Posts Tagged ‘wood floor sanding’
Apples to apples floor finish
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
I do a number of estimates for my floor business and I am always perplexed by the lack of information other floor companies are providing for the homeowner. Let me bring about a few real world points for people in order to dispel the myths surrounding the “bidding” process.
1) Two coats versus three coats versus coverage rate
Honestly this is a six versus one half dozen comparison. Your average floor finish has a recommended coverage rate for application. Some finishes have an optimal application range of 300 square feet per gallon where others are at 500. This has a big impact on the “mil thickness” (durability) of the finish. Three thin coats will actually be less durable than a quality two finish coat job. Cheap contractors stretch finish thin when applying it. Three coats sounds like a better thing, but is only a repeat visit and more work for the contractor if the coverage is less than adequate.
2) Resins and solids content
This is a real hidden point of discussion for some floor companies, particularly low priced companies and large outfits. Waterborne finishes have a protective resin suspended in water that is the “thing” that provides durability. The chemical composition of this resin has a tremendous impact on durability. Cheap floor finishes have weak resins and are “watery” with coverage rates near 600-700 square feet per gallon. They are lower in solids (the resins that provides durability).
3) Two component versus one component waterbased finish
One component floor finishes have minimal scuff and scratch resistance. They rely simply on oxygen to link the finish resins. Two component finishes rely upon a chemical crosslinker to “matricize” the finish resins and form a really tough scuff resistant floor. In talking with several finish chemists during NWFA schools, I have found that two component finishes fare almost twice as well in taber abrasion tests that test durability. For a perspective single component finishes can be about $25-50 per gallon, where a quality two component waterborne ranges from $80-110 per gallon.
CHEAP ONE COMPONENT FLOOR FINISH
DURABLE TWO COMPONENT FLOOR FINISH
My Point!!!!
Ask your contractor about these points. Why? Because if they don’t have an answer they are NOT a professional. They are a “guy with a sander” who can multiply a square foot price and use a tape measure. Please make a fair comparison when evaluating floor refinishing estimates. Otherwise you will be taken for a ride by a snake oil salesman and have a worn out floor in two years.
Tags: floor finish durability, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, low-VOC hardwood floor finish, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, waterbased finish, wear layer thickness | No Comments »
The new face of low-VOC
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Waterborne finishes run the gamut for durability. At our home we have two of the world’s greatest floor finish durability testers, boys ages 2 and 4 and a half. They lay credit to the fact that waterborne finish can be durable.
In the change of the market towards waterborne finish, California has set the standard at 275g/L VOC maximum. In response, on of our favorite finishes (Dura Seal X-terra) has recently been re-formulated to be in compliance. In addition to being a very durable waterborne, this finish performs flawlessly on the job. We love the look and workability of this finish. 
Tags: dustless refinishing, floor finish durability, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish | No Comments »
Staying on top of technology
Friday, January 29th, 2010
I am pleased to announce that we will be adding a new piece of equipment to our lineup this week. It is the new Clarke SE7 Pro edger.
Given that most dust generated during sanding comes from the edger, we are pleased to switch to this new machine. The dust collection is state of the art and greatly superior to most edgers. Dust collection systems generally are unable to capture the dust from gear driven edgers like the Clarke Super 7. The new SE7 Pro edger is belt driven and extremely clean.
For more, click here
Tags: hardwood refinishing, New hardwood edger, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor Portland, Hardwood floor refinish, hardwood floor finish | No Comments »
Restoring a botched sanding job
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
The other day we received a phone call from a distraught homeowner. She had unfortunately hired a “fly-by-night” contractor for a job. Originally when he was hired he was there to install tile, but assured the homeowners he could also refinish the wood floors. Because of the unethical nature of this person, I am willing to release that his company was called “A Touch of Class”, or at least that was the name under which he was operating. After checking his license I determined that was an inactive license with several judgments and orders to pay damage fees.
During this first portion we sanded the floor at a slight angle to remove the drum marks from the original sanding process. Here are the results after the first round of sanding.
Afterwards, we filled the floor to remove gaps and the process is shown here.
To illustrate the dust collection process we have a video clip of the process as seen here.
Final finish sanding is done using a Lagler Trio.
After all sanding was completed, we dampened the floor to prepare for staining. The floor was stained as a mixture of Coffee Brown and Golden Brown. Afterwards, two finish coats of a traditional Glitsa Swedish finish system.
Tags: dustless refinishing, hardwood refinishing, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor Portland, Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish | 3 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.
Tags: dustless refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood floor choices, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, portland hardwood professional | 1 Comment »
Old houses and historically accurate repairs
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
I was working last week on the home of my friends Patrick Galvin and Ellen Galvin in order to restore a section of flooring in their home that was buried under carpet. As you can see in the following sequence of photos the removal of the carpet revealed a couple of surprises.
After removing the carpet we installed salvaged old growth fir flooring reclaimed from a school in Milton-Freewater. The floors were sanded and finished according to our standard process. As you can see in the next photos the floor maintains an original appearance. This is critical not only for appearance, but for maintaining a historically accurate appearance.
Tags: dustless refinishing, hardwood refinishing, Portland hardwood floor, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Fir flooring, Hardwood floor Portland, Portland fir floor | 1 Comment »
White Lines Syndrome
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
The latest trend in wood flooring has definitely been for darker floors and wider boards. Exotic wood flooring has also seen growth in market share. One of the unspoken problems is that when seasonal movement occurs within the boards of the floor some finishes can actually become stretched out during this process and they leave a white line down the seam of the boards. This problem is particularly bad with waterbased finishes that have come to dominate the market with low VOC laws emerging in many states. Waterborne finishes lay across the floor and essentially act as a hardened sheet of plastic that resists traffic.
Using an acid curing conversion varnish or true “Swedish” finish is the best option to prevent this problem. This is because the acid curing finishes will truly break their bond at the edge of each board and stick to the edges of that board during seasonal movement.
If you are planning a flooring project that requires wider boards, dark stain, or both I recommend thoroughly discussing the project with your contractor to prevent this problem. In fact there is so little published information for this problem because the industry doesn’t want you to know that there is a dark side to new technology. When white lines occur across your wood floor they almost always require a full refinish to remove and that is never a fun option for your time. If you would like more information please contact us for a PDF of the problem.
Tags: hardwood refinishing, low-VOC hardwood floor finish, Swedish finish, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in waterbased finish, white lines syndrome | 1 Comment »
To salvage or not to salvage that is the question!
Sunday, May 31st, 2009
One of the latest rages in hardwood flooring materials is to use salvaged flooring materials. As you know we are all fans of the motto “reduce, reuse, recycle”. The word reuse is in play with salvaged materials and there are some things to consider when you reuse material that was already an existing floor.
Most hardwood floors have approximately 6-10 sandings available depending on the type of material and the aggressiveness of the sanding. Less dense hardwood floors such as old growth fir may be closer to six available sandings whereas a more dense material such as Brazilian cherry may be able to be sanded up to 10 times.
Keep in mind that every wood floor is connected to a subfloor, which is connected to the foundation of a home. While homes settle and shift over the years the hardwood floor follows suit. After a few sandings and a number of years your wood floors may be sanded to a thinner dimension in a hallway than in a bedroom, etc…
The salvaging process that we speak of is the removal and reassembly of an existing wood floor into a new area or home. When you remove and reassemble a floor that has been sanded multiple times, the true variances that are exascerbated by the settling process will be even greater. In reality when you reassemble a salvaged wood floor, there is an extreme amount of what we refer to as “over/under wood”. This greater amount of variance requires a greater amount of sanding in order to achieve a flat wood floor.
So what does all of this mean? If you install a salvaged wood floor in your home the consequences are good for the environment and possibly bad because you will need to pay more for the floor to be sanded because there is more effort to remove the necessary material to achieve a flat floor. A second consequence of the additional sanding efforts is that your floor will be closer to the end of its lifespan. This is especially important because with all of the interest in people requesting salvaged wood floors these days, after sanding I am seeing floors that literally have no more sandings available because there is virtually a paper thin wear layer remaining.
It is most important for me as an ethical wood flooring professional to advise you that salvaged wood floors have a lesser value for the life cycle of your project because of the greater reduction in wear layer. If you choose to use salvaged flooring, then I have two suggestions. The first suggestion is to either remill the flooring material or have flooring milled from dimensional lumber. The other suggestion is that if you choose to reuse salvaged flooring material without doing a remilling that you adhere to a very strict maintenance schedule of recoating the finish on your floor. This will greatly prolong the life of the wear layer of your floor and add more value to your efforts.
Tags: domestic hardwood floor, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, Portland hardwood floor, salvaged hardwood portland, sustainable hardwood, wood floor sanding
Posted in Hardwood floor Portland, Portland fir floor, Uncategorized, hardwood floor, sustainability | 2 Comments »
Why can’t you sand that old fir floor?
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
All the time I meet different people for an estimate who assume that their old Fir floors cannot be refinished, so they think that they will install new flooring over the floors. Usually the floors have been covered in paint, carpet, or linoleum forever and as time has gone on people have realized the best looking of their options is a wood floor. One important thing to understand about the floor sanding process is that usually only 1/32″ to 1/16″ of flooring actually is removed during sanding. If you consider that a wear layer on a floor is typically 5/16″ and a quality refinish will endure 10-20 years of wear with proper maintenance, then you can see that most floors ,even those that are 100 years old or greater, have some remaining life. I have seen some of the worst hardwood floors be revived in 5 days to a state of beauty that few would expect. My answer is almost always, “Yes, you can sand that old Fir floor!”. It’s more cost effective and has less impact on the environment because you reuse an existing resource.
Tags: dustless refinishing, hardwood refinishing, Portland hardwood floor, portland oregon hardwood contractor, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Fir flooring, sustainability | No Comments »
Planning for a quality Hardwood Floor Refinish
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Every week I do a number of hardwood refinishing estimates for homeowners and one of the most frequent questions asked is how long the process will take. The question is somewhat of a loaded question because a number of factors apply to the process. Two primary factors apply to the length of a standard hardwood refinish project: the type of finish used and the number of finish coats applied. Additional factors to consider may be if any repairs need to be done to the wood floor prior to sanding. Oftentimes pets may consistently urinate in spots of the home or during the watering process plants may overflow onto the wood floor, which causes dark spots from mold growth. The sanding process will not remove these stains usually, so a suitable repair with matching material is most often necessary.
The two predominant types of finish used in wood floor refinishing are oil based and waterbased finishes. Oil based finishes most commonly used are polyurethane and acid-curing Swedish finishes. Oil modified polyurethane has the slowest dry time and typically requires a full day of dry time between coats. Acid-curing Swedish finish systems are catalyzed chemically for the seal coats, which allows application of two coats in a day. The top coat is a much slower one day process of drying. In contrast most waterbased finishes will dry within 2-3 hours depending on the catalyst and coverage rate. I have seen waterbased floors coated with three coats in one day, although I do not recommend this typically.
Two additional key terms to understand are dry time and cure time. Dry time of a finish is the amount of time that it takes for the finish to be dry to the touch and walked on so that nothing sticks to the finish. Cure time is the amount of time that it takes for the finish to completely off-gas and achieve 100% of it’s hardness. The cure time of a typical water-based finish is approximately one week, although most waterborne finished are 90% cured within 48 hours. By comparison a typical oil-based finish has a longer cure time of 30-90 days.
Now that I have confused you thoroughly let me offer my best advice based on experience. I rarely recommend anyone to move in on a water-based floor in under 24 hours, although I allow my customers to walk on the finish sooner if required. Water-based finishes are very durable within an overnight dry time so that the floor can be walked on the morning after a final coat. By contrast I rarely recommend walking on a oil-based finish floor in under 24 hours and not moving in heavy furniture in under 48 hours. For a typical 800-1200 square foot hardwood floor refinish I would suggest allowing 5 days for the entire process of refinishing if three water-based finish coats are to be applied. Allow an additional 2-3 days if the floor is to be stained or oil-modified finish applied. If you have questions, then visit our website or e-mail us.
Tags: dustless refinishing, floor finish durability, hardwood refinishing, Portland hardwood floor, Swedish finish, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor Portland, Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, portland hardwood professional | 3 Comments »