Why does my sample look different to the finished floor?

Natural timber varies hugely. Always ask for a light and a dark sample of the same colour, not just one.

The short answer

Here we are in the showroom, and as you can see there is so much variation within a single floor. Say you take a piece home and think, this piece is fantastic, I really like that tone. Then when we come and do the floor, with all these lighter bits, it looks nothing like the sample you had.

You have got to keep in mind that natural timber has a huge variation. No plank is the same. Depending on where it is cut from in the tree, and where the knots are, it is going to look completely different.

What you want to make sure you are doing when you ask for samples is getting a light side and a dark side of a variation of a particular colour. On here you have got a medium and you have got a dark. That way you know the range of variation you are going to get throughout the house.

Related questions

• What can you not tell about a floor from a website photo?
• Should I take a sample home?
• Why do you send clients to the showroom instead of choosing for them?
• What is the difference between smoked oak and natural oak?

See our flooring installation service or get an estimate.

We install floors across Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian.