Hears the deal ! I did a repair about 4 by 6 of Muskoka 3.25 prefinished brazilian ipe slight stain.The existing floor is slightly cupped to begin with. The left over stuff I had to work with sucked. Had a hard time with repair ,didnt come out that great . Probly should said no to begin with because of crap leftovers and cupping but to late now.Contractor asked me about refinishing whole hallway to make repair look better and take away cupping. Its a u shaped hallway with 2 closets and 10 feet of railing with spindles. Ive done some refinishing but consider myself novice at refinishing. Never sanded prefinished . I suggested ripping up from start of repair to the wall {8 by 6] and reflooring with new prefinished.Color will most likely be different for while.I almost think sanding and finishing might open new can of worms.Any thoughts on which way to lean would be appreciated.

It is very difficult to match a factory finish. Plus, most factory finishes are alum. oxide these days. Difficult to match and difficult to sand off. Why is the flooring cupped? Did someone wet mop it? Is it cold and damp inside the home now or in the past? My recommendation is replacement after a determination for the cupping is made.

Hi Gary , the existing house has about 2000 sq ft of existing Muskoka brazilian walnut prefinished. THe floors were cupped everywhere before contractor came in to do 3000 foot addition for which I am installing 3000 sq ft of Nature 3.75 inch brazilian walnut.The cupping issue really isnt an issue with the home owner in the original areas .Have a temp and humidity meter in area where wood is sitting and temp is 68 with humidity at 42 percent. Checked a few pcs of the wood and it came in at 8.5 %good for Massachusetts.Have not checked original area. After I did the repair it came out marginal. The contractor said there are boards that he can feel a rough edge or they gap slightly so thats when he asked me about just sand and finishing hallway just to even things out a little. I did the best I could with the stuff they had . I offered to try and change any boards that were in question to see if could make it a little better . I don,t know how much color change there is in brazilian walnut but I suggested just ripping up area as opposed to sand and finish . The Muskoka has A slight stain on it , do you think changing an 8 by 6 area would be a big difference in look with new Muskoka prefinished.

The reason you had a hard time repairing is because the original floor is swelled.

The subfloor is wetter then the wood, from a moist basement or crawl space, causing the cupping. What moisture content is the underside of the subfloor?

Correct the moisture problem before attempting to go any further. Brazilian walnut (ipe) are going to be very hard to maintain in terms of a fit temp/humidity.

Exotic woods will age very differently, so an area of that size, you will definately see the difference. Depending on lighting and pickiness of clients, you probably won't get away with it.