Tips for getting the best out of your hardwood flooring contractor

They say it’s the little things in life. Well, it is. Especially when hiring a flooring professional to redo your hardwood floors. Now that you’ve gone through interviewing and finally hiring your flooring contractor, it’s time to let them do the work. Let’s face it, it is pretty awkward when strangers like contractors work inside your home. No matter how qualified and professional they are, it still feels a little like someone is in your private space. We are located in the Bay Area, California so what I write here is from working in my immediate area for more than a decade and a half. We refinish, install and repair hardwood floors mainly in the East Bay but what I write probably applies to many other trades.

  • Try to be on time or a few minutes early to your estimate appointment. We usually travel an average of 20-30 minutes to get to your home on time. We don’t want to be late and if we are a few minutes early (especially in the morning) please let us in and not wait outside.
  • Contractors have a bad reputation for a lot of reasons. Home owners try to protect themselves by doing due diligence. We always welcome questions and questioning us but don’t compare what we say to what you read on Google search in a manner that implies Google knows better than us. You don’t do it with your doctor or dentist so please don’t do it with us. We are professionals in our trade for a lot of good reasons.
  • Be ready when you say you will. It is frustrating to a hardwood flooring contractor showing up to work and the site is not ready. Don’t still be making breakfast in your kitchen while your couch is in the middle of the living room and you need “just a little more time to finish up getting ready”.
  • Don’t micro manage your contractor. You will get the least our of a contractor by watching them all the time which leads me to
  • Thank you goes a long way. A small snack to the professionals crawling every inch of your floor to make sure it is perfect wouldn’t hurt either. I noticed that when my guys hear a thank you or get some water (me too) it makes the moral on the job much higher.
  • Handling a construction remodel can be stressful. By the time you get to the finishing touches like hardwood floors you are probably coming to a close on the planned schedule. Allow your contractor enough time to complete his/her work to the standard expected.

I am sure there are many more dos and don’ts on this list which could go on forever. Remember that making life easier on the people you hire makes life easier on you. 

Which finish should I use on my wood floors

Water-base-on-Brazilian-cherry

Water base on Brazilian cherry

When you get estimates to refinish your hardwood floors you get different opinions from contractors. I often hear from customers things like “the other contractor told me oil base is better than water base”. Each contractor will tell you a different story about which finish you should put on your floors. Which finish or contractor should you choose? It is crucial that you understand a major principal: It is never just the finish you put down that counts.

A good finish is a result of not only a good product but a few more factors:

  • How the wood surface was prepared; what sanding sequence and which machines were used.
  • The person applying the finish – was he/she following the instructions like spread rate and drying conditions.
  • The finish itself – you can never get a good finished floor with a cheap inferior product.
  • The right finish for the right floor.
  • The right finish for the right customer (future use). I will recommend one finish for a young family with kids and a different one for an older couple without kids or pets.

When you debate whether or not you should put oil base, water base, wax or oil on the floor make sure you get the facts, not just opinions. The contractor you are about to hire should have the experience, education, credentials and most importantly the same standards as you.

How to maintain my hand scraped floors

Buffed-tung-oil-floor-300x224Hand scraped floors are beautiful and full of interesting elements; peaks and valleys, pronounced color variation, knots, mineral streaks and more. Much like any other wood floor it requires regular cleaning and maintenance. Here are a few things you should do to preserve the beauty of your hand scraped floors:

  • Vacuum or sweep as needed.
  • Wipe off spills or stains using a rag soaked with the recommended cleaner.
  • Use a colorant like Sharpie or matching stain to hide any scratches or dents.
  • Most importantly when your floor starts losing its luster call a professional to apply a coat of clear urethane.

Hand scraped floors are admired for their textured look. This look creates a challenging reality: these floors cannot be refinished with the use of sanding machines. The only way to refinish a hand scraped floor is to re scrape it. That is a task very few professionals are capable of and honestly, not many people can afford.

Even though these floors are unique and different maintaining them is a very simple task. If you follow maintenance guidelines your hand scraped floors could last a lifetime.

How to work with “hard to work with” woods?

Tigerwood-install-225x300They have weird names that are hard to pronounce. They come from countries you didn’t know existed (let’s face it – you didn’t). Everyone hates working with them: you, your nailers, your saw blades, even your finish! Yes, I’m talking about exotic woods. In our trade we are familiar with names like Brazilian Cherry, I’pe, and Padauk which are more readily available. Some woods are so rare and expensive they are sold by weight like Cocobolo (see it in my last video about wood anatomy) and Lignum Vitae. You can find those at your local hardwood lumber store.

My first experience with Ipe was not good. My fasteners kept bending or breaking, my carbide blade on my miter saw was dull after a day and one of my employees had an allergic reaction to the dust. Exotic woods have become a part of every installer’s life. When I say exotics I refer to woods that are extremely dense, hard and rich in oils, silica or resins.

So, how working with exotics is different from working with let’s say Oak? Well, first thing is first right? I mean after safety. Acclimation and preparation: Your average oak will gain or lose a moisture point in a week. Not your average exotic. One of the former technical directors with the Nwfa told me a story about a museum installation of Ipe he had to do. He had acclimated the wood on site for two months before he was “forced” to install it. And still the wood was not where he wanted it to be. My point is that exotics (or any other hard and dense wood or strand woven grass) will need to be on site under estimated future living conditions for weeks at a minimum.

Next – installing: Cutting and nailing that exotic wood. You should use a cleat nailer to fasten exotic floors because your average ½” (1.3 cm) crown staple will split the tongue. This will create movement related issues with the floor. Some manufacturers make an 18 gauge cleat nailers (instead of 16) which are specifically designed for fastening hard and dense woods. If you are not used to spending $60 to $80 on a miter saw blade now is the time. The resins and silica in those woods will dull your blade quickly anyway, you might as well start with a quality blade (if you are a craftsman in my book you already have at least $600 worth of blades anyway, at least).

All of your power tools should be professional grade (and I don’t mean it looks professional, I mean professional). Trying to rip an Ipe’ board on a $100 table saw will be unsafe, slow and maybe impossible.

If you need to face or hand nail in some places pre drill your floor boards. You will find that pushing the drill through the wood is going to heat up your drill bit and break it. I learnt the hard way to let the bit do its’ job slowly, much like drilling into metal. If you attempt to face nail without pre drilling your nail will bend. Either way, trying to get a bent fastener out of a Cumaru board for example is an impossible task.

assembling-hardware-on-the-crib-300x225Sanding and finishing: here is a dilemma = I should start with a 36 grit because this is a really hard wood but, because it is such a hard wood how in the world am going to take those scratches out? Well, you are right. Better to start with 50 or 60 and change your abrasive frequently instead of starting with 36 or 40. Trying to get scratches out of Ipe’ is like trying to…well…let’s not even go there.

Finishing – First rule – no oil modified finishes. Second rule – seal it the day you are done sanding.

There’s much more to be said about exotics. I will probably dedicate some blog posts in the future about specific woods. Thank you for reading and as usual,  I hope I helped someone, somewhere somehow.