Germs and Cleanliness of Floor Covering; a Confession of a Hardwood Floor Contractor

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Carpet vs. Hardwood Floors

It’s always the same debate. Should I install a new carpet or wood floors? Which one is better or cheaper? Which one will hold for a long time? Which one is better for the health of my family? Which is better for the environment?

We had been replacing carpets with new hardwood floors in the bay area for two decades. Yes, it is pretty obvious that an old and dirty carpet should be replaced. But what about newer carpets? The answer is they are all the same. We removed brand new carpets from multi million dollar homes to only find dirt and dust under them.

Here is my list of reasons why hardwood floors are a better choice for everyone Read more

Repairing, Sanding and Finishing a 100 Year Old Floor

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Repairing, sanding and finishing a 100 year old floor can be challenging to most, sometimes even to the best of contractors. The unknowns of things like wood species, install technique and finish types can add up pretty quickly into a big challenge to match.

In this blog I will walk you through a job we just completed in Piedmont, California. The floor was a solid parquet with stain and original finish on it. We had to sand, stain, repair and finish it with our modern tools and finishes. Read more

Can You Put Hardwood Floors in The Bathroom?

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We all love wood floors. Wood is warmer and better than other flooring options. We can find wood floors in almost every home, from entryways to living rooms to every bedroom and closet. We often get questions like: “can we put hardwood floors in the bathroom”? Yes of course, but it is not that black and white. We don’t recommend solid wood floors in bathrooms with full showers or bathtubs, just because wood and water don’t mix. Wood will react to extreme changes in relative humidity and that is exactly what a steamy shower does. Despite my last statement, we did install solid wood floors in the past in full bathrooms with showers.

A successful wood floor install depends on how well balanced you keep the temperature and humidity conditions inside the bathroom. If the ventilation is poor and there is standing water over the floor every day, eventually the wood floor will discolor or cup.

If you have small children like I do, you know better than to let them have a bath with wood floors just inches away. Families with small children should probably consider something other than wood for a bathroom floors, well at least until the kids grow a little older.

If you keep the bathroom well ventilated and place a mat over the floor, the wood will last longer.

Using white or red oak floors, preferably vertical grain for stability reasons is the way to go.

Design your bathroom with wood floors in mind and enjoy the warmth and beauty of it for years to come.

Top Five Complaints and how to Avoid Them

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If you are a professional hardwood flooring contractor like me, installing wood floors becomes a second nature. From the preparation to the final product – it is a careful step by step process. Done right, it can yield a floor that can last more than a 100 years. It sounds so easy just reading about floor installation or watching a video on YouTube. So why are there so many problems in reality? Because installing a wood floor is not that easy. Every day home owners pay a good amount of money for so called professionals to install their floors, only to have a problem floor shortly after.

The most common complaints are:

  1. Cupping – that is when the edges of each floor plank are raised. A Simple solution to that is knowing your moisture content and relative humidity levels inside the home and the wood before, during and after installation. Many installers skip this step or don’t understand it. The fact is that any wood can be installed successfully in most situations. A simple check with a moisture meter and allowing time in the schedule for acclimation can prevent most of the cupping complaints.
  1. Gaps – whereas cupping is the result of the wood gaining moisture, gaps is the opposite. When gaps appear in the floor, it is an indication that the floor lost moisture. That means again that acclimation and/or living conditions were not met when installation took place. Gaps also happen during the winter season when dry heat from the home furnace dries the air and causes shrinkage in the wood floor.
  1. Squeaks – the floor look flat but makes a lot of noise. One common reason is a bad nailing technique combined with the wrong nailer and fastener gauge. Another reason could be poor milling of the wood. Either way, the installer should have noticed the issue before completing the entire floor. Another possible reason is that the sub floor has a lot of deflection so with every step the wood moves and in turn makes a squeaky sound.
  1. Appearance – with every flooring product the manufacturer usually allows for up to 5% of material to be out of grade. That means that in worst scenario every box of flooring will have 5% of flooring material that can’t be used or would not look so good with the rest of the floor. It is fair to say that in most cases the floor planks are pretty consistent and don’t actually have that much waste in each box. Nonetheless, when installing a floor it is good practice to mix up the boxes and communicate to the home owner what the material looks like. I’ve seen many who went to local showroom and looked at a small sample without being told that the actual floor would look much different. There will always be the dark board and the light board in the floor. It is a natural product, but when some planks look like they truly don’t belong – it is a problem.
  1. Transitions – doorways with really big and bulky thresholds or sliding doors with not so beautiful moldings. It is all in the details, that is what I was taught. The floor could like great but when the final touches are not crisp and pretty it can really ruin the overall “feel” of the install quality. Taking the time to plan out those details can pay off big time when the job is done.

At Avi’s Hardwood Floors we work hard to make sure every client is truly happy for years to come. This takes a lot of educating you the client and open lines of communication throughout your project. As it is impossible to make each floor perfect, we get pretty darn close to it every time.

The Best Wood Floors for Dog and Cat Owners – Part 2

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pets urine stains on hardwood floorHow to use and maintain your wood floors living with dogs and cats in the home.

Dogs and cats are probably the most common pets we all have in our home. Much like any member of our family they spill water, shed hair, scratch the wood floors and just plain wear through the house just living in it. That is part of everybody’s life. Added to the equation is the fact that if not properly trained, pets will urinate on the wood floors and permanently stain the wood.

If you have a dog or a cat and hardwood floors in your home, this blog is to help you understand what your pets do to your floors and how to keep the floors clean and maintained.

Common topics my clients have asked me about:

  • Pets who shed hair on your hardwood floors – This is a pretty easy fix. You can use a vacuum, a broom or a lightly dampened mop. I find it easier to use a damp mop or a micro fiber mop. A lot of the new micro fiber mops will pick up hair and dust without having to spray anything on the wood floors. When the mop is dirty just take it outside and shake it clean.
  • Water spills around their water station – Water and wood do not mix. No matter the finish you have on the floor, water will penetrate through it and will soak in through the floor seams and end joints over time. Water spills and drips in one area on a daily basis will cause discoloration in the wood, stain the wood or cause minor expansion and swelling of the hardwood floors. To keep those from happening, use a dry clean rag or towel to wipe the area daily. I have seen some clients that placed a plastic sheet on the wood floors and that works well.
  • Scratches on your wood floors – dogs and cats, especially large dogs will scratch your wood floors very easily. The heavier the dog the more scratches. A common mistake with site finished floors is for the home owner to move in too soon after the last coat of finish was applied. Since the finish had no time to cure properly the pets would then scratch the wood floors quickly and easily. It is important to try and keep those nails groomed and filed. It is also recommended not to let your 80lb dog run and play inside…

Much like us dogs and cats use and wear our wood floors. Following these simple guidelines will help reduce wear and tear on your floors and keep them clean for all to enjoy.

The Best Wood Floors for Dog and Cat Owners – Part 1

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20161020_114247_smMany of us have dogs or cats as part of our family, and as such we let them inside the house on the hardwood floors. Dogs and cats will walk, run and play on the wood floors and much like us humans will cause some damages over the years. Normal use of our wood floors will eventually cause loss of sheen, scratches, dents, stains and discoloration. Having pets in the house often causes early wear and tear and/or excessive scratches. This leads me to guide you through choosing and using your new wood floors.

The first thing you need to remember is that what you are wearing through is the finish on top of the wood floors, not the wood itself. When considering a new hardwood floors, remember that you don’t need the hardest wood in the world. Unless you drop hammers on the floor every day you don’t really need a floor like let’s say Ipe’ or Strand Woven Bamboo.

The second thing to remember is what the plan for the near future is; Are you going to sell the home? Are you staying there for a while and might need to be able to refinish the floors?

The third and last thing to ask yourself is what kind of pet do you have? Is it a small dog or a big heavy dog that will scratch the floor finish easily? Is it a puppy which urinates everywhere and will stain the wood?

Let’s discuss these issues and figure out which wood is best for you:

  • If choosing a prefinished product buy a higher quality floor, usually the more you pay the better the finish. If you choose a site finished product make sure your contractor uses commercial finishes and not DIY cheap one component finishes. I recommend using a site finished product because of many reasons, the main one being – you can add one or two extra coats for more protection. That was easy, right?
  • If you are selling the home in less than ten years then you’ll need to make sure your hardwood floor can be refinished or recoated before you sell it. Nobody wants to buy a home with a beat up wood floor that needs work or cannot be serviced. If you bought a prefinished floor that cannot be sanded because of a thin veneer or because of a Teflon like coating then you have a problem. If you chose a solid site finished product then you can easily repair and sand it, and most likely change the color/sheen.
  • Important: no finish is impermeable – meaning if your dog urinates on the floor or a water spill stays on the floor it will eventually penetrate through the finish and stain the wood. The stain cannot be sanded off. The solution to this is preventing by training your pets, there is really nothing you can do with wood floors to protect them from liquid damage.

To summarize, choose a floor that is versatile in service and use. Don’t choose something too soft like Fir and you don’t have to use an exotic wood like Ipe’. There are many options for you out there like White Oak, Red Oak, Maple, Brazilian Cherry, European Oak and more. Do your research and make sure that in the end, you hire and consult a professional. In the next part I will discuss how to use and maintain your hardwood floors with pets in the home.

The Benefits of Refinishing Your Oak Parquet Floors

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20161004_130742We recently refinished two oak parquet floors in the East Bay area. In both cases, the transformation was overwhelming to the home owners. Their floors were in such bad shape that they considered a floor replacement as an alternative to the refinish. A floor replacement would have cost four to five times more than a simple refinish. These days it seems as though the traditional oak look is not IN, and the weathered barn looking oak is trendier than clear urethane finishes. Rushing to tear out a solid oak floor, no matter how old it is can be costly, time consuming and doesn’t necessarily yield a much better result than preserving the floor.

With just a few steps we took a worn, old looking oak floor and made it into the focal point of the house. Here is what we did:

  • With a full dustless refinishing we stripped the old finish to expose the bare wood
  • Carefully sanded the floor flat and repaired any damaged areas
  • Used the dust from the sanding we then filled the floor to minimize any gaps
  • Wiped on a neutral stain color to bring out the beauty of the oak grain
  • Applied commercial two part water base finishes to protect the wood for years to come

20161004_131553These are two cases of how to get the most bang for your buck with hiring the right contractor (Avi’s Hardwood Floors) who can assess the floor and make the appropriate recommendation.

There is nothing wrong with a not so perfect floor. Think of how you looked like when you were a teen and how you look like today. Now think about how old your floor is. Your floor is probably decades old, had seen foot traffic from hundreds of people, furniture and food spills. If it can still take another refinish, let it be. No reason to replace it just yet.

How often should I refinish my hardwood floors?

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20160701_080008_SmWhether you live in the Berkeley Hills or Alamo, if you have wood floors they are most likely original to the house. Whether you live in San Pablo or El Cerrito, you most likely have a white or red oak solid floor. These floors are solid wood and had been around for decades, some even more than a century. The life span of a traditional oak floor is longer than what most people think. We just refinished a white oak floor that was installed in 1965. It has been around for about 50 years and has more life on it for another 50. When we refinish oak floors we get this question a lot: “how long before I need to refinish my floors again?”

The short answer is: it depends. Some floors will need to be refinished after several years and some after more than a decade. Here are the factors that contribute to the durability and longevity of the wood floors finish:

  • Professionally sanding the floors – a qualified contractor will only sand very little off the floor. Poor sanding can take years off the life of the floors. Also, the smoother and more flat the sanding, the more consistent the finish layer will be
  • Using commercial finishes – if your contractor uses cheap or DIY finishes from the local box store, you are guaranteed a finish that will wear and tear quickly
  • Following manufacturer recommendation for the proper drying and curing conditions. Home owners are told it is okay to move in two days after the final coat was applied. It is not. The finish needs proper time to harden and cure and that takes more time than two days
  • Maintenance – proper care for your wood floors will guarantee more years of use before a need to refinish

From our experience at Avi’s Hardwood Floors the average family would need to refinish their floors every 10-15 years. With proper sanding and finishing on our end, and proper use and maintenance on your end (the consumer) your wood floor finish will last a long time.

Can I Refinish my Engineered Floors?

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Over the past decade engineered floors became the go to product in a lot of areas. Manufacturers were driving more flooring products in engineered form into the market as demand grew. Engineered floors were at first just a plywood core with a very thin veneer or real wood on top. Most of them could not be refinished, so when the wear and tear took toll on the floor it had to be replaced. That was in a lot of cases very costly to the home owner.

We recently had to refinish another engineered floor. The floor was red oak veneer over plywood core. We had absolutely no wiggle room with the sanding. The veneer was very thin. We turned the yellow creamy looking red oak into a dark brown espresso color within two days. The home owner was stunned to see the transformation, especially after hearing so many other contractors say they could not refinish that floor.

When it is time to make the decision you have two options: hire a professional to sand the floors or replace it. Refinishing the floor is a small expense in comparison to a full blown hardwood floors replacement, especially if that engineered floor is glued to concrete, which is the case in most homes here in the Bay Area.

Like our past client, take the time to research the professionals in this area. You’ll soon find out that many contractors don’t know and can’t sand such a thin wood floor and so they’ll quote you on a floor replacement. Not knowing much about wood floors you might end up accepting their recommendation and spending your good earned money for no good reason on a brand new product.

Engineered floors have one thing going for them – there’s real wood veneer! If that veneer is thick enough we can refinish it. We had saved so many floors and saved so much money to our clients over the years. With a full dustless refinish process combined with our well qualified crew your engineered wood floors can also be transformed.

Click to enlarge photos

Which is the Best finish for my Wood Floors?

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Sanded-Hardwood-FloorsWe all want to protect our wood floors with the best finish available so we don’t have to do it all over again, right? Most our clients who choose to install new hardwood floors in the East Bay are concerned about the future of their floors. One client in Berkeley, CA asked me what finish would be best living with a big dog in the house. Another one in El Cerrito wanted to know what finish would protect their wood floors from water damage. The answer to this question is very simple: choose a professional to apply a commercial finish on your floor, maintain it properly and you should be fine. There is no one magic floor finish that does it all, after all we all walk on these finishes every day.

There are many choices of finish out there, here is a table exploring some of the characteristics of the main finishes used in the wood flooring market these days:

Finish Type

Color

Approximate Drying Time

Approximate Cure Time

Aging Color

Approximate VOC

Pros

Cons

Oil Base Urethane

Amber

overnight

7 days

Amber

500 g/L

Durable, ages nicely, easy to repair

Strong smell, dries slowly

Water Base Urethane

Clear

3-4 hours

Approximately 80% in 3 days

yellow

210 g/L

Durable, lower VOC, dries and cures fast

Results vary depend on product

Wax Oil Blend

All colors

overnight

7 days

Depends on color

zero

Easy to maintain, no VOC

No resin build up on the floor like oil and water finishes

Staining Wood Before Finishing

All colors

3-4 hours for light colors overnight for dark colors

7 days

N/A

550 g/L

n/

n/a

All finishes require regular maintenance.

All finishes will scratch.

All finishes will wear with regular use overtime.

All finishes can be repaired or restored with different results.

There is no magic product that cures in a day and will never need refinishing. It all comes down to which look you like and how you would be using the floors. Applied correctly all finishes will stand the test of time.