Hardwood Flooring

Back when we started this project, we decided we wanted hardwood floors. The house had hardwood floors originally, but they were too far gone to save. For one, they didn’t go through the whole house, as areas like the kitchen had been torn up and replaced with plywood at some point. Next, we were changing the floorplan, so we couldn’t leave them in place. Perhaps most importantly, they were buried under layers of laminate floors, full of nails, and had been refinished so many times there wasn’t much left. We pulled the original floors up as part of demo and had a fun time trying to give them away.

We had the new floors done professionally and thus didn’t have to do much, but there were a few items. First, the GC dropped off a stack of unfinished red oak tongue and groove planks. We met with a few different contractors until the GC settled on the third and they got to work almost immediately. The started with the second floor and laid everything in a few days. Like most contractors, they gave us a timeline that was only loosed correlated with reality, but by this point we’re fairly used to it.

Our biggest worry throughout the install was that they were going to put a staple through one of the radiant heat pex lines. They said they’d installed over them before, but this contractor also said they preferred not to use only glue since the boards sometimes pulled apart if you didn’t put staples at the end. Despite the knots in our stomachs, they managed to complete the whole thing with no puddles or leaks.

Of course, that’s not to say it was perfect. The first issue was on the landing, where they installed a bullnose edge around the outside perimeter. Rather than a mitered return, they just had the unfinished edge of the bullnose sticking out the side of the landing. Since I was already working on the stairs at the time, I noticed this and used some of the remaining bullnose left out to redo the piece myself. Could I have asked them to redo it? Probably, but our experiences with contractors to date have made us a bit jaded about how certain things will be taken care of, and we prefer to just do some things ourselves and save on hassle.

Next they laid the first floor, which mostly looked good except where they put bullnose around the opening for the future basement stairs. Where the bullnose met the base of the column, they just skipped over the column, I assume because it will be mostly covered by trim. But it won’t entirely be covered in trim, and you could certainly see it if you were coming up the stairs, so here again I just redid the section myself, cutting out a small piece of the existing bullnose, cutting back a miter where the new piece would fit the corner, and then making a piece to fit around the column and fit into the corner. This didn’t turn out completely perfectly, but it was close enough that some woodfill made it blend in. I glued it and clamped it until everything was set.

They finished laying the floors on Monday, but then didn’t return. We contacted the GC, who said they were going to finish the floors at the end, when everything else was done. That’s not unusual, just not what we’d expected, and it presented some challenges around things like appliances being delivered. So we said ok and started making plans to get the cabinets assembled and installed.

Then the GC contacted us to let us know they actually would be coming back to finish the floors starting on Monday and they’d finish up Wednesday. We kind of roll with the punches and adapt to the situation as it comes, so we shifted to finishing the stairs so that they could finish the treads when they finished the floors.

Monday they sanded and put down more wood fill, Monday evening Sarah and I went up and added some woodfill ourselves to some spots they missed, and Tuesday through today (Thursday) they put down three coats of varnish and buffed. I think they’re done and aren’t coming back, but I’m not certain, nor do I know how long I’m supposed to stay off the floors. They’re mostly dry at this point, but generally I believe we’re supposed to stay off at least 24 hours. I managed to get all of the above photos without walking on the floors, mostly because the attic and stairs to the attic will all be carpeted. We’ll see if they come back tomorrow and, assuming they don’t, we’ll start on base kitchen cabinets this weekend. Our interior doors are on order and supposedly about two weeks out, so we have that much time to finish the cabinets before trim starts.