hi everyone: i am new to this site and thought i would ask a question about my hardwood floors.I had them installed 1.5 years ago. I have an area rug in my living room, and i pulled the rug the other day and noticed the hardwood was lighter. Since the rest of the hardwood is darker, I assumed the original hardwood, under the area rug, since it was covered, did not change color. I have now removed the area rug , and was wondering how long do you think it would take for the color to catch up? Would leaving my blinds open speed up the process, or would the hardwood, that is dark right now getting even more darker, and the floor color never catch up? any recommendations would be helpful...thank you

I think that area will catch up somewhat, but you will still probably be able to see the difference.

About a year or so, it needs to even out but will never catch up 100%.

Time frame will largly depend on the amount of sunlight/UV rays on the area.

The color change in am cherry is somewhat like getting a tan yourself. Its pretty quick and drastic when first exposed then once it gets to a point it slows down dramatically. In 6-9months time if left uncovered it will get back very close to the other.

thanks everyone i guess i'll have to wait, i'm a bit of a perfectionist, so seeing the difference in the color of the floor is bugging me, but i guess if i want it right i have no choice.

Maybe a UV lamp would work? Or a sunlamp like this one you could direct the light with. I've always thought about doing this when listening to issues like this. If you do it let us know how it works for ya. You can also use it for reading and tanning at the same time!

http://www.amazon.com/Sunlight-Floor-La ... _hi_text_c