Forum: Floors
November 18, 2009
Wood floor disaster
Our floor guy put a sealer, Golden Oak Minwax stain, and three coats of water-based satin finish polyurethane on our pine floors. They looked absolutely beautiful -- a very even shade of medium brown. But we were concerned the satin finish wouldn't be strong enough for soft pine floors, so he suggested one more coat of high gloss. Though now he says he used semi-gloss. Anyway, so we saw the floors today, and now they are too dark and the color has changed. They look orange, purple, and yellow. Plus the finish is uneven, so they are shiny in some parts, matte in others, and look like someone spilled sticky candy in places. It is totally unacceptable, we have already paid him most of the balance, and we have to move Tuesday. He says he will come back Monday and buff out the semigloss and put down one more coat of satin. He swears the color and finish will be like before. I am dubious. Anyone know? Anyone had this problem before?
November 13, 2009
Wood Flooring
We need to redo the wood floor of a very large bedroom in our 1867 brick townhouse -- the parlor in the next room has lovely old dark wood parquet but can't replicate -- need something reasonably priced. Any suggestions?
Marker on Wood Floor
Hi - my kid drew a couple of lines in black permanent marker on my neighbor's hardwood (oak) floor. Ideas on removing it?
thanks in advance..
Subflooring Woes
I live in a rental that is carpeted in both the bedroom and the living room. Underneath the carpet is just subflooring. Over the past 1.5-2 months, I've noticed that the there are sections of the floor that have "popped up." When I walk over these spots (very noticeable in bare feet) it feels like sharp-ish points or mounds in some areas. What could be causing this? Could the nails holding down the floorboards have simply popped up and allowed the corresponding subfloor piece to do the same? Should I just break out a hammer and try to make these sections flush again? Or do I need to call the landlord and have him bring out a pro? (I prefer to do whatever I can myself so as to save my landlord $$$) Thanks in advance for your help!
Free Bamboo Flooring!
I have about 70 feet of brand new strand woven bamboo flooring from www.ambientbp.com left over from a job and I am willing to give it away to anyone who wants to pick it up. It's amazing stuff - beautiful, phenomenally hard (impervious to pets), and doesn't suffer the same fluctuations that softer & more porous woods do in variable weather conditions. It's not a ton but enough for a hallway, foyer, mudroom, or other smaller space. Or buy more from them and save yourself a few hundred bucks.
When you come get it you can see what it looks like installed in our house - we love it.
November 10, 2009
Floor Refinish, Cover, Replace?
I'm trying to decide if I should refinish, cover, or replace my old hardwood floors.
Refinishing is the cheapest, but won't fix the floor being uneven in certain spots.
Replacing is the the most expensive, but will fix the all the problems, however may reveal additionally costlier issues.
Covering I always thought was a shortcut, but it was recommended to me as a budget-conscious strategy. However, I am worried (despite the contractor's assurances) that covering will only work for a short period of time before the new floor is effected by the weaknesses of the old floor. I also do not want the creaking and "bounce" that is associated with going on top of the old floor.
The floors are not in horrible shape, but are old and are no longer level throughout.
Thoughts?
New Subfloor Under Wide Plank
Does anyone out there have any experience with removing wide plank subfloor, putting a new level subfloor underneath and placing the pine back as the top layer?
Cost? Material loss from the process? Time? Contractors who are good at it?
thanks so much-
November 9, 2009
Ripping Out Cheap Floors?
We saw a brick house today that we liked very much except for the cheap wooden floors. They look like they have been installed right over the original floors. How massive a job is it to have them ripped out and is there any chance the original floors will survive that? If they don't, has anyone been able to install new floors that look like original floors?
November 3, 2009
Floor Sander Recommendation
I want to highly recommend our floor guy, Hugo. We bought an apartment with huge issues including a beautiful kitchen floor covered with 3 layers of glue from old linoleum. He painstakely got our floors into beautiful condition staying on time and budget (although there were some stains in our BR and if we wanted to cover them we would of had to pay more for the staining process). My husband also used him for a commercial job and he was just as good.
Hugo Flooring
347-724-2838
November 1, 2009
Great Floor Contractor
We recently completely a major renovation of our home and because I lived through the headache of finding reliable contractors I wanted to share one of our best.
Richard, is the owner of U.S. Flooring. He always started the day on the job with his crew. He showed up when he said he would, during estimates and during the work. His estimate was also the lowest of the three we got. His crew was extremely careful, fast, and respectful.
He expanded and moved the parquet border in our dining area and did a fantastic job matching the original. He did not oversand anything, and the new oak floor he installed in our hallway fits in beautifully. When his guys used a few short pieces of oak right in the middle of our kitchen, we pointed it out to him and he fixed it right away.
We wanted to use a special German natural finish called Osmo Polyx Oil. He hadn't done a lot of work with our finish and although he put down the coats according to the instructions, after three weeks of curing the floor still wasn't fully sealed (the Osmo Polyx product is a penetrating oil and application amount can vary depending on the wood).
Here comes the amazing part. We had paid him in full on the last day of the job and now three weeks later the floor needed another coat. Richard came back immediately after I called him and applied more Osmo Polyx Oil for only the cost of the additional materials.
Now, every guest into our home remarks on the beauty of the floors.
Richard - U.S. Flooring
Cell: 646.739.7535
Landline: 718.698.0886
Feel free to email for pics: brownstoner@giselle.endjunk.com