Install & Refinish White Oak with Custom Stain - Chelmsford, MA

This project had a lot going on... there were a lot of areas where the floor had been scratched or where the previous finish was damaged, and we also installed brand new flooring in the kitchen, which was being remodeled.

This project shows a really awesome transformation and we are excited to share a little bit about it.

Some areas of the floor had visible scratches in the hardwood from an overzealous carpet guy and his knife. As you can see from this example, these scratches span over multiple boards. Luckily, in this case, the scratches weren't too deep so we were able to salvage the flooring by sanding it down with our Bona Dust Containment System.

And the spots you see in the following images isn't water spilled on the floor. This is actually drips of polyurethane that dried in pools over multiple rows.

The polyurethane was peeling at all edges and beginning to flake off in sections. This was happening in multiple rooms throughout the home.

It's a little difficult to see, but the edges of the hallway had deep scratches along the baseboards, but after sanding and applying stain, the scratches are no longer there.

The homeowner decided to go with a custom mix of Jacobean/Ebony/Red Oak Minwax stain to completely transform their flooring. Below you can see the progression from the previous natural finish, to where the stain was applied, and finally to where the final coat of Bona Woodline polyurethane was applied.

Previous floor finish

Sanded and custom stain applied

After the final coat of polyurethane applied

The stain was applied throughout home using a buffer and conditioning pads for a consistent, even color throughout the floor. 

Notice the care taken around the cabinets in the kitchen with covering and blue tape to ensure that stain does not get on the cabinets or wall surfaces.

Looking at the end result, you can see the floor has an even color and still shows the wood grain. This is a really unique look and we are proud to have been involved!

Resources:

Minwax Wood Stain
Bona Dust Containment System
Bona Woodline Polyurethane

Ripout, Install, and Refinish Wood Floors- Nashua, NH

This job had it all: ripout, install and refinish. So I'm really excited to share some details of this project!








The customer's foyer and hallway had a tile they wanted gone. They wanted to update the areas and blend it into the existing kitchen,  which had prefinished wood flooring installed; this they wanted to keep.

Here you can see the tile material in the foyer and into the hallway.

Ripout Phase

We removed the tile and prepared the area to install a new prefinished wood flooring. This part if very important. Not only do we need to be very careful not to damage anything besides what is being removed, this also gives us a chance to look for any trouble area in the subfloor. This is where having an expert installer comes in especially handy.

Install Phase

After the tile was removed from the foyer and hallway, we were ready to install the new prefinished wood flooring.

The customer chose a Bruce 2-1/4"prefinished red oak wood flooring material.

Refinish Phase

Now that that prefinished wood flooring was installed, it was time to tackle the existing kitchen floor. The kitchen floor was actually a prefinished floor as well. Some may not know this, but a prefinished floor can typically be sanded and refinished to extend its life.

TIP: Prefinished floors can be typically be refinished to extend the life of the floors!

As you can from the pictures taken before the floor was refinished, there were clear signs of wear-and-tear. You can see areas of discoloration and build-up from years of foot traffic.

But these oak floors came back to life! Notice how dark the area in the corner appears in the "before" photos above compares to how clean that refinished floors came out.


We sanded the floors using our Bona Dust Containment System and then applied Bona Woodline oil-modified polyurethane finish with a semi-gloss sheen.

This creates a nice warn, amber-toned finish that blends well with the newly installed prefinished flooring in the hallway and foyer.

Resources:

• Bruce flooring
• Bona Woodline polyurethane
• Bona Dust Containment Systems

Ripout and Install Prefinished Wood Floors- Londonderry, NH

This prefinished wood floor was installed as an upgrade and to add continuity between multiple rooms.

But first, we had to remove the existing flooring!







We were called to inspect this 3 1/4" prefinished Bruce Armstrong Gunstock floor that was purchased and installed by a local "big box" home improvement store about 10 years ago. These big box stores generally subcontract services such as flooring installations.

It was easy to notice many gaps between the rows of flooring, so it was obvious something went wrong with the installation.

EverWood Flooring to the rescue!

The homeowner elected to remove this dining room floor and install a new floor to extend into the family room.

Warning: we're about to get a little technical!

Once we began to remove the floor we quickly realized it was nailed backwards into the grooves instead of the tongue of the hardwood.

The installer had used an excessive amount of nails to trying to force the tongues into the grooves. It's obvious the installer was having trouble with the staples blocking the the tongues from setting completely into the grooves.

Now, the fun part!

The customer chose a 3 1/4" Bruce Armstrong Dundee hardwood product, which carries a generous 50-year warranty. This is one of Armstrong's most prestigious lines of oak flooring.

TIP:  When planning your installation, consider ordering extra flooring so you have an exact match if you need a small repair in the future! 

We had about a half a bundle of wood left for the customer. These individual prefinished boards can be used to repair the floor one board at a time or a small section. 

Things happen in life, such as water that overflowing from a plant or a new puppy peeing on a wood floor- things like this can cause permanent damage. We can use these leftover boards and replace damaged areas with no need to sand and refinish! 

Repairing the floor without the need to sand/finish the entire room is one of the greatest benefits to prefinished flooring!

Resources:

• Bruce Armstrong Dundee wood flooring products

Prefinished Bamboo Installation- Hudson, NH

This was a very unique project because a previous contractor had improperly installed flooring, so we had to undo the damage and then re-install the flooring to meet other existing floor surfaces, ensuring smooth transitions throughout the first and second floors. 

So the first phase of this project was removing the flooring that had been improperly installed. The previous contractor had actually installed the materials backwards!!




When the previous contractor installed the flooring backwards they had a very difficult time finishing the last few pieces against the wall. Pry-bars and screw drivers were used to get the last row together and, as you can imagine, this left the baseboards very damaged.

Using shims to prepare the transitions where the bamboo flooring will meet the existing tile is a way to ensure the two surfaces are level and flush.

The green underlayment is a padding used between the subfloor and the bamboo. This helps soften the floor and quiets noise levels caused by foot traffic.

The transition between bamboo and tile will be smooth due to proper preparation

Here is another smooth transition between newly installed bamboo and existing tile

We took off approximately 1/8" of the baseboards to remove the damage using flush-cut saws and Hepa vacuums to maintain air quality. 

This was all done without having to remove the baseboard from the walls, which was glued and screwed with trim screws. 

We then leveled the subfloor, repaired the damaged baseboards, and installed the prefinished bamboo in the first floor entry way and second floor hallway.

Water Damage Repair with Bamboo Floating Floor- Andover, MA

We installed this prefinished bamboo product in the lower-level of this home to replace a water-damaged bonus room. 

The lower level of this home had pretty extensive water damage. When we pulled up the damaged floor we also found water-damaged cork beneath.

The cork was glued down to the concrete with a troweled wood glue. We removed the cork and then scraped the glue off of the concrete to prep the water-damaged areas of cork for replacement. 

Unfortunately, as every job has unexpected things arise, cork was not readily available for purchase that day at any of the local distributors. In the interest of keeping the job on track and finishing on time, we substituted with rubber underlayment in place of cork. The cork and rubber underlayment were the same thickness and are very similar products. 

Most flooring installers would stop there but we decided to also add layer of QuietWalk underlayment padding on top of the cork and rubber. This really took this installation to another level of quality. 

There are so many underlayment pads out there, and tend to be very expensive, although EverWood Flooring only uses QuietWalk Underlayment pad. 

You can read all about this product on their website (see the Resources section at the bottom of this profile), but here are a few:
- Sound absorption
- Moisture protection
- Smoothes out minor sub-floor imperfections
- Made from recycled materials

Then we installed Teragren Strand Bamboo floating flooring, glued at the seams. Teragren Bamboo is regarded as one of the highest end, best Bamboo products out there. 

This product can be installed a number of ways over a number of different subfloors. In this case, the customer mainly chose this product based on color to match the existing Exotic Wenge flooring in other areas of their home. 

It is most often installed being nailed down or glued to a subfloor, but Teragren has such a good milling system that the boards can be floated and glued at the seams. This is how we installed this bamboo over QuietWalk underlayment. 

This type of installation can be very difficult for a homeowner where the product is not nailed and has no locking mechanism. Relying on glue to keep each row bonded to the next, we used blue tape on top of the boards to keep everything from separating during installation. For a homeowner, I would recommend either nailing or hiring a professional to glue the product to the floor or at the seams. 

A few words about Teragren Strand Bamboo...
This product is certified by USDA BioPreferred as 94% biobased, meaning that most of it is "...derived from plants and other renewable agricultural, marine, and forestry materials..." Even still, the product has a Janka ball rating of 3271, which makes it harder than oak. 

Quick product facts:

• 160% harder than oak (3271 Janka ball rating)
• Sustainable product
• Durable 9-step UV Cured Polyurethane coating system with aluminum oxide wear layer for abrasion resistance

Resources

For more information on Bio Preferred program see: 

http://www.biopreferred.gov/BioPreferred/faces/pages/AboutBioPreferred.xhtml

For more information on Teragren products see:

http://www.teragren.com/p_portfolio_tg.html

For more information on QuietWalk products see:

http://www.mpglobalproducts.com/products/fiber-products/quietwalk/