Our house is an old one built back in early 50s, it has an oak plank floor
that is stained and varnished. One of the kids used a space heater directly
on the floor, and it blackened the floor right in front of it. I think the
burn damage is very shallow, so I am not expecting to have to sand very deep
to get rid of the burn marks. I know I cannot get a perfect match without
refinishing the whole floor, but I will settle for something that you have
to look close to notice it. IS this an achievable goal? I figure I can lift
up a little piece of the floor surface from a corner of a closet (same
flooring), strip the varnish and stain and use that as a test- piece. I
could lift up a second little piece and use that as the sample to match the
stripped test-piece to. But how can I match the stain accurately? Not long
ago, I tried matching a sample of a door that was stained and varnished to a
chart of stains at Lowes, and the stain that I thought matched pretty well
looked very different when I applied it and varnished it. I bought three
cans of stain before really getting something close, and it was still not a
good match at all....but I didn't care if one door is a little different
from the others. How can I get an accurate stain match?

I think if you present the problem to a local paint store,(not big-box
hardware store with a paint department), they can brew something up for
you.

Jimbo wrote:

Our house is an old one built back in early 50s, it has an oak plank floor
that is stained and varnished. One of the kids used a space heater directly
on the floor, and it blackened the floor right in front of it. I think the
burn damage is very shallow, so I am not expecting to have to sand very deep
to get rid of the burn marks. I know I cannot get a perfect match without
refinishing the whole floor, but I will settle for something that you have
to look close to notice it. IS this an achievable goal? I figure I can lift
up a little piece of the floor surface from a corner of a closet (same
flooring), strip the varnish and stain and use that as a test- piece. I
could lift up a second little piece and use that as the sample to match the
stripped test-piece to. But how can I match the stain accurately? Not long
ago, I tried matching a sample of a door that was stained and varnished to a
chart of stains at Lowes, and the stain that I thought matched pretty well
looked very different when I applied it and varnished it. I bought three
cans of stain before really getting something close, and it was still not a
good match at all....but I didn't care if one door is a little different
from the others. How can I get an accurate stain match?

Are you sure the floor was stained. I don't think it was very common to
stain oak floors. If it was just varnished, it has probably darkened
over the last 50 years and will be very hard to match. If it was
stained, I don't think stripping will remove the stain; you just have to
sand deep enough to get below where the stain soaked in.

In any event, it is always hard to do just part of a floor and get a
good match; perhaps the best solution would be to throw an area rug over
it and start saving until you have enough to refinish the whole room, or
better yet, the whole floor. For one room, usually it doesn't look too
bad at the doorways if you can go right to the edge of a board, and
somehow get a straight line in the other direction, perpendicular to the
boards.

Jimbo wrote:
Our house is an old one built back in early 50s, it has an oak plank floor
that is stained and varnished. One of the kids used a space heater directly
on the floor, and it blackened the floor right in front of it. I think the
burn damage is very shallow, so I am not expecting to have to sand very deep
to get rid of the burn marks. I know I cannot get a perfect match without
refinishing the whole floor, but I will settle for something that you have
to look close to notice it. IS this an achievable goal? I figure I can lift
up a little piece of the floor surface from a corner of a closet (same
flooring), strip the varnish and stain and use that as a test- piece. I
could lift up a second little piece and use that as the sample to match the
stripped test-piece to. But how can I match the stain accurately? Not long
ago, I tried matching a sample of a door that was stained and varnished to a
chart of stains at Lowes, and the stain that I thought matched pretty well
looked very different when I applied it and varnished it. I bought three
cans of stain before really getting something close, and it was still not a
good match at all....but I didn't care if one door is a little different
from the others. How can I get an accurate stain match?



--
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there.

Jimbo wrote:
Our house is an old one built back in early 50s, it has an oak plank floor
that is stained and varnished. One of the kids used a space heater directly
on the floor, and it blackened the floor right in front of it. I think the
burn damage is very shallow, so I am not expecting to have to sand very deep
to get rid of the burn marks. I know I cannot get a perfect match without
refinishing the whole floor, but I will settle for something that you have
to look close to notice it. IS this an achievable goal? I figure I can lift

Easiest fix: get some acrylic craft paint and paint fake grain over the
blackened spot. Also, forbid the kids to touch a space heater. I've
fixed booboos with craft paint, including spilled wood stain on
concrete. Digging the char out might leave a depression that is more
noticeable. Paint may not stick well to char unless it is sanded first,
but I would try. Can get gloss medium to add to paint if the floor is
glossier than the paint. Acrylic is easy to wash off, even when dry,
with hot soapy cloth (new paint). Get a flat artist brush, a light
brown and a dark brown, load the brush lightly and use short back and
forth strokes to immitate the grain. May need to add ochre, black,
white or blue to get the right hue.

I stripped a friend's kitchen cabinets once, and didn't know end panels
were fake wood grain. Big "oops"! Had to paint in wood grain to match
the cabinet new finish, and it worked pretty well. Takes a bit of
practice and color mixing, but can be done. Would be easier for someone
with a bit of art experience.

up a little piece of the floor surface from a corner of a closet (same
flooring), strip the varnish and stain and use that as a test- piece. I
could lift up a second little piece and use that as the sample to match the
stripped test-piece to. But how can I match the stain accurately? Not long
ago, I tried matching a sample of a door that was stained and varnished to a
chart of stains at Lowes, and the stain that I thought matched pretty well
looked very different when I applied it and varnished it. I bought three
cans of stain before really getting something close, and it was still not a
good match at all....but I didn't care if one door is a little different
from the others. How can I get an accurate stain match?