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Tips for getting the best out of your hardwood flooring contractor

in Custom Floors, Hardwood Floor Finishes, Installation/by Avi Hadad

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.

The latest if wood floor finishing

in Avis Floors, Design Styles, Hardwood Floor Finishes, Installation, Pre Finished Floors/by Avi Hadad

Many people still remember the original oak floors they grew up with. The oak wood floors were original to their homes, installed in the early 1900s and probably only had shellac and wax on them. That was the norm for most homes. The oak floors were the standard and probably the only thing available alongside with other domestic species like maple or walnut. Each year the floors had to be cleaned and waxed. Dad would complain about the white water spots in the floors and the kids loved running and sliding on the slick floors.

As years went by the wood flooring products and hardwood floor finishes have changed. We went through an “oil base vs. water base” era, polyurethane as the standard era, low VOC and environmentally friendly finishes era and now we are back to square one. It seems as if now that we have more options than ever when it comes to wood floors. Not only do we have endless species of wood floors to choose from, we also have an array of finishes to choose.

Hardwood floors are available not only in white oak and red oak anymore. They are available in Brazilian cherry, teak, wenge, mahogany, cypress, eucalyptus, ipe and many more. Wood floor finishes are now also available in so many options. Some of the finishes available for wood floors are oil base urethane, water base urethane, conversion varnish, shellac and wax, low VOC finishes, zero VOC finishes, Tung oil, natural oil blends and much more.

What most of us want out of a floor finish is beauty and durability. Most of our clients have kids and/or pets. They have busy lives and work hard for their money. When it comes to spending that money they want to make sure it is invested in the right products. Nobody wants to pay top dollars for a floor to only have to refinish it two years later. Every finish had its pros and cons. Every client is different in their life styles, cleanliness, number of people in the household etc… For example, a family of six with two big dogs would experience more wear and tear on their floor finish than a single person who does not allow shoes in his/her home. There is no one magic perfect finish for all. That is why we as a company spend a decent amount of time discussing the options with our potential clients. We try to match each client with the finish that is right for them. As consumers progressed into the internet search engine world, more information became available to them. Consumers now are much more informed about everything. With that information also comes misinformation. That is when Avi’s Hardwood Floors advice is a great value. There is nothing more valuable than getting advice from a professional who is trained and experienced in their trade.

As it seems now more consumers are realizing that there is really no magic finish. The best way to use a floor is to maintain it in a minimal way. Instead of putting a toxic finish down and refinishing the floor every five years we apply an oil blend and clean it once a year or so. Technology and chemistry have both brought us a better version of the old shellac and wax system. We now have available to us in the hardwood floor finish world, low VOC oil blends. They are easy to apply, easy to maintain and with the right treatment do not get water spots. The wax oil blends are usually a one or two coat system. Our clients move into their homes within days without a harsh toxic smell lingering inside their homes.

We still apply the polyurethanes and the water base finishes on a lot of jobs. The only difference now is that these finishes have to be re formulated each year as VOC legislation changes. The durability of those finishes seem to go downhill each year. That is my opinion. With simplicity in mind our clients seem to enjoy and love these oil blends we recommend. Natural oils have been around for centuries and now with the advantage of more product selection each home owner can enjoy the durability, looks and feel of a properly finished wood floor.

How long will the finish last on my hardwood floors?

in Avis Floors, How To, Installation, Maintaining Your Floors, Wood Floors/by Avi Hadad

Paying a professional to refinish your hardwood floors could be a small fortune. A lot of consumers are concerned with one question: how long before I need to pay again to refinish my wood floors? Or in other words, how long will my finish last?

How long is determined by a lot of variables:

What type of wood you have and what type of finish was applied

If you have oak floors with polyurethane finish you’re most likely to have a long lasting finish. If you have very soft wood with only two coats of a one part water base finish (designed for low traffic residential use) the finish would not last as long.

How long did you let your finish cure before occupying the home

Most people want to move into their home as soon as the finish is dry on their wood floors. That is a big mistake. The finish needs time (a good week or two) before it cures. Curing means that the finish is pretty much done off gassing and it is hard all the way through.

Did your wood flooring contractor apply the finish correctly

The finish would behave as good as how it was applied. Meaning, your contractor applied the finish to the floor using the right applicator and right spread rate. Some guys like applying the finish really thin and that means less resin is left on the floor to protect it.

How big is your family

Are you a single mom with three kids or two parents with no kids? Do you have dogs? Is so, are they small or big? The more people and pets walk on the floor and use it, the more wear and tear the floor finish will show.

What is your life style

Do you let people wear shoes inside your house? Do you clean once a week? A month? Two months? Are you a crazy cook like me? Drips and drops all over the kitchen floor? Do you have a lot of parties at your place with women walking with high hill shoes?

As you can see everything counts and adds up. Everyone is different so it is best to hire the best pro you can find and let them provide you with the product that matches you and your needs.

How to maintain my hard-wax oil wood floors

in Avis Floors, Green Floors, How To, Maintaining Your Floors/by Avi Hadad

When it comes to maintenance of wood floors most of us are used to the traditional oak floors finished with oil base polyurethane. This finish sits on top of the wood so wiping the floor with pretty much any cleaner works fine.

With hard-wax oil it’s a little different. We recently finished a floor with Rubio Monocoat Pure and topped it with their Universal Maintenance oil.

To give it more water resistance properties. I am mentioning this because there is a big difference in how the hard-wax oil behaves in whether or not you have one coat or two coats. Here are some tips as to how to clean and maintain your wood floors that have hard-wax oil on them:

Vacuum regularly to keep particles and grit off the floor.
Very lightly damp mop would do the trick to pick up any dust and dirt sitting on top of the surface.
Use the manufacturer recommended cleaner. Most hard-wax oil products follow the same idea which is that the oil is being burnished into the wood at the time of application. Once cured you don’t want to just use any cleaner out there. Some cleaners sitting on the shelf at the big box stores could damage your finish.
Call a wood floor professional to clean and maintain your floor with a fresh coat of hard wax oil.
As with any other finish make sure you have the manufacturer maintenance instructions and that you follow them. The most common mistake people make is misusing cleaner products and damaging the wax-oil.

Maintaining your hard-wax oil hardwood floors is easy and fast. Repairing and touching up these floors is easy and unlike other finishes does not require a professional to redo the whole floors just to eliminate one worn area. Following these simple steps would ensure the longevity of your wood floors for years to come.

Pros and cons of dark and gray wood floors

in Avis Floors, Design Styles, Installation, New Harwood Floors, Pre Finished Floors, Wood Floors/by Avi Hadad

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 Installation, New Harwood Floors, Wood Floors/by Avi Hadad

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.

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 Installation, New Harwood Floors, Wood Floors/by Avi Hadad

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.

Pre Finished Floors Glued Down To Concrete

in Avis Floors, Design Styles, Installation, Pre Finished Floors, Videos/by Avi Hadad

When you hire Avi’s Hardwood Floors we make sure the installation will be successful. We spend a lot of time preparing the slab and mitigating moisture so that when the floor is done, it is there to stay. We take care of all details from the plank choice to the radius corner for your baseboards.

Call us today for more information 510-275-3780

Hardwood floors or wall to wall carpet?

in Installation, New Harwood Floors/by Avi Hadad

It doesn’t matter where you live in the Bay Area. It could be Piedmont, Berkeley, San Pablo or Alamo. Everyone has an opinion about hardwood floors. So now it’s time to get a new floor in your home and you’re not sure which to have installed: hardwood floors or carpets. There are so many things to be said about each, yet hardwood floors wins the contest. Here is why:

It takes no chemicals to make wood floors. If domestically harvested, the wood is legal and comes from a sustained forest. The wood is logged, milled and shipped to a local lumber yard. Every new carpet has a harsh smell. The smell is a sure sign the carpet is releasing toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into your home’s air. VOCs can include highly toxic chemicals and no, we don’t want to start naming them. You can probably look it up on Google and experience the shock all by yourself.
Even when you think carpets are clean they are not. Carpets can become reservoirs of dust, hair, skin and other tiny particles that may cause allergies and other health issues. We remove carpets every week to install new hardwood floors. I can’t tell you how many times the owners are shocked to see how much dust there is under their carpets. Yes, even in the cleanest homes. The fact is that wood floors can’t hold anything inside them, just on top. If you regularly clean your wood floors you will be just fine. If you regularly clean your carpet, it will still hold dust and other particles underneath it.
Cost and value: wood floors cost more than a carpet but they can be refinished when it’s time for a change. Unlike carpets that need to be replaced. Installation of hardwood floors in your home is an investment, your property will be worth more. With carpet, not so much. Every house that goes on the market for sale is recommended to have wood floors. It is a fact. Homes with wood floors are more beautiful and are valued more by the buyers.
Wood floors last longer than carpets. We are still refinishing hardwood floors in Berkeley and Oakland hills that had been there for more than a hundred years. Carpets usually last a few years before they start looking really dirty or really worn. Why bother spending money every few years on a new unhealthy carpet when you have to install wood floors only once?

So, next time you’re looking at your child playing on the carpet and/or thinking about saving money on your floors, think again. Hardwood floors have always been the smart choice and will always be.

Refinishing Hardwood Floors

in Avis Floors, Design Styles, How To, Maintaining Your Floors, Wood Floors/by Avi Hadad

10 reasons to pay the right price for a professional service

When it comes to refinishing your hardwood floors you want to make the right decision of who you’re hiring. If you hire the wrong person to refinish your hardwood floors you will have more problems than just a badly sanded floor:

Every time you refinish your hardwood floor you take away from the life of the floor. There’s only so much material that can be sanded. If you’re refinishing your hardwood floors more than once or twice, it is most likely you’re have to replace the floor next time.
The wrong person might try to fix the floor by sanding it again and now you’re risking another bad sanding.
Every time you refinish your hardwood floors you have to be away from home.
As much as we all love vacations, staying at friends, family or a cheap hotel for a few days in your home town while your floors are being done, is not a dream vacation.
The furniture moving costs are higher if you have to do this more than once.
If you have kids or pets it might turn into a great challenge.
Being away from your home and your routine interrupts your personal and your professional life.
Unqualified contractors usually have bad equipment, this means dust, dust and more dust on all of your belongings from the walls to inside your closets.
Refinishing your wood floors, if done improperly will turn into a minimum of several weeks ordeal.
In a lot of cases the home owner or the contractor want to go to court. That means you have to gather your evidence, facts, hire a lawyer and now you’re in for a longer process and more money out of pocket.

As a hardwood flooring expert I have seen many badly sanded floors. The home owners were dealing with the problem usually for more than a month or two by the time they found me. Once hired, each and every one of them were shocked and thrilled to see my company in action:

We are on time.
We are on schedule.
We do it once.
We refinish the floors with complete dustless systems.
We deliver what we promise.
Most jobs are done in less than a week.

A lot of us like saving money and there’s nothing wrong with buy one get one free deals at the grocery store. When it comes to refinishing hardwood floors, you literally get what you pay for. I should really be saying you get what you don’t pay for.