Floor Sanding And Finishing

Sanding

Re-Coating

Finishing

The Art of the Sand: Our Multi-Step Finishing Process
While every wood species and stain requires a tailored approach, our signature sanding process is designed for maximum smoothness and durability. We don't just "sand the floor"—we refine it through a rigorous, multi-stage system:
The Foundation: We use a heavy-duty drum sander for two passes (coarse and fine grit) to ensure the main body of your floor is cut flat and smooth."
Precision Edging: While the main floor is cut flat, we use a specialized rotary edger at 100 grit to ensure your floor is uniform from wall to wall.
The Final Polish: To ensure the finish bonds perfectly, we buff the entire floor twice (80 and 120 grit) and use random orbit sanders on the edges with 120 grit.
Hand-Scraped Corners: We finish the job by hand-scraping every corner where machines can't reach, ensuring no detail is overlooked.

Finishing

Re-Coating

Finishing

The Finishing Touch: Achieving the Perfect Stain
Once the sanding is complete, the wood surface is actually too smooth for the stain to penetrate properly. During sanding, the wood fibers are pressed down or "folded over." To ensure a rich, even color, we perform a crucial step called "popping the grain."
By applying denatured alcohol, we cause the wood fibers to stand back up, allowing the stain to penetrate deep into the grain. We then buff the stain into the wood, removing any excess to ensure a uniform look.
Our Durable Three-Coat System:
Day 1: Stain application and overnight drying.
Day 2: We apply a professional-grade water-based sealer and a commercial grade first coat of water-based finish.
Day 3: We abrade the floor—a light buffing that ensures the final coat bonds perfectly—install the quarter-round molding, and apply the final topcoat for a beautiful, long-lasting shield.

Re-Coating

The One-Day Floor Refresh (Clean & Re-coat)

If your floors are in good structural shape but have lost their luster, our dustless re-coating process is the perfect solution. This typically takes just one day and utilizes the industry-leading Basic Coatings® system.

Our Precision Process:

Deep Clean: We apply Basic Coatings’ Dissolver to break down household contaminants and old acrylic finishes. Using the Dirt Dragon™ floor scrubber and Basic Coatings Squeaky Clean™, we deep-clean the wood and extract the grime.
The Bond Coat Advantage: To ensure the new finish sticks perfectly, we apply a specialized bonding layer. This eliminates the need for aggressive sanding while guaranteeing a long-lasting bond.
The Final Finish: After the bonding coat dries for approximately one hour, we apply a fresh top-coat of commercial grade finish, leaving your floors looking revitalized.

Floor Installation

Glue Down Floors

Glue down floor installations vary with the type of flooring that is being used. However, most require the floor to be level 1/8 of an inch within 8 feet. The reasons for this are related to bonding issues. A very smart tech rep once explained it this way, "No touchy, touchy, no sticky, sticky." In other words, if the floor is flat the wood will maintain contact with the glue being used and you should have no bonding issues. We typically use a modified silane adhesive for its holding power and ease of cleanup. We also use sealants if we are concerned with bonding issues or moisture issues. We will use other types of glues if the situation necessitates it. The basic process is to remove any existing flooring, seal the floor, prep the subfloor with a leveling compound, install the hardwood, install the quarter round.

Floating Floor

Glue Down Floors

Floating floors include laminate, luxury vinyl plank (LVP), and engineered wood floors. Laminate floors are pressed wood with a laminated skin that looks like real wood. Conceptually this is not a bad idea. However, most installers do not spend any time leveling the subfloor and homeowners end up with floors that feel loose or spongey and they tend to fail. The tolerance for most laminates is the same as most glue down products, 1/8 of an inch within 8 feet. We use an eight-foot level in conjunction with a laser to determine high and low spots. We then fill the low spots with leveling compound. The base and door jambs are cut. The sub-floor is cleaned, and if necessary, a moisture barrier/pad is placed on the sub-floor and the flooring is installed over it. It is common for the flooring to have a locking system whereby boards are connected via locks that are milled into the boards. I highly recommend either laminate or LVP for commercial applications and basement/playroom areas where floors are expected to take a lot of abuse. Cheaper laminates won’t hold up as well which is why I recommend laminates with a commercial rating. I frown upon using laminates over plywood since the laminate has no structural value. Any weakness in the plywood is transferred to the laminate. It can be done; I just find the feel of solid or engineered glue down over plywood to be preferable to that of a floating floor.

Nail Down Floor

Glue Down Floors

Nail Down Floor

Nail down flooring is usually 3/4 of an inch thick and comes in varying widths and lengths. Like the name suggests, it is nailed down. We use L cleat nailers to allow the wood some natural movement without releasing from the subfloor. Nail down floors can only be used on plywood or OSB. The recommended thickness of plywood is 3/4 of an inch. We begin the install by leveling any sudden change of elevation in the subfloor. Once that is complete, we cut the jambs and the base. A moisture mitigator such as 15# roofing felt is placed over the plywood. We install the lineup run (the first one or two boards from one wall to the opposite wall). The floor is then racked out (a process of laying the boards on the floor in the pattern they will be nailed). Once the rack out is complete the floor is then nailed every 6-8 inches along the individual runs with the L-cleat nailers.