Once you’ve decided to move forward with getting new floors installed or your existing ones refinished, probably the most exciting or anxious moment about the project is selecting a new stain color and sheen.  Hardwood floors have a significant advantage over other floor coverings since they can be refinished several times and each time a new color can be introduced and drastically change the interior look of your home. 

Most of the time we will carve out 30-60 minutes on the first day of your project to show you samples directly on your floor.  If you’re unable to be home during the project, we will schedule a visit before you leave town and complete the sample process.

It’s absolutely critical that we show you the stain samples on your floor.  We do have samples in our showroom on both red and white oak, but they will not be as accurate as the actual samples on your floor.  We like to complete the sample process in our client’s homes for the following reasons:

• We want to utilize our sanding equipment and process to create the proper scratch pattern in your floor, so that the stain colors are as accurate as possible.  Many people do not realize that the way a floor gets sanded has a lot to do with how the stain color looks on the floor. 

• The lighting in your home will have a HUGE impact on how that stain color looks.  Your floor may look dramatically different as the sunlight shifts throughout the day. 

• We would like to show you various sheen options in addition to the stain color.  The sealer and finish choices are just as important as the stain color selection.  For this reason, we always include finish options whenever we complete our sample process.

• The process is usually iterative and requires a bit of back and forth between our crew leader and the client.  Sometimes we will have to mix two colors to get the exact shade our client is looking for.  

• The grade/manufacturer of wood in your home will most certainly not match the grade in our showroom.  For accuracy reasons, it’s always best to complete the sample process on the actual floor that is being refinished.

• The color of the walls and ceiling in the home will also impact how the color looks.  You will may also want to coordinate with the color of the cabinets or the trim in a specific area.   Completing the sample process in your home allows us to do this.

Once the process is completed, you may be asked to sign off on your selection.  These selections will be recorded in our project software and we will keep it for historical purposes.  This information will be invaluable if you have future room additions or repairs to your floors.

If your contractor isn’t providing these options to you during the course of your refinishing project, I would push back and request it.  Nobody wins if the floor has to be refinished a second time whenever the color doesn’t meet the client’s expectations.  It’s better to spend the time up front and do everything possible to prevent that from happening!

Check out our other blog topics under the resources tab or hit the “Get Quote” button at the top of the screen if you’d like to schedule a consultation. 

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about Kimminau Floors!