Apr 24, 2022

DecorBook Classic : Not for the Faint of Heart Hardwood Floors

Turns out replacing and / or refinishing wood floors is not for the faint of heart. This little pile of wood is my new white oak hardwood flooring. It sits on the existing white oak floor, installed in 2006 when we remodeled the kitchen. Those floors run through the entry, kitchen and sunroom. The rest of the main floor is carpeted - 23-year-old carpet that desperately needed to be replaced. Whenever I mentioned that to P, he'd always say that would be a good project after he was gone. So now, unfortunately, there is nothing holding this project back. Carpet would be replaced with wood to match the existing floors which would be sanded down and refinished along with the new. Let's see what happens.

I got a quote from Jonathan, owner of Hardwood Floors by Jonathan Gayer on January 19 as I imagined it would take a while to get on his schedule. And it did. They would start March 12. They would buy the wood immediately to let it acclimate. Then, they had jobs that were running late so the new date was April 12. Allow for 9 to 12 days. That didn't sound so bad until it started. I forgot to realize there wouldn't be any furniture to live on.

The Saturday before the work was to begin, Sue came over and wrapped bookcases with plastic in three rooms. I watched as my vertigo spun on. The Sunday before, Jim helped me move the TV to a safe place and reset the WIFI. TV would be viewed on smaller devices.

The first day moved quickly - living room furniture moved to sunroom, pad and carpet and a zillion nails were removed.

About 1/3 of the living room floor was installed the fist day. Day 2 - Living room and hall (and hall closet) installed.

Day 3 - furniture moved from sunroom to kitchen and then moved to garage on day 4. We were putting that off as long as possible as I would have to park on the street after that.

By the end of the install, there wasn't too much wood left. Some was moved to basement for future patching if needed.

Jonathan said he couldn't 100% guarantee the new wood would match the 2006 but the grain is looking pretty good. After sanding the old floor and staining, I can't tell what's old and what's new. Yahoo!

Emerson uses a small sander to do the edges after the big sander was used in the sunroom..

New wood was sanded and sanded and sanded.

The new wood was coated with a quick drying full trowel filler and then sanded off. Looking forward to my new office.

Day 4 and 5 - Sanding. Big plastic bags full of sawdust. Oddly, not much dust anywhere in the house. Did I want stain or leave natural? On the left, just the sealer and on the right, a light coat of stain. There were 30 different stain colors to choose from. I just asked to see one on the wood as I was pretty sure I knew what I wanted. Not orange or yellow (like I had) or grey or too dark. Trying to find a color that was warm and fit the house.

Duralseal stain in Weathered Oak works for me. Day 6 included staining all the floors - about 1700 square feet in total and then buffing them.

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After I chose a color, I googled that stain color and it turned out a blogger had done her white oak floors (5-1/4" width) just like mine in the same stain and sealer. It was so nice to see the color on floors. Perfect!

As the project progressed, different equipment moved in and out. Here's the sanding, buffing and vacuuming stuff.

Day 7 - First coat of sealer - Bona Traffic HD in satin finish. It is supposed to help protect from scratches and turning floors dark from the the sun. No rugs for 3 weeks. A second coat on day 8.

On Friday, day 9, the team removed all the plastic that Sue had put up. They vacuumed. They mopped. And then Marianno rolled on the third and final coat which dries less shiny. Floors are smooth as glass. I could barely find one molecule of dust.

Since I had absolutely no other room to be in, bed has been my home for 13 days (including weekends).

I washed my sheets every 4 days. Yikes!

Sun streams in on finished floors. I think the satin finish provides just enough shine.

Since the sealer now needs to cure for 3 days, the guys will be back Monday to bring in all the furniture. Marianno has already told me that they'll check each piece of furniture to make sure there's nothing on it to scratch the floors. I've got a box of felt pads to add. Whew! Gotta say new floors or refinishing floors is not for the faint of heart. Two weeks of disruption and noise but surprising not too much dust. I'm super excited to have one cohesive floor throughout the main floor.

And just to finish the story . . .