Proudly serving New England since 1928

Paint & Stain Matching

At Clark Paint, our stain and paint matching are unparalleled. That’s because we treat this meticulous process with great care, using equal parts art and science, to get wonderful results for every customer. The process takes time, so please understand before you come in that our fastidiousness will give you an excellent quality match. There is simply no comparison of our expert matching with the quick computerized-only job you’ll get at a big box store. Be prepared to give us at least three hours for most matching jobs. 

Excellent paint and stain matching can save you money. A good match can allow you to simply touch up a particular area rather than repainting an entire room or wall. Get the job done right the first time with our experts. 

Pictures from a phone or magazines are not sufficient as a sample to match. They are good for getting ideas but cannot and will not be used for matching. 

We prefer you not to wait in the store for a match as we need a couple of hours in most cases. 

Before you come in for stain matching, please keep these things in mind:

  1. We need time and a good sample to provide an excellent match. We will need two pieces of wood to do the match: first, the old stain sample to be matched and a raw piece of the wood you are using on the job.
  2. For interior stain matching, it’s always best if, when starting a new project, you have a stain matched using the same species of wood. Different wood species reflect stains differently. Stick with the same species for best results.
  3. Looking to match an older stain for interior or exterior application? We can expertly match samples that are decades old if you bring in a sample that is at least 1” square.

Before you come in for paint matching, please keep these things in mind:

  1. When we do are color matching for paint, we need at least a 1" square sample to match. We start with color matching using a computer, which gets us part of the way to a great match. From there, we add colorant and match this by eye. Then we allow our matched sample to dry next to the sample you have provided. This process takes at least 30-minutes to complete and is worth every second.
  2. Every time we make an addition of colorant, every amount gets recorded, then is shaken and then followed with drying. Paint color can change drastically from wet to dry, so never judge wet paint for color matching; it must always be completely dry to give you the most accurate match.  
  3. Another consideration when matching exterior paint is to provide a sample from the actual part of the house where the paint will be ultimately used. Want to match a faded area? Bring in a sample from the faded area of the house. Want to match the original color? Bring in a non-faded sample.

Our skills at paint and stain matching set us apart from competitors. We pride ourselves on the fact that Clark Paint provides excellent matching, an art and science which is hard to find elsewhere. There’s no comparison to our meticulous matching with the quick-matching options you will find in big box stores.