Posts Tagged ‘hardwood refinishing’
What are you getting for your money?
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Would you buy a car without knowing:
- The color?
- If it had a radio?
- Whether it had leather or cloth interior?
- If it had a reliable engine?
Would you hire a contractor to refinish your hardwood floors without knowing:
- The name and specifications of the finish being used
- If they are licensed and bonded
- If they have a reputation of reliability
Every week I talk with consumers who don’t know anything about the finish being used on their floors other than if it is waterbased or oil based finish.
In addition, I talk with various hardwood contractors in the field who never discuss the finish being used with their customers. The contractor just gives the customer a price and depending on the cost of the job and material costs, purchases finish that allows them to stay profitable. The customer generally gets the finish that is the cheapest.
In the last year:
- Insurance rates have increased
- Material costs have increased
- Fuel costs have increased
How is it possible that you can get the best floor for the cheapest price?
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Floor Finishing | No Comments »
The top 3 bait and switch selling points used by desperate wood floor refinishers
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
In the wake of a toughened economy, the number of desperate contractors has risen dramatically. The end result is that contractors are using very vague language to describe their process so that they appear to be offering more for less. Here are the top 3 red alerts for anyone considering a hardwood floor refinish:
“Oil finishes”- There are two common finishes that are lumped together as “oil” finishes, oil-modified polyurethane or conversion varnishes. Oil modified polyurethane (poly) typically costs 60% less than a conversion varnish or true “Swedish” finish (Made by Glitsa or Synteko). Polyurethane generally gets worn through about 2-3 times faster than a quality conversion varnish because it is considerably lower in solids (the stuff that provides durability). This price difference is how a company can refinish your floors for $1.00/sq foot less than other companies and say they’re doing an “oil” finish without distinguishing the type of finish.
“Waterbase”- Not all waterbased floor finishes are equal. As a general rule, if the finish isn’t a two component waterbased finish, then you’re pretty much getting a very inferior finish. I wrote a lot about that in a previous blog.
Two coats versus three coats- This is funny because it’s the wrong number to really consider. Film build thickness is the key to durability and three thin finish coats actually has less film build than a high build two coat system. Rollers and brushes apply finish much heavier than trim pads and T-bars.
PLEASE don’t get sold on the wrong buzz word phrases and not ask the appropriate questions. Unless you like moving your furniture every three years, I encourage you to become a more meticulous consumer.
I would love to hear from anyone about their stories or observations from the field.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, hardwood floor finish, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Wood Floor FAQ | No Comments »
Believe me, we can restore your floor!
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
When I first started out in this business I was surrounded by the best of the best at my first NWFA technical school in Las Vegas. During that trip and for many years afterwards my dream was to become an artist at decorative flooring and win a floor of the year competition.
We actually did win 2nd place extreme makeover in 2008 for the Battleground floor in the gallery. Cool floors are certainly rewarding, but I’ve actually grown more fond of the challenge of taking a totally wrecked old floor like the one in the pictures and returning it to a classic beauty.
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- fir floor on fremont
Over the years, what has fulfilled me about being in the hardwood floor business is being able to step up to a challenge and deliver. Normally people look at their floor after they peel back the carpet and just kind of wonder if it is possible to bring it back. That’s why we like to post our projects on the blog so that people will know what is possible.
I’ve found that becoming a scientist of creating a “look” fulfills the side of me that always wants to experiment. Don’t let anyone tell you that you floor is too trashed and try to cover it with Pergo or garbage flooring. Anything is possible.
Tags: Fir flooring, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Floor Projects | 2 Comments »
WOW!!!
Monday, January 24th, 2011
That’s what I said when I saw the floors at a refinish project we did in SW Portland recently in an old Victorian house. The floors were a little underwhelming when I first saw them as you can see in the two pictures on the left.
The floor at first seemed un-salvageable because some boards were broken and had some large gaps, but a look at the wear layer revealed otherwise. Underneath was once of the most unique native Oregon white oak floors I have ever seen
The moral of the story? It’s easy to look at a really dirty floor and assume it will never turn out right. The building materials of the past were SO EXCEPTIONAL that it is always worth the effort to restore them.
Tags: Hardwood floor Portland, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Floor Projects | 1 Comment »
Ladd’s addition wood floor refinish
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Here is a video of our recent Ladd’s Addition whole house refinish and restoration.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, Hardwood floor Portland, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Project Videos | No Comments »
Big dogs and durability of hardwood floors
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
All too often I get the question about finishes and durability by people who have big dogs. There is no magic formula, except concrete floors maybe, but here are some ways to enjoy the beauty of your hardwood floors and still have a big loveable dog.
Grooming is everything- I know it can be a slight expense, but regular visits to the groomer will do a lot for keeping dog nails short and scratches minimized.
Tug of war and fetch are best left for outside your house or on the carpet.
Dark stains show scratches more readily. I have a 55lb, 2 year old Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog and he is wild. Even my floor has scratches, but because my red oak floor is very light and a very flat sheen (ultra matte) the scratches are way less apparent. A lot of it has to do with the whole picture, not the floor finish.
Swedish finishes are “durable” because they wear well and scratch clear, but they WILL scratch. Optically speaking, scratches are hidden better and not because the finish is harder. By the way, there is a lot of misunderstanding that “Swedish” means no wax. Even Swedish finishes (conversion varnishes made by Glitsa and Synteko that smell more) have slight amounts of wax in them, and that is per a chemist at Glitsa (I’ve toured the Seattle factory and had this conversation).
All floor finishes will scratch and the best defense is a good offense. This means regular grooming and more frequent maintenance of your floor by screening and recoating your floor. In the end all hardwood floors get scratches no matter what finish you use.
Tags: Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, Swedish finish
Posted in Hardwood floor durability | 2 Comments »
Undoing the past…Tough but high in value
Saturday, January 15th, 2011
Most people have really become great evaluators of service and value in the contracting industry. By the same token, realtors and home purchasers have become very adept at historically accurate features within Portland’s older homes. That brings me to one of this week’s projects, a linoleum removal and fir floor refinish.
The home is a Laurelhurst dutch colonial and has two bedrooms that were originally fir flooring. We have had to scrape, sand, and pry away the linoleum that was originally in place. One of my employees Andrew and I finally got to the original fir floor after three days of effort. So what does the floor look like? It is one of the most pristine fir floors I have seen in Portland.
Other companies in town looked at the job and said it wasn’t possible to remove the linoleum and tried to sell the homeowner on a new flooring installation. In my opinion, it would be very awkward in appearance to have a 3/4 height change in a doorway to each bedroom when the hallway and another bedroom were fir flooring. I’m not the only one who would think that either. Most home buyers looking in the Laurelhurst neighborhood are also keen enough to see the oddity of a new floor and covering over the original 100 year old floor.
Some realtors will tell you a comp is a comp based on RMLS data. However, the detailed old house buyer and savvy realtor know that a historically accurate house is move in ready and has a greater value as opposed to a house where people have made a ton of very modern updates that are not integral to the original design.
Tags: Fir flooring, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Floor Projects | 1 Comment »
Home Depot refinishes hardwood floors?
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Not really. Let me explain in case you were wondering.
- Sign up for a refinish with Home Depot
- They send out EnHance (another franchise company)
- EnHance does the job, but gives 20% of the gross cost back to Home Depot
- The owner then does the job and afterwards pays fees back to the franchise
That’s a big chain of bureacracy if you are simply looking for someone to refinish your hardwood floors. You have two layers of cost added to the project because two different companies get a cut of the money before it makes it into the hands of the actual franchise owner. If you assume 30% goes back to various sources then let’s do the math.
Home Depot charges $4.25 per square foot here in Portland to refinish hardwood floors. That means that the owner is actually charging around $2.97 sq ft for refinishing. I know firsthand that EnHance uses three coats of single component Bona Mega for their floor finish. Despite all the marketing in the world, I can tell you that it’s a junk product. In fact, in our project gallery the project titled Battleground had been refinished by EnHance two years beforehand and was badly worn at the time when we added the new custom floor and refinished everything.
I’m not speculating about the information on this blog because I’ve had conversations with previous owners of an EnHance franchise. I know what product they use because we purchase from the same distributor as EnHance. Consumers please don’t put all of your faith in Home Depot. They’re great at marketing, but they don’t really refinish floors, install windows, flooring, etc…
Tags: Hardwood floor Portland, hardwood refinishing, low-VOC hardwood floor finish
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Floor Finishing | 1 Comment »
Glitsa Polyurethane…Great stuff
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
We recently had a reason to use the new Polyurethane finish the was just launched by Glitsa American. I must say that this product has exceptional build on the floor and the workability is exceptional. Although it is not technically low-VOC, in my own observation the smell from this product the next day after application isn’t bad at all. If budget and value are necessary for your floor, I highly recommend this finish.
Glitsa oil-modified polyurethane
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Contractor Perspectives, Floor Finishing | No Comments »
SE Topnail Restoration
Sunday, November 7th, 2010
Here is a video of a project we recently completed in SE Portland.
Very unique 7/8″ wide flooring was in the house and we recreated the flooring and installed and patched several areas.
Tags: hardwood floor contractor, Hardwood floor Portland, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Project Videos | No Comments »
