Tag Archives: white oak hardwood flooring

Adventures in Refinishing Hardwood Floors – We’ve Been There

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This summer, Artur and I bought our first home.  We had been looking for over a year and dreaming for more than that.

We knew that any house we bought would need some remodeling. With our budget, Artur’s skills, and what we know about real estate, buying a fixer was the best investment for us.  Plus, we aren’t turn-key kind of people.  We wanted a fixer. In July, we got the keys to our dream fixer.

Refinishing the hardwood floors was at the top of our new-house projects’ list.  Most of the house already had a mix of red and white oak flooring.  It was in amazing shape considering it hadn’t been refinished in at least 15 years. The living room and the kitchen were the only rooms that didn’t have hardwoods.  The living room had some very, shall we say, “dated” green carpet and the kitchen had a mix of hardwood and linoleum.

Kitchen before:

 

Living room before:

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To bring in a more cohesive look to our home, we decided to pull up the carpet and linoleum, install a new mix of red and white oak to match the existing floors in the rest of the house, stain all areas a richer color and finish them with a Swedish Finish.

Here’s the living room mid-carpet removal. (You wouldn’t believe the amount of dirt we found under this carpet despite having been taken care of over the decades, further reinforcing our love of hardwoods.)

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Here’s the kitchen mid-linoleum removal. (Sorry for the blurry picture.)

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After the carpet and linoleum were gone Artur started installing the new wood we had ordered.

NOTE:  Before installing new wood flooring it is very important to store the flooring in your home or installation space for at least a week prior to installing. Wood is very sensitive to moisture and heat and needs to acclimate to the new climate, lowering the risk of warping or bucking after installation.

To begin the installation process, Artur first lays down a moisture barrier.  Then, before nailing down the boards, he sorts them out in a way that looks balanced and nice, both in color variation and board length.  See below.

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Here are photos of the kitchen and living room after the floors have been installed but before staining and finishing.

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The stain we choose was Provincial from Daly’s.  We love how the stain pulls out the character in the wood, ties in the red and white oak, as well as adding a richness to the floors without being too dark.

Here are the floors after being sanded, covered with a layer of filler (always necessary), sanded again, stained and finished with three coats of Swedish Finish.

Living Room – After

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Kitchen – After

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A side-by-side view of the before and after of the kitchen floors:

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A side-by-side of the before and after of the living room floors:

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We love how the floors turned out!  Although we have worked with many many clients as they navigate decisions about their hardwood floors in their own homes, we hadn’t ever gone through that process personally.  After this experience, we now feel that much more knowledgeable and prepared to help our clients as they make decisions regarding their hardwood floors.

Coming soon, more personal experiences from the Project Planeta Remodel and why you should always do your thorough research before hiring a contractor.

Abracadabra!

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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. BeforeThis 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. After 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. Before 2   After 3

Maple Leaf Refinish

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We just finished working on the hardwood floors in another house that will soon be put on the market in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. We refinished the entire house with the exception of the bathroom and kitchen. The main level of the house had Oak hardwoods, the second level was a mix of red and white Oak and the stairs were Fir. The owners decided to go with the traditional Swedish Finish. The finished floors are absolutely beautiful and add so much polish and flow to the house. See below for a glimpse of some of the before and after shots. More photos can be seen on our gallery of work page near the end of the gallery.

Mid-Century Modern

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Our latest clients (who also happen to be very talented architects) asked us to help get their very cool and hip mid-century modern home in north Seattle ready to put on the market. We refinished the red and white oak hardwood flooring in their living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway. Because they have children and are on a time line to get the house on the market, they choose to use a waterborne finish on the floors which is less toxic and stinky. The results are stunning.  See some before and after photos below.  Check out more photos and the full listing for this home sold by Tanya Thackeray Wilson for 360 Modern, here.