Hardwood Floors February/March 2017

TIMBER TALES

A Furry Dilemma

By Kevin Knauff

I was recently at a home refinishing a maple floor. As I was trying to work, I was constantly dealing with the owner’s four Yorkshire Terriers who kept getting in the way (not to mention messing everywhere). I asked the owner if he could help, so he agreed to shut them in his bedroom. I finished sanding for the day and went home. A little while later, my phone rang and it was the homeowner who was completely frantic. He was cursing up and down accusing me of losing his dog. I thought for sure he was going to beat me up since these dogs were like his kids! While we were on the phone, a small bark suddenly emerged from under the house. As it turns out, the homeowner had removed the registers in the bedroom in anticipation of me working in there. The dog was fifteen years old with limited vision, and since the furniture had been rearranged, it lost its way and fell down the vent. I rushed to the back of the house and the homeowner and I spent three hours disconnecting and reconnecting the duct work until the little fur ball safely emerged covered in dust. The owner was incredibly grateful… and even got a free duct cleaning in the process!

SEND US YOUR STORY Do you have an interesting job site story? Email stacy.brown@nwfa.org.

HARDWOOD HINTS

Sandpaper Storage and Prep

By Aaron Schaalma

Have you ever stopped to think about how you treat your sandpaper? Anything that touches the floor can have an effect on the final appearance. You spend thousands of dollars on a big machine, but forget to think about the impact/investment of a $10 piece of paper on the finished product. Taking into consideration these three tips will help to alleviate problems the sandpaper may have on a floor. 1. STORAGE: Make sure the paper is stored either in its original

box/packaging or a similar container to prevent the paper from taking on or losing too much moisture. Additionally, this will prevent the grits from rubbing together which can dull the mineral on one side of the sandpaper. 2. REMOVAL FROM BOX: Always pull the outer piece of paper from the ream of sandpaper to ensure the paper is fully stretched out. 3. PREPPING THE PAPER: The paper has an irregular shape when you pull it out of the box, so you will want to loosen up its shape by taking the top part of the paper and stretching it into a shape more similar/comparable to that of the machine. To do this, put the top of the paper between your hands, and roll it back and forth. Finally the sandpaper is all prepped and ready to go on the machine.

Now you won’t have to grit your teeth worrying that the paper will cause any problems!

the magazine of the nat ional wood f loor ing associat ion

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