A world tour…All in the name of better a floor
Monday, August 1st, 2011
Recently I had the opportunity to visit Fraunzimmern, Germany for a Lagler PST (Professional Sanding Training) July 22-27th. Lagler is a company located in Fraunzimmern that makes the world’s best floor sanding machines. The factory is state of the art and Lagler has decided to extend their tradition of quality beyond manufacturing and train selected professionals on technique as well.
Only ten people were selected for the trip from the United States. The tour included one day of a factory tour/machine maintenance. State of the art machinery used in production enables Lagler to maintain a consistency of product far beyond all other manufacturers in the industry. Following the factory tour all professionals on the trip were trained on even the finest details regarding proper machine maintenance and operating specifications.
It is important to consider that reproducible quality and workmanship is most likely when machines are running optimally. The other component of producing quality floors resides within efficient and reproducible methods of sanding. Lagler has spent the last ten years in conjunction with various engineers validating their methods for producing floors that are flat and free of error. The students at the July training were all taught and judged on performance afterwards by competing teams.
Beyond the technical aspects of the trip I was really impressed by the dynamics of our group of contractors on the trip. We had contractors represented from nearly every region of the United States, all with varying beliefs in method but a common bond of passion for a perfect floor. I now feel that my network of knowledge and access to the best in the business just jumped an order of magnitude because of this opportunity. I’m certain that with the knowledge from the training and the coming line of products for floor sanding from Lagler that our abilities will advance.
Thanks to Karl Lagler and Jeff Fairbanks for this opportunity. In our next related post I will discuss the real story behind dust collection and validity of endorsements for various “dustless” systems in the industry.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Company Life | No Comments »
Hardwood Floors News : Wood Products Better Than Steel & Concrete, Researchers say
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
This is why we like the NWFA because they stay on top of the latest data.
Hardwood Floors News : Wood Products Better Than Steel & Concrete, Researchers say.
Tags: sustainability
Posted in Sustainability Talk | No Comments »
A really big reason to hire a professional
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
This e-mail just came into my inbox:
On July 1, 2011 the Construction Contractors Board (CCB) Dispute Resolution Services (DRS) program will make significant changes to its program.
For complaints filed on and after July 1, 2011, DRS will provide only mediation services. If the parties do not settle the complaint, the complainant must go to court and obtain a court judgment before DRS can send it to the contractor’s surety for payment.
This change is made necessary by the recent sharp slowdown in construction that resulted in asignificant drop in the number of licensed contractors and the fees paid to the CCB.
To adjust to this drop in revenue, the legislature made significant cutbacks in the CCB’s budget for the DRS program. This reduced budget was signed into law by the Governor.
Essentially, if you are a homeowner and you have a significant problem with your contractor, then you should prepare for a much longer and more arduous process of correcting the issue.
Please hire the best, not just the cheapest.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor
Posted in Contractor Perspectives | No Comments »
Water-based finish versus oil based finish color
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011
We recently refinished the hardwood floors at a house in north Portland and they were old growth fir flooring. The floors had previously been refinished using a waterborne finish and judging on the color and age they were probably done somewhere in the 5-10 year period beforehand.
The kitchen floor on the left was a little too worn through to refinish, so we left that portion in its original state. The floor on the right was after our process and was refinished using a Glitsa conversion varnish finish. Conversion varnishes are regarded as the true “Swedish” finishes and really enhance the warm caramel/amber color of a fir floor as you can see from the photo.
We hope that this photo does a good job of illustrating the color enhancement difference of hardwood floor finishes over time.
Tags: Fir flooring, Swedish finish
Posted in Floor Projects | No Comments »
Jobsite conditions and rare finish issues
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
I’ve recently been scratching my head over issues that are so rare that it took some digging through contacts to resolve. Here is the full explanation of diagram of a phenomenon know as Benard cells:
Bénard cells: differences in surface tension
To achieve good flow, the surface tension must remain uniform over the complete surface of the coating layer whileit is drying. During the drying of a solventborne coating film, the solvent on the surface evaporates causing differences in temperature, surface tension, solvent concentration and density within the film. To balance the thermodynamic disequilibrium currents occur in the coating film. These currents produce eddies in the drying layer, a phenomenon known as the formation of Bénard cells. The surface tension is higher at the edges of the cells than at their centers and coating material flows from regions of lower surface tension to regions of higher surface tension. The resulting unevenness in the surface dries into the coating film. This produces an irregular surface as the coating shows marked texture.
I wanted to simply post about this phenomenon as a way to let people know that floor finishing can be a very tricky business and so many variables apply to coating a floor that it is often unfair to blame contractors for an issue this rare. It took a number of phone calls to various experts in the field to uncover this phenomenon and an appropriate fix. This is a case where even my experience was not enough. My network was the real strength in resolving the matter.
Problems will happen with any hardwood floor during installations and wood floor refinishing. The goal is to minimize the number of problems and if they do occur, then to quickly arrive at an answer to expedite the fix and get homeowners back in the home with minimal impact on their life. If we had approached the issue with recoating the floor, then the problem would likely have been the same with each attempt. We were able to fix the problem with a minor buffing with a polishing pad in a couple of hours.
Tags: hardwood floor finish, Swedish finish
Posted in Floor Finishing | No Comments »
Hawthorne painted wood floor refinish
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Here is the video for our latest fir floor refinish. The job was a painted floor that was located in the Hawthorne area of southeast Portland.
Tags: Fir flooring, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Project Videos | 5 Comments »
What’s a dummy board?
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
The one that didn’t pass the algebra test?
Not really. When you have a hardwood floor installed and the height of the new floor is much higher than the dishwasher, then you have to put a board in front of the dishwasher that can be easily removed for later repairs to the dishwasher. We call it a dummy board.
I made a repair recently where a contractor forgot the dummy board. Inevitably, six months later the dishwasher needed a repair and it became an emergency repair.
After cutting the boards to allow for clearance, we will re-install a loose board that will fix the problem. If you’re having new hardwood flooring installed in your kitchen and the feet on your dishwasher do not have clearance to go up, then you need to make sure to pay attention. Many wood floor installers do not understand the importance of this detail.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor
Posted in Floor Projects | No Comments »
Home Depot fools you once again!
Thursday, April 21st, 2011
What you don’t know sometimes can surprise you.
I was discussing with a distributor colleague the other day about how amazed I was with the cost of the stair treads that you can purchase at Home Depot and Lowe’s. He informed me that the treads are a veneer and not solid oak and I was blown away.
Take a look at the profile from the side and you will see exactly what I am talking about. The tread on the left is solid oak the one on the right is an oak veneer. My other issue is with the China factor regarding material quality and sustainability.
Regarding sustainability: Oak doesn’t grow in China so the oak veneer had to be be shipped to China for manufacturing (for cheap) and then the tread is shipped back to the US for purchase. How GREEN is that?
Regarding longevity (life-cycle analysis): The veneer tread can likely be sanded 3 times before you burn through the veneer. My other issue is that poorly glued veneer can de-laminate and who wants a staircase that is falling apart. Let’s call the tread on the right what it is… JUNK.
The cost for a high quality staircase is in the labor for installation and finishing. The treads really only represent about 20-25% of the cost on average. If we were to estimate installing a standard staircase with the veneered treads, then the savings would be about $250-300. That’s a rather paltry number considering that an average staircase starts at about $2500 and goes up from there depending on what features you want.
Please investigate your projects from all dimensions, from the contractor to the materials used for the project.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, sustainability
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Sustainability Talk | No Comments »
What’s all that chattering about?
Monday, April 18th, 2011
I’m not talking about the latest Justin Bieber album at the high school girls locker room.
This post is about something a majority of homeowners and surprisingly 8 out of 10 “floor guys” don’t see as a problem with floor sanding…. Chatter from the floor sander. Look closely at this picture and you should see what I’m talking about
A contractor’s belt sander or drum sander is the cause of this problem. Typically it is because the machine has not been regularly maintained. It is possible to remove chatter, but this requires a methodical hardplating process with either a buffer or a three disc random orbit sander like the Lagler Trio.
The above photo is a before picture from a recent project we completed in the Alameda neighborhood around Portland. We sanded the floor flat with our belt machine and did a final hardplating using the Lagler Trio. The end result is below.
The point of this post is simply to inform you that if you see this phenomenon in your hardwood floors that it is a real sanding error and you’re not being a picky homeowner. To hide chatter, a number of companies use very low sheen finishes, particularly waterborne finishes because the more plasticized resins do a great job of obscuring the clarity of the floor.
Be informed, be bold in demanding great service, and be a better consumer. You should love your floors, not think they’re just OK when you move back into your home.
Tags: hardwood refinishing
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Wood Floor FAQ | 2 Comments »
Clearing up the confusion in reclaimed
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
Often I get inquiries from people interested in “reclaimed” floors. As the conversation goes, they have a notion that the material will be cheaper in cost because it is reclaimed. Regarding my definition of reclaimed, I would say give the following:
Reclaimed flooring- material that has been provided from a source such as a barn, old building, or riverbottom (sunken logs) and has been milled into flooring.
Salvaged flooring- flooring that has been removed from a house or gymnasium and later gets re-installed in a different building or home.
Here are a few things to note:
Reclaimed flooring requires someone to go extract the material from one location and sometimes this can be difficult (underwater logging) and milled into flooring. At best, the cost as equal to but usually double the cost of traditional material because of the extra effort to recover the material that gets milled into flooring.
Salvaged flooring is typically picked up from a source where someone donates the material after removing it from a home in order to make way for new floor coverings. Unless the person removing the material is a specialist, the integrity of the flooring is usually compromised. I’ve also previously written about the amount of wear layer lost to the “over/underwood” effect of salvaged flooring.
If you’re looking for the cheap route, then the odds are less in favor of finding cheap reclaimed flooring.
Tags: sustainability
Posted in Sustainability Talk | 1 Comment »
