Refinishing Top Nail White Oak Floor in El Sobrante Richmond, CA Area

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Even though I’ve been sanding and installing wood floors for a living for more than 23 years, I am still surprised at the look on people’s faces when I tell them we can save their floor and make it look like new again. The beauty of hardwood floors is that they are serviceable. They can be sanded over and over again and as we all see in the Bay Area, lots of them last more than a hundred years. 

This time our client wanted to know if their oak floors can be saved. After a quick site visit I assured here that with proper sanding, and some repairs we could bring that floor back to life. After we finished the project she actually told me she expected me to say she had to replace the entire floor. That’s what she had heard from others. 

Surely enough, after discussing price and schedule we started the work. Within a week we completed the sanding and some repairs. The client was out of town and I made sure to text her progress pictures and/or any questions I had. She knew exactly what we were doing every day and what the floor looked like at every stage. 

At first we stripped the finish off the floor to expose the wood itself. Walking around the home I took pictures of the dark stained areas that didn’t come out in the sanding. I sent the pics with cost for each area of repair. Upon approval we started replacing the white oak floor boards that were damaged. A lot of contractors make the mistake of putting in red oak in white oak floors, but not here. Everything is done properly and according to our industry guidelines of the National Wood Flooring Association.

The next step was to apply wood filler to all the nail holes and gaps. A few more passes with our dustless sanders and the floor was just about ready for the finish coats.

We use Bona HD Traffic for most of our floor sanding. It is durable and has a fast curing time. I do recommend that if you have small children and/or dogs to apply an extra coat. 

I did that in my home and it is a great investment. 

After completion of the sanding and finishing of three coats, we allowed the floor to cure for several days before our client could move back in. She later called us to do more work for her, and she couldn’t be happier.

Red Oak Floor Project – San Pablo CA

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Our job was to add Red Oak floors in the dining living areas. The owner moved a wall to open up the main floor, and so we laced new floor boards into the existing. That is instead of going the easy way and butting it against the old floor. We started out by preparing the sub floor. That meant fixing any squeaks, repairing soft areas and sanding down the high spots. Afte that we vacuumed and put in a vapor retarder to slow down the moisture coming from the crawl space.

Matching the existing floor lines we then added floor row after row. Some had to be cut to fit into some areas, but most of the boards just slid into place with no problem. After nailing the entire floor we then let it acclimate in place, which means letting the floor reach its’ optimal moisture content for that area. While waiting for that to happen we then started refinishing the rest of the floors in the home. Using dust containment systems we virtually have no dust in the home while we are sanding. This leads to a clean job site, which then leads to a better sanded wood floor and a cleaner finish coat. After about a week of the new wood floor acclimating we then proceeded to finish the sanding on the new areas as well. We spend time setting any nail heads that were exposed and filling the floor with wood filler. The filler is applied as a continuous coat throughout the floor. We then sand it off until we are happy with the surface condition.

At the very end we use our hand scrapers and clean up corners and areas hard to reach. A thorough vacuum and mop and the floor was ready for the finish. This floor was coated with three coats of water base satin urethane by Bona. As you can see and to the delight of the home owner, the new floors blended in beautifully into the old.

Every floor is different and so every job is different. With most phases of the sanding process being the same, each floor dictates what we do or don’t do to make it look better. Even thought we’ve been in business since 2002 we never get bored with making floor look so pretty, especially when seeing the smiles on people’s faces.