Hardwood Floors June/July 2019

By Brett Miller

Color theory – When performing repairs that require color matching or color replacement, you should have a general understanding of color theory. Color theory is based on the color spectrum. Color theory is the concept of mixing colors and the visual effects of specific color combinations. The color wheel is laid out as follows: 1. Primary colors – red, yellow, and blue 2. Secondary colors – orange (red and yellow), green (yellow and blue), and violet/purple (blue and red) 3. Tertiary colors – red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, and yellow-orange

Once the damage has been removed and the scope of work has been defined, it’s time to prepare the repair area for blending and color replacement. Making the repair – Blending the area into the surrounding flooring is the best way to trick the eyes. Focus on removing the line that separates color from raw wood. This can be accomplished by hand sanding and detail scraping. Chasing the grain away from the repair area allows you to follow the natural characteristics of the wood grain to carry the color out into the field.

This is an invaluable tool when attempting color-match repairs on a wood floor. It helps you visualize how themixing of colors can affect each color. It includes the outsidewheel that shows 12 colors including rawumber, French yellowochre, burnt sienna, cordovan, burnt umber, raw sienna, black, yellow, green, red, orange, andwhite. Background color – Any repair that requires color replacement should begin with the background color. Identify the background color and use this as a base. This is normally the lightest color in the workpiece and will set the backdrop for the rest of the repair detail.

Fillers are acceptable where board replacement is not an option, and sanding/scraping won't suffice. Use a filler that is compatible with the finish. Color should be close to the lightest portion of the wood and should be flat with the surface. Most of the time this will also require adding color and characteristics to the repair areas. Color Replacement – Color replacement can be achieved by using a variety of tools and products. The most common colorants include stains, dyes, tinted sealers/finishes, dye markers, pigment stain markers, colorant sticks, and reactive conditioners. Application of the base color using any of these tools should be done thoroughly, and with adequate dry-times for the products being used.

For wood repairs, we use a version of the color wheel commonly referred to as “The Finisher’s Color Wheel” developed by Color Concepts Inc., which has been developed using the standard earth-tone colors in the wood industry (fromwhich most floor stains and colorants have been developed).

Areas that are too light can always be darkened, but areas that are too dark can be more difficult to lighten without going back to rawwood. Assess the

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