# Hardwood species undertone guide for colour matching in Toronto

**How does hardwood species change what a colour match actually looks like?**

Oak, maple, walnut, hickory and ash do not take the same stain the same way, because grain, porosity and natural colour differ by species. This guide reuses the published species facts from our species dossiers — it does not invent hardness numbers or grading claims beyond what those dossiers already state.

## What decides it

1. **Open grain vs closed grain** — Open-grain species (oak, ash, hickory) take stain differently than closed-grain species (maple), which is why the same stain can look correct on one and blotchy on the other.
2. **Natural colour before any stain** — Walnut starts dark; maple starts pale; the two oaks and ash sit in a similar mid-range naturally. Matching new material to old starts from the species' own colour, not only the stain on top of it.
3. **Whether the existing floor is even still identifiable by species** — Confirm the species of the existing floor before assuming a stain alone explains its colour — see colour identification of an existing finish.

## Comparison

*Species colour and grain character, as published in the species dossiers*

| Species | Natural character relevant to colour matching |
| --- | --- |
| White oak | Even stain uptake; the default for grey, smoked and modern transparent finishes — see white oak flooring in Toronto |
| Red oak | More pronounced open grain under stain; the common heritage match for existing Toronto floors — see red oak |
| Hard maple | Closed-grain and pale; dense wood that resists penetration and can blotch without conditioning — see hard maple |
| White ash | Open, expressive grain, similar hardness range to the oaks — see white ash |
| Hickory | Wide natural colour range within a single board (pale sapwood against dark heartwood) — its defining character, not a defect — see hickory |
| Black walnut | Naturally deep brown heartwood; the softest of the species commonly sold here — see black walnut |

## Recommendation

Start a colour match from the species' own natural character, not only from a stain chip. If the existing floor's species is uncertain, confirm it before proposing a match — a stain cannot make one species behave like another.

Conditional on:

- Reuse the published dossiers on each species for grain and colour character rather than re-deriving figures.
- No hardness (Janka) figure or grade claim is used here beyond what each species dossier already publishes.


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## Provenance

- Canonical URL: https://ecowoods.ca/guides/species-undertone-guide-color-matching-toronto
- Publisher: Ecowoods Inc., Toronto & the GTA
- Contact: (647) 244-5156 · services@ecowoods.ca
- Published: 2026-09-18
- Sources: https://ecowoods.ca/papers/hardwood-selection-and-cost-framework-gta#species, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/hardwood-grading-standards-nhla-nwfa#nwfa-appearance, https://ecowoods.ca/papers/where-toronto-hardwood-comes-from#growing-stock
- Citation guide: https://ecowoods.ca/ai.txt

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