirred finish and immediately remove the tape. Don’t let anyone step on it until it’s dry. That is easier said than done.