Hardwood floors are one of the most important design elements in your home or business. No matter what your lifestyle, wood floors add value and comfort to any décor, but with all the choices available today, selecting the right floor can be daunting.

The following pages will help you discern the various choices available to you, and help you choose the right floor for your home or business.

Refinishing

Once you have decided to refinish your hardwood floors, you will need to know what to expect before, during, and after the process. This will help to ensure you are receiving the best quality process and finishing product for your floor each step of the way. Refinishing your wood floors will dramatically improve the appearance of your home and give your floors new life at a far lower cost than replacement — but with any home improvement you should expect some inconveniences. We will employ our experience, the latest equipment and the most environmentally safe materials to complete the work with the least disruption. 

We use revolutionary dust containment sanding equipment, which eliminates dust produced by floor sanding equipment before it becomes airborne. Higher quality finish results are achieved with the elimination of airborne dust that could settle and contaminate the finish as finishing coats dry. Although we do our best to contain the dust in adjacent areas with plastic and tape; no system is 100% effective and light dust is inevitable. It is still a good idea to cover any belongings you would like to keep clean and dust-free.

Before Starting

Before the work begins, we ask that you remove as much of your personal belongings as possible. Such as light furnishings, curtains, wall and floor decor, and any other items from the room that may be affected. We don't mind helping with larger items—space will need to be provided. 

The refinishing process consists of about 5 steps.

Step one: We begin sanding the entire floor with a large sanding machine with 36 grit sand paper.  The first pass is used to remove all of the old finish and make the floor completely flat, leveling any high spots or cupped seams.  After the first pass we then make more passes stepping up the grit to a finer paper until we reach the desired smoothness. 

Step two: In step two we use a handheld sander called an "edger" to sand all the edges along the walls.  We use the same technique that is used with the big machine with multiple passes with finer paper each pass.

Step Three: Now that the floor is sanded down to raw wood its time for the fine details. First we use a large floor buffer and a sanding screen (80 grit) to fine sand the entire floor which produces a uniform appearance, then repeat the same process with (100 grit).  Now that the floor is smooth, flat, and looking perfect it is time to apply finish.

Step Four: We apply the highest grade oil modified polyurethane with a lamb's wool and natural bristle brush.  Our company chooses to use oil based products because they react with the woods natural characteristics producing the richest most vibrant looking finished product.  Oil based products are the only way to release woods natural beauty.  We will use other types of finish at the customer's request but recommend oil based polyurethane for its superior look and durability.

Step Five: After the finish has dried we buff the floor with a very fine 180 grit sand paper to make the finish very smooth and to create a good surface for proper adhesion for another coat of polyurethane.  When its all said and done there will be 3 coats of polyurethane

What you should NOT expect

Here are a few things you should NOT EXPECT of a custom finished floor:

• A Table Top Finish: Each piece of wood flooring sands differently depending on its grain type. Plain or quartered make it virtually impossible for a completely flat surface.
• Dust Free Finish: It is not possible to achieve a "clean room" finish. Some dust will fall onto the freshly applied topcoat. Some brush marks may appear in the final coat.
• A Monochromatic Floor: Wood, as a natural product and being milled from trees, varies from piece to piece and will have grain and color variations consistent with the grade and species of flooring selected.
• A Floor Will Indent: In spite of the term "hardwood", wood flooring will indent under the pressure of high heels (especially heels in need of repair). The finish that is applied will not prevent dents.
• Walls: There are times when nicks and scratches will happen to the walls and we will do our best in preventing this. Especially along your baseboards you should expect to have some touch-up painting to do after the floor is completed.
• Floors Without Cracks Between The Boards, Or With The Parquet Pieces: Although the floor might start out tight together, wood products continue to absorb and release moisture. This natural process will cause the floor to expand and contract from season to season - resulting in cracks between some of the pieces in your floor. Some stain colors will show this process more than others.