Stain Match
Refinishing one stair tread, replacing a single cabinet door, patching a section of hardwood, building a piece that has to sit next to twenty-year-old trim — in every one of those jobs the new wood has to match wood that is already in the room. That is what this service is for. Bring us a sample and we match it.
We do this in-store at both locations, in Richmond Hill and North York — often the same day. Walk in with your sample and we will tell you when it will be ready before you leave. No appointment needed, but a quick call ahead helps if you are driving in.
Stain Match
There are two ways we get you there, and we always try the first one before the second.
1. Match it to a stain we already stock
We carry dozens of ready-made wood stain colours on the shelf. Hold your sample against them and more often than you would think, one of them is the answer — and that is the better outcome for you: it is cheaper, you can take it home today, and two years from now when you need another quart for the next repair, you order the same colour by name and it is identical.
2. Custom-tint it with General Finishes RTM
If nothing on the shelf is close enough, we mix you a custom colour using General Finishes RTM — a water-based stain system built to be tinted to a sample. Low odour, soap-and-water cleanup, and it goes on inside a finished house without clearing the room out for two days.
What to bring us
- A sample of the colour you want matched. A cut-off, a drawer front, a piece of trim, an offcut of the old floor — anything with the finished colour on it. Bigger than a business card is ideal.
- A sample of the wood you are staining. This is the one people skip, and it is the one that decides whether the match works. Red oak, white oak, maple, pine, cedar and birch all take the same stain differently, and we will not have your wood on the shelf. Bring an offcut, sanded the same way you plan to sand the real thing.
- How you are applying it — brush or rag. These are water-based stains, so we usually recommend brushing.
- How much you need — quart or gallon.
Before you sand anything, read this
| Sanding new wood | Start at 60–80 grit — the surface should still feel slightly rough to the hand. Clean the dust off, then a light pass at 120. Do not over-sand: a glassy surface will not let the stain in, and the colour comes out pale and blotchy. |
|---|---|
| Wetting the wood | Wiping the wood with water before you stain opens the pores and pulls the colour deeper — useful when you want a darker result. On blotch-prone woods like pine and maple it also helps the colour go on evenly. Decide before you come in, because it changes the formula. |
| Topcoat | Let us recommend the varnish. A different brand of clear over our stain can shift the colour or refuse to bond — you will have matched the stain and then lost the match in the last coat. |
| Test first | Always brush your new stain on a spare piece of the same wood before you touch the real project. Two coats read darker than one, and this is where you find that out. |
Honest expectations
Wood is not a flat colour. It has grain, age, sun fade and an old topcoat on it, and a stain sits in the wood rather than on top of it. We cannot promise a 100% match — nobody honestly can. What we will do is get it as close as the two pieces of wood allow, tell you straight if your sample is going to be difficult, and send you home knowing how to apply it so the match survives the finish.
Paint Colour Match
Matching a painted wall, a cabinet, a piece of furniture or a colour off something you love — a tile, a cushion, a favourite mug — is a different job, and usually a quick one: bring the sample in and you can normally walk out with the paint the same day. We read the sample and mix it in Benjamin Moore paint in the sheen you need.
1. Pick the right spot
Choose an area that is clean and unworn. Behind a door or inside a closet beats the middle of a hallway, which has years of hands and sun on it.
2. Take a sample
For a painted surface, lift a chip with a utility knife or a putty knife. About one inch square — the size of a quarter — gives the most accurate read. For fabric, wood, laminate or plastic, bring the piece itself or a one-inch cutting.
3. Clean it
Wipe off dust and grease with a dry cloth. A greasy kitchen sample reads darker than the actual colour.
4. Protect it
Drop it in a small sealed bag or an envelope. Light and handling both change a chip on the drive over.
5. Bring it in
We will read it, mix it, and hand you a sample pot to try on the wall before you commit to a gallon. Same caveat as the stain: how close we get depends on the condition of what you hand us, and a faded wall cannot be matched to the colour it used to be.
Matching a colour that is already a Benjamin Moore colour? You do not need this service — tell us the name or number and we will mix it exactly. Bring the old can lid if you still have it.
While you are here
- SamaN water-based stain and varnish — part of our ready-made colour range, plus the clear coats that go over it.
- SamaN water-based varnish and SamaN hybrid varnish — the clear coats we recommend over a stain match.
- SamaN latex wood putty — fill the nail holes before you stain, not after.
- Bennett poly stain brush — synthetic bristle, which is what a water-based stain wants.
- How interior wood stains differ — worth a read if you are deciding between a wiping stain, a gel and a one-step.
Come in with your sample
Richmond Hill — 11860 Yonge Street, Units 2 & 3, Richmond Hill, ON L4E 0W6
North York — 6212 Yonge Street, Unit 103, North York, ON M2M 3X4
Questions before you drive over? WhatsApp us at (647) 227-1780 — send a photo of the piece and tell us what wood it is going on.