Hardwoods are a large (but worthy) investment in your home. You want them to stand the test of time.
Here are two links to some fantastic advice to read if you are in the process of choosing what style and color of hardwoods you want to install in your house.
Click to access TimelessHardwoodFloorMay.pdf
After seeing the before and after shots of the job that Artur recently finished at a house in Magnolia, my first thought was, “WOW” and and then, “I’m married to a magician.” Take a look at the before. 
This parquet floor was under some carpet in a bedroom. Artur knew that there was parquet, but as is often the case when carpet is involved, he did not know of the stain damage and the lack of parquet along the border in this particular corner. It was kind of a mess.
Normally, parquet comes in pre-made squares which you install section by section rather than installing each short, individual board. Because Artur wasn’t aware of all of the patching needed on these floors, he hadn’t called around to check on the availability of the pre-made parquet squares in White Oak before starting this job. As these things can go, none of the distributors in town had any in stock.
Artur had two options. The first being to order the parquet squares, put the job on hold, inconvenience our client and throw our work schedule out of whack, or hand cut each small board needed to make the parquet squares, piece by piece by piece and then install them piece by piece by piece. He chose the second (and only real) option — 350+ hand cut pieces of White Oak later, and a lot of patience and attention to detail, the floors were complete. Here is the stunning and beautiful result. 
Our clients are very happy and so are we. This isn’t magic, it’s an example of Artur’s skill, expertise, experience, patience, attention to detail and pride in his work. It’s one example of why he is considered one of the best wood floor experts in Seattle.
To quote our client, “Wow is an understatement! We are so pleased. You are married to a terrific professional. Of course, you know this.”
Yes, I know this. Artur is happy someone pointed this out to me in writing, at last!
One more before/after shot. 
Sometimes when a client calls us to come over and look at some floors that they want refinished we find some unexpected surprises hidden on the ares of the floors that have been coverd by carpet or rugs. Often these surprises come in the form of unpleasant pet pee stains. Unfortunately, no amount of sanding can eliminate these stains. In comes the art of patching. Except in extreme cases, we generally do not have to replace the entire floor and can fix the stained areas by patching the damaged areas. Artur skillfully pulls up the damaged boards and installs and blends in new boards. See the photos below for an example of a floor stained with pet pee and how Artur resolved the problem with patching.
Many people who haven’t ever had their hardwood floors refinished don’t realize that there are many steps that go into properly refinishing the floors. To someone who isn’t familiar with the process, it would seem that the floors would just need one sanding and a coat of finish. Any good hardwood flooring contractor will tell you that to properly refinish your floors and achieve a lasting result, there are many steps involved. Besides multiple sandings, buffing and coats of finish there is also the very important step of applying a filler to your floors.
The purpose of the filler is to fill in any small holes or cracks in your hardwoods creating a more smooth and cohesive feel and look. Without the filler every nail hole and/or small space between the wood boards would be more visible.
A lot of Seattle area homes have the original hardwood flooring that was installed when the home was built. For many of these homes this means a top nail floor. Top nail is exactly as it sounds. The boards are installed by nailing them down from the top. Each board generally has around four nails to secure it to the subfloor. When refinishing top nail hardwoods, Artur starts by resetting each nail into the floor. Applying filler to these floors is especially important and useful as it covers and smooths out the irregular surface.
See below for photos of Artur applying the filler.
Seattle Home Remodeling 