Archive for the ‘Hardwood floor durability’ Category

Real world waterbased finish

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

I get asked so often about finish durability. Honestly, my answer is always to explain the features of various finishes and suggest only the types of products I would use on my own home.

Two years ago in April 2010 I applied three finish coats of Glitsa HP two component waterbased finish to my floor (Matte sheen). Today while I was cleaning my floors using our suggested method and was really impressed with how they still look great. My children are two boys ages 4.5 and 2.5 (they’re wild and crazy) and they are my best testers along with my dog who is young and crazy. The photo below is pretty much the best proof I can give you for the real world performance of a finish. No hyped marketing behind this one, just real world for someone else to see if they are wondering about durability.

This isn’t that I am sold on only one particular finish, just that I have this product in my house on a daily basis and can personally vouch for how well it performs in durability.

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Posted in Hardwood floor durability, Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish, waterbased finish | No Comments »

The price isn’t right

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

One of the things I have been startled about lately is how the hardwood floor refinishing market in Portland has been subject to really large variances in price. At our company we try to deliver a service with considerable value that includes very personable customer service in addition to a quality product. We make a very disciplined effort to hide no element of what is included, which are the questions that consumers should ask in order to make an apples to apples comparison:

1) How many finish coats will be applied? This determines longevity to a great degree

2)What type of finish will be used? Home Depot polyurethane versus GlitsaMax 2 component waterborne urethane isn’t really a contest, the latter will start to outperform after 2-3 years easily. Just look at my floors, which are the test subject of 2year old and 4year old boys dragging toys and dropping everything. They look brand new one and a half years later.

3)How is the floor being filled? Is the floor being trowel filled across the whole area to alleviate gaps or simply spot filled in the large areas? This has a considerable impact on labor in the process.

4)How clean is the contractor? I think most people who want a refinish might care about a clean house. Does the contractor vacuum the house and vents after sanding and before coating the floor? Do they use dust collection? These are questions to ask when you want to know how MUCH service you are paying for.

5) Is the contractor licensed and CURRENTLY bonded? Do they pay their taxes? These may seem like simple questions but I assure you they are essential because if the contractor does not have a current bond, then any damage they are liable for upon entering your home comes from your pocket in most cases if there is no bond. Paying taxes is essential for supporting our parks, schools, etc… so it goes without saying that it is important for a community.

6) Do they contribute to any organizations or have ANY credentials beyond a license?
Our memberships and certifications alone cost us close to $2000 per year alone not counting any time for involvement with committees or helping educate other members. This may seem like a minor element, but I say that it is the fundamental building block for a quality contractor for two reasons. The esteem of being known for quality work goes with being in an organization and secondly the access to the latest information ensures better quality in your business.

I hope that these questions stay current amongst the consumers of Portland so that during the trying times we can all maintain or hopefully elevate the state of this industry rather than take the path of least resistance by lowering quality and price simultaneously.

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Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood floor choices, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, portland hardwood professional | 1 Comment »

How long will it last?

Monday, October 5th, 2009


The title of this blog in my opinion should be the first question out of your mouth if you are a consumer or remodeler who preaches sustainability. The beauty of wood flooring is that it has the ability to last for well over 100 years depending on the wear layer thickness of the material.

Let us define wear layer as the surface of a flooring product that is in contact with foot traffic that can tolerate gradual removal of material without compromising the integrity of the flooring fastening system. Wear layer is a tremendously overlooked factor for people who are purchasing products. A minimum wear layer thickness for product that is serviceable through recoating or refinishing should be 3/16″. The wear layer of a typical 3/4 solid hardwood floor is 5/16″. That means that you may be able to refinish the floors typically 8 times. Some of the houses in Portland have fir flooring with a wear layer thickness that may have once been close to 1/2″ or 8/16″ in my estimate. That’s pretty amazing for longevity.

We recommend that in addition to the cost and the color, the primary consideration of your flooring material should be serviceability over time.

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Posted in Hardwood floor durability, Portland fir floor, wear layer thickness | No Comments »

Product expectations and sustainability

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

I was out for a run this morning and I saw a jobsite/retaining wall that looked like a hurricane had come through. In fact, it appeared that maybe the retaining wall was started and maybe the contractor was asked to leave possibly. It made me really think about how many projects, products, or services are partially or fully completed and then torn out for one of many possible reasons. Was the job oversold and under-delivered? Was the contractor’s experience not up to par with the requirements of the homeowner? I know few fellow contractors who would ante up for this one. Was there a good match of product performance with customer expectations?

Everyday I hear the words green and sustainable tossed around in an attempt to create customer buzz and sell a job. If the project was loaded with green and sustainable products, but had to be torn out and redone, this is in no way a sustainable process. I would urge readers of this blog who are contractors or retailers to consider that quality is a willingness to provide the best product and service ONE time for a price that provides a good living without compromising project fulfillment and product performance. In my eyes this is a vastly overlooked component of being a sustainable home services provider.

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Posted in Hardwood floor durability, sustainability | 1 Comment »

What type of hardwood is the most durable?

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

The question I am most frequently asked by homeowners selecting new flooring is, “What wood is the most durable?” Again this is a trick question because there are three primary factors that will determine the durability of any hardwood floor: density of the material, finish coats, and maintenance.

The density of hardwood flooring material is tested by the Janka scale of hardness. Essentially, a standard sized ball bearing is hydraulically pressed into the material to a certain depth and that amount of force necessary to achieve that depth is measured. For red oak (a wood that is considered to be a hard material), the Janka hardness is around 1250. Now relate that to Brazilian walnut or Ipe, which has a Janka hardness of 3680, and you can see that material choice is a big factor. The density will help guard against dents in the floor when you drop phones, pots, pans, etc…

The second factor in the durability of a floor is what type of finish will be on the floor and how many finish coats will be applied. For this side of the discussion I will keep the post to on site finished floors. There are a myriad of finishes available, but the two I would most consider to be durable would be acid-curing Swedish finishes and 2 component chemically cross linked waterborne urethanes. The layers of a true Swedish finish chemically integrate to form one large finish layer and they have a lot of optical clarity when scratched so that the scratch won’t turn white. What this means is that these finishes will tolerate and rebound from a scratch quite well. By comparison, catalyzed waterborne finishes form a very hard surface layer over the floor. They somewhat resemble a hardened sheet of plastic over the floor that is very hard to scuff and scratch. My experience is that both finishes will last a very long time, although catalyzed waterbased finishes emit less odor when applied and it goes away much quicker.

Sometimes I think that people want the beauty of a wood floor but they never want to clean it and this seems a little odd to me. To properly clean and 800 square foot floor takes no longer than 10 minutes and requires only a microfiber mop and a small amount of hardwood floor cleaner. I DO NOT recommend cleaners that leave a residue on the floor such as Murphy’s oil soap or cleaners that are not pH balanced such as ammonia or water mixed with vinegar. Over time residue will dull the finish and non pH balanced cleaners will attack and destroy a finish. The final point is that I have seen countless people pay $5000 or more for a new floor or refinish who absolutely will not pay $200-300 a year to have a large dog’s toenails groomed once a month. This is one of the greatest contributors to scratching on a wood floor that can be avoided for a minimal cost. The only other recommendation I have is to use felt protectors on your furniture that moves regularly and small rugs at high traffic doors.

In the end your wood flooring investment is a product of good planning and maintenance. For any additional information, please e-mail us or visit our website.

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