Fixing Badly Sanded Hardwood Floors

in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Sanded-Hardwood-FloorsWe were called again to fix a floor that was badly sanded. After a water leak damaged the wood floor in a home in Lafayette, the insurance company brought in their hardwood flooring guys to fix the floor. The home owners assumed everything was going to be handled by the insurance company. Little did they know that the guys hired to refinish the wood floors were just plain horrible. The home owners returned to their house to discover a disaster: dust everywhere, gauges in their baseboards and an uneven floor.

Shortly after their discovery the home owners found Avi’s Hardwood Floors and contacted me for an estimate. When I got there it was obvious the floors needed a full refinish and the baseboards needed replacement. After closely inspecting the stairs we also decided to replace all the decorative molding on the stairs.

After a long while of the owners dealing with their insurance company we finally got the green light. The owners knew we were up to the challenge but like anyone who’s been through a bad experience, it was obvious they were concerned with the outcome. After all this was the second and last shot at the sanding, otherwise the floor would have to be replaced because there would not be much wood left to sand. We showed up on time and started stripping the finish off the floor while making the floors flat. This took a little while and the more we sanded the more we realized how bad the sanding job was. In some places we could not take the gauges out without replacing the boards. By looking at the scratch pattern on the floors we determined that one of the tools used on the floor by the other guys was – A grinder.

That explained the small circular scratches in the wood, the long deep gauges and the damaged baseboards. The owners were scheduled to stay at the house the first part of the sanding, then leave for the staining and finishing phase. Once we finished the final sanding I could see a big relief in the owner’s eyes. They were watching us sanding the floors at times and expressed their appreciation in our effort to keep everything clean and the floor flat. We made a custom stain color for them at their request to minimize the gold and yellow in their red oak floor. We applied the stain coat on a Friday so that we could let it dry for three days. The pigments in dark stains like the ones we used are very heavy and require longer drying times. The following week while the owners were gone we applied three coats of commercial water base finish and installed all new baseboards and stair moldings throughout the working areas. I took the time to text pictures of our progress to the owners every day.

As usual we did the best we could and the floor came out as expected. Avi’s Hardwood Floors takes pride in doing the best on every job. It makes for happy clients and life easier on everyone knowing that a project only needed to be done once. 

Can I Refinish My Engineered Wood Floors?

in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Engineered hand scraped floorsWe were recently hired to install an engineered wood floor over a concrete slab in Danville, CA. This job involved a complete tear out of carpets and tile floor coverings, minor leveling and a moisture barrier installation prior to the floors being installed. The product itself was a hand scraped floor with a factory finish. That meant a few things:

  • This product could not be refinished in the future
  • This floor could only be cleaned and recoated
  • You could not change the texture or the color of the floor in the future

Home owners who choose pre finished wood flooring products are usually not aware of the consequences of their decisions. Meaning, some don’t realize that their floors could not be refinished in the future, or even worse could not be recoated. That meant in some cases that the floors would have to be replaced within five to ten years of install.

Solid floors - Can be refinished many times

When we installed this hand scraped engineered floors in Danville we took the time to educate our customer of the future options for the floor. We told them that these floors could not be re scraped or refinished. The only thing that could possibly be done is a buff and recoat.

I recently visited a home in San Anselmo, CA that had the same product installed by another company. The only issue the home owners had with the floor was the color. They were never told at the point of sale that their floors could be recoated because of a unique additive to the finish which was applied in the factory. In that case, they were stuck with a floor that would definitely need to be replaced in a few years.

When investing your money in a new hardwood floor make sure your product is versatile. Talk to the person selling you the hardwood floor about what can be done in the future in regards to refinishing your floors. Engineered floors don’t come cheap and hand scraped engineered floors are even more expensive, so when you invest a good amount of money in a new hardwood floors make sure you can service that product in years to come and not have to completely replace it after the finish started wearing off.

The expensive cost of refinishing wood floors for less

in , , , , , /by

Floor refinishHome services can be cheap or expansive. Some services that come to mind are plumbing, heating, painting, kitchen remodeling and of course wood floors. We all know the saying you get what you pay for. In most cases it is true and I have seen too many floors that failed because of a price point decision made by the consumer. The most common mistake consumers make is hiring flooring contractors based on price or letting the price be the first deciding factor on their list.  

As we all are consumers at one point or another we should look out for a few things when hiring a hardwood specialist:

  1. Reputation
  2. Experience
  3. Technical education
  4. Equipment
  5. Intuition 

As you can see money is not on this list. The bottom line is that if you look out for these five factors you’ll end up with very compatible quotes as far as price goes. In other words, most chances are that if you interview three flooring contractors that have the same level of 1-4 elements, they would all be within the same price range. So, going back to “you get what you pay for”. Done right, the interview process is very critical to making a wise and educated decision. I speak for myself when I say that when I interview contractors to work in my home it all comes down to intuition. I can very easily find two or three contractors that hold the same experience, education and reputation. In the end I will hire the one I feel most comfortable with. 

So how in the world a small decision like hiring the wrong flooring contractor can flip your life upside down, cost you a lot more money than you planned and ruin your schedule? Let’s start with the decision making of one John Doe. John hired contractor X to refinish his floors. X was not the most educated or experienced but the price was right, which made his quote very attractive. He did offer three coats of oil base urethane like the other guys, though he could also move furniture and work on the weekend. 

Here is what happened next: contractor x was late every day, used no dust control, his guys were not insured, he used cheap finish from the local box store and in the end the floors looked horrible. The owner paid 50% cash up front for a job that didn’t deserve even that amount. 

The owners came back after a weekend out of town to discover the following:

  • Their entire house including the walls was covered with dust.
  • The floors looked dirty, blotchy and felt rough to the touch.
  • There was garbage everywhere they looked; outside, on the window cells and in their bathrooms.
  • The sinks were filthy.
  • The walls and their cabinets were all scratched up.
  • The baseboards were gauged and had black marks all over them.

John Doe much like any of us was unhappy to say the least. He called the contractor asking for the floors to get fixed up and pointed out all the damages in the house. The contractor said the floors were fine and wanted his money. Since John refused to pay the contractor decided to sue John. Two months later:

  • They were in court
  • The floors were not fixed
  • John had to hire a pro to fix the floors for more money, a lot more
  • The family and the pets had to have arrangements made for them for all this time
  • John spent endless hours talking to experts, researching his problem online and dealing with the issue.

In the end, all this could have been avoided had John decided to pay a little more to a more qualified professional. I see this stuff happen every month. We get called out to fix jobs like that. By the time I show up to look at the floors, it is usually a couple of months after the problems started. In not so many words: we quote the job, schedule it, show up on time, complete it to customer’s satisfaction on schedule and move on. This is how it should be for everyone. Remember that saving money on your wood floors can cost a lot more very shortly after. 

As the old saying: cheap labor is expansive. 

Wood Medallions and Custom Hardwood Floors

in , , , , , , /by

IMG_4874The effect wood medallions have on the final design of a home is huge. Many home owners are not aware of the upgrade options they have with their hardwood floors. In most cases the home already has wood floors, so adding on an inlay or a medallion insert goes a long way. When we discuss our refinishing process with potential clients we take the time to explain and show the different floor upgrades we offer. Something simple as a medallion insert at the entry can transform the entire wood floor. The idea is to add an element to compliment the floor instead of distracting the eye to that element alone.

Wood medallions come in many shapes and colors. From a simple rose compass circular medallion with geometric design to a free form ellipse with curved inlays and marquetry. Much like going to any store, exploring the wood options by yourself can be overwhelming. At Avi’s Hardwood Floors we take the time to inspect and analyze the layout and design of your home before we come up with a few complimenting upgrade options.

In some cases where the wood floors already have a border around the perimeter we offer a darker inlayed feature strip to highlight the design. We can add on decorative wood corner blocks or inlay a pattern into the field of the floor. In other cases we recommend leaving the floor as is and add only one element, like a medallion. Wood medallions are installed at focal points in the home like in front of you fire place or at the entry. In places where you can see them, they will not be covered in furniture and not in high traffic areas.

Our clients usually say this after we do the work: “why in the world didn’t I upgrade my floors before?” it is amazing to see what a single piece of wood marquetry does to the feel of a floor. It becomes a story, a part of your family home, a unique element that reveals different aspects of itself every time you look at it. There is nothing like the warmth of wood especially when it is something that was created just for you.

Why Hire Avi’s Hardwood Floors for All Your Hardwood Flooring Needs

in , , , , , /by

It is not that complicated. We all have busy lives with no time to spare. The last thing we need in our home where we care for our families is a remodel project gone wrong. A hardwood flooring project is probably the most intruding to some people because they have to vacate the house form furniture, themselves and their loved ones. Sometimes for a few days and sometimes for a week. Here, at Avi’s Hardwood Floors we take the time to plan out your project and help you cover all bases so you can get back to your life with minimum interruption. Where are the pitfalls along the way? What should we look for when hiring a contractor? If we need to hire a floor contractor we want to make sure that he or she meet the following criteria:

  • Licensed in the state of California
  • Bonded and insured
  • Has workers comp insurance for their employees
  • Has great reviews, a website and is able to provide references
  • Years of experience
  • Trade education and technical training certificates
  • Trade references (not just consumers)
  • Reliable
  • Provide quality work
  • On time
  • Trust worthy, meaning you can give them a key to your house and leave town for the duration of the project
  • Fair prices
  • No hidden costs
  • Honest

By covering all points mentioned above you can insure the success of your project. At Avi’s Hardwood Floor we serve the counties of Contra Costa and Alameda. We also serve other areas based on distance from our location. We will show up on time, meet the deadline, provide you with a quality service and product and have no hidden costs once started the work. 

Common Questions About Hardwood Floors

in , , , , , , , /by
  1. Hardwood Floor RefinishHow long will the finish on my wood floors last?This is probably the most asked question when it comes to wood floors. Most urethane finishes would last you years to come. The question is how many years. If you hired a professional to do your floors, they used a commercial grade finish and applied the correct amount of coats on your hardwood floor. Nobody wants to pay for a refinish service, move out of the house and then have to do it all over again after three years. I did see this happen before. Usually when someone applied very thin coats of finish and used a cheap product. In most cases, with proper wood floor maintenance a floor finish should last anywhere between five and ten years. That is not to say that it would look as new after years. Finish gradually loses sheen and using the wood floors gradually wears the resin off the floor. I recommend that before you lose too much finish call a professional to apply one more coat of urethane on your hardwood floors.
  2. What is the best hardwood floor? We often get calls from home owners who have busy lives. They have families, pets, work and they don’t have much time to maintain their wood floors. Some of them want the hardest wood floor or the hardest finish. Some want wood floors that never scratch or dent. There is no such thing. With the explosion of exotic and composite products into the flooring market, consumers have started questioning the durability of our domestic products like Oak and Maple floors. Consumers were now familiar with the Janka Hardness scale, which is there to give you a reference as to how hard and dense a wood is. Numbers from a lab test are great for reference but when you drop a pot on your wood floors, it doesn’t matter if it white oak or Brazilian cherry – the two would dent. If your child drags a chair or a toy across the floor, the wood would scratch no matter what finish you have on the hardwood. Most importantly one needs to understand that it is the combination of wood type and floor finish that makes a good product. Top this with proper maintenance and you have the best wood floor. For example, having a really hard wood like Ipe’ is great, but if your contractor applied two coats of cheap urethane over it then your floor would look pretty bad and worn out in no time.

     

  3. How much should I pay for new hardwood floors?We all know that we want the most for the least amount of money. We also know that you get what you pay for. Interviewing several reputable licensed contractors can help you understand the scope of work. The right professionals can shed light on what they do to assure a successful installation. The most common problem people have with wood floors is cupping. A new floors is put in, the home owners move in and shortly after the floor is cupped. Now that the entire family is moved in, including furniture the solution is a big head ach. In our trade we say that there is never time to do thing right in the first place, but there is always time to do it again. Fixing a wood floor costs five times more than doing right the first time. So how much should you pay? In the Bay Area, California expect the prices per square foot to be a minimum of $4 for refinish and a minimum of $5 for installation services.

Ten Tips for Choosing New Hardwood Floors

in , , , , , , /by

HardwoodFloorIstallation_BeforeAfterAlmost every home in the Bay Area, California from the Berkeley Hills to Walnut Creek have hardwood floors. Once perceived as the expensive alternative to carpets and linoleum, is no longer expensive. Scientific data now shows that money is no longer the only consideration for choosing wood floors. Factors like health and effects on our environment play a big role in consumers decision making. Hardwood floors have become the go to floors. They are beautiful, renewable, easy to maintain and more affordable than ever. Here are the best tips for how to choose a hardwood floor for you home:

  1. Not toxic – unlike other floor coverings such as carpets and linoleum, wood floors are not made of synthetics and chemicals. The tree is cut and milled into wood flooring planks. Then in most cases the floor is finished in your house by a professional. Carpets and other floor coverings hide a lot of pollutants underneath them. A lot of people especially young children will develop some sort of health conditions living with those floor coverings over their life time. See this article from the American Lung Association http://www.lung.org/healthy-air/home/resources/carpets.html
  2. Easy to clean – hardwood floors need vacuuming, sweeping or mopping periodically. That is it. Once clean they hold no pollutants in them. Nobody likes hiring and paying professionals to come in and clean their floors. Unlike carpets which need constant shampooing wood floors are easy to maintain.
  3. This 80 year old floor was repaired and refinished by Avi's Hardwood FloorsNot expensive – years ago wood floors were considered a high end choice and very expensive. With today’s growing demand hardwood floors had become the number one growing floor choice by home owners. Whether bamboo floors or exotic Brazilian cherry, wood floors are no longer just for the wealthy.
  4. Durability – nothing compares to the durability of wood floors. Carpets will stain, smell and look just plain bad after a short period of time, especially if you have a busy life with kids and pets in the house. Wood floors are more forgiving, maintain their look much longer and can be refinished multiple times.
  5. Longevity – hardwood floors which were installed a hundred years ago are still being sanded and repairs to date. Carpets and other man made floor coverings never last that long. Nobody wants to spend a lot of money every few years on a new floor. That is why wood is the best choice.
  6. Trends – wood floors never went out of style. Designers and architects still specify wood floors as the go to floor. You can change the look of wood floors by changing the stain color after a while and keep up with the trends in the market.
  7. Easy to repair – if you have damages in your wood floors or need to add on a small section it is easy as easy can get. Many old wood floors have been refinished and repairs to revive their looks. Other floor coverings would have had to be torn up and replaced.
  8. Smart investment – any realtor will tell you that a home with wood floors is worth a lot more than a home without. If you installed hardwood floors at your home and years later wanted to sell it, you are most likely to get your money back and still make a profit on top of that. Homes with wood floors sell faster and receive many more offers.
  9. Better for our planet – we were all taught that cutting trees is wrong. Well, not quite true. With engineers controlling the forest harvesting, we now have more trees in our forests than ever before. The United States is not clear cutting forests and we are now able to manage them instead of eliminating them. With programs for planting trees and protecting wild life we manage to use wood, our most valuable resource of all with the least impact on our environment.
  10. Nothing makes a home more welcoming and warm than wood floors. With just a simple layout or an intricate parquet with inlays and medallions, wood floors make every house a special home to you and your family. 

Pros and cons of dark and gray wood floors

in , , , , , /by

Turning this cherry wood into gray. The painter will later turn the risers and rail into white.

In recent years the hardwood flooring market had been shifting towards darker wood floors. From the medium brown hardwood floors all the way to gray and black. It seems every job we’ve taken on lately calls for a dark walnut stain or gray stain. The design world has really affected our industry. The homes these days are dominated by white and gray paint on walls and cabinetry with dark floors. 

So with change in color comes a change in look and practical use. Here are the pros for dark and gray wood floors:

  • These floors look more modern and contemporary. When most of us look at a honey color wood floor we think of the 70’s floors when everything was finished with a clear urethane. Most homes in our area such as Berkeley, Oakland, Albany and Piedmont have oak floors. We had been refinishing them from a clear honey color to a dark walnut stain on almost every job.
  • If you’re selling your home that is what buyers are looking for these days. Realtors are calling for white light paint on walls and cabinets and dark stained wood floors. This seems to be making a quicker sale coming with a higher price tag.
  • It is much easier fitting modern new furniture with these floors since the furniture industry also turned into colors of the same design group. New furniture come in wire brushed finish, different shades of gray and white and a more rustic but light color spectrum. Staining the wood floors dark adds to a nice contrast. 

That is pretty much what I think are the pros of dark hardwood floors. Let’s look at what the cons might be:

  • It’s a trend. Much like others it might go away in a year or two. Clear color wood floors might turn into the new trend again. That means you will be stuck with furniture that go very well with your floors.
  • Dark shows everything. Talk to anyone who has a dark hardwood floor and you’ll soon find out that maintenance is a little more involved. Sweeping and vacuuming more regularly is a must. A small price to pay if you love the dark floor.
  • The dark stain color is only pigments on top of a lighter most likely oak floor. Scratching through the color might show a lighter more visible scratch than other floors.
  • Achieving the dark color on wood takes more skill, more labor and in turn more money. You’ll pay a little more to get that dark out of your floors than if you were to ask for a clear coat. 

It depends on your reasons and goals moving forward with your decision making. I don’t think any of the pros or cons are so harsh to drive you away from either option. Wood floors are beautiful and certainly more valuable than any other floor options. Light or dark – I don’t think you can go wrong. 

Should I Use Engineered Wood Floors or Solid Wood Floors?

in , , /by

Let’s get the definition of these products straight before we discuss them. Why? Because some people refer to laminates as engineered and vice versa. A solid piece of wood floor means it is one piece of wood from top to bottom. An engineered product is made of core material and a top layer of wood veneer. The engineered hardwood floors were made for one reason: to perform in applications solid wood floors could not. Meaning, the construction of the product allows us to:

  • glue it down to concrete slabs
  • float it over any substrate
  • nail it just like solid floors


This engineered floors could only be refinished once. After that, it will need to go to the land field.

This engineered floors could only be refinished once. After that, it will need to go to the land field.

The original engineered wood floors were made of a plywood core and a top veneer layer. The plywood which is made of wood, consists of layers of veneers with each layer perpendicular to the next. With wood movement in mind, the construction of the engineered floors created a product with superior stability. Years ago, we didn’t have the technology and products to glue down solid wood floors to concrete. Now we do. Although, in a very limited product selection it can be done. Nonetheless, solid wood floors cannot be floated under any circumstances. The idea that one product is better than the other is wrong. Each product has its pros and cons. For example, using solid floors means we use more wood to make the product. That means cutting more trees. Making engineered wood floors means we use chemicals, glues and resins in the process. That doesn’t sound like environmentally friendly, right? Solid wood floors can last more than a hundred years. After removal it can be recycled and re used. The life cycle of engineered wood floors is limited to the thickness of the wear layer. When engineered wood floors are removed they go to the land field. They cannot be burnt, recycled and/or re used. 

Let’s take a look at the following table:

 

    Solid wood floors

 

Engineered wood floors

Nail down

Yes

Yes

Float

No

Yes

Glue down

Limited products

Yes

Wear layer

¼” for most floors

From none to 3/16”

Beveled edges

No

most

Pre finished

Yes

Yes

Unfinished

Yes

yes

Price

Varies supply/demand

Varies between manufacturers

Domestic and exotic wood

Yes

yes

Contains adhesives/resins

No

Yes

Off gassing from product itself (not finish)

No

yes

The bottom line is this: whatever product you use, whether engineered or solid make sure it is the right application, environment and use for it. You can buy cheap solid floors or cheap engineered floors. The consequences are very different. With cheap solid floors you might get a bad looking floor. With cheap engineered wood floor you might have a delaminated floor that needs replacement. The topic is complicated and can be argued either way. In the end, it’s all up to you the consumer in deciding what is important to you when it comes to wood floors.

Hardwood Floors For Less

in , , /by

Bad Sanding

Everyone knows the old saying “you get what you pay for”. Finding cheap hardwood floor services in the East Bay is an easy task. There are many unqualified wood floor contractors out there, both licensed and unlicensed. We are the ones called to fix the wood floors after the fact. We refinished wood floors all around the Bay Area. From Mill Valley to Piedmont and Alamo. It is the same old story every time. A home owner calls me to come look at a wood floor job that someone else messed up. From the time they first guy start working on the floors to the time I get the call to fix it two to three months have gone by. I recall an email from last year: a client who hired someone else to refinish their floors in Kensington emailed me to say that they “should have hired Avi’s Hardwood Floors”. Three months after the guy refinished their floors they were still not back in their home and the floors were so poorly done that they could not be fixed but had to be replaced.

So why is cheap hardwood floors not so cheap? Avi’s Hardwood Floors is what I refer to as “An honest licensed qualified company”. It is very simple: We visit the site, give you a detailed firm bid, stick to our deadlines and do the job right. We might be a little more expensive on some jobs but there is always a good reason for that. On a 1000 square foot job we might be $200 more or let’s say for the sake of argument $3000 more. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that if you hire the wrong person and they do the job poorly you’re looking at wasting weeks and months of your time, not to mention the agony of not having your home back yet. All of a sudden you’re standing there thinking you need to pay a lot more now to fix the job and you already paid a lot to the first guy. We’ve seen it too many times and I am sure we will see it more in the future.

When it comes to cheap wood floor companies there is no going around the fact that it doesn’t matter if you live in the Berkeley Hills, Walnut Creek or San Pablo. Everyone wants to save money. Everyone wants a decent job done on their floors. Sometimes it is better to hire a dustless refinishing company to do less of your floors but do it right, than hire an unqualified person to mess up your entire floor.