Hardwood Floors June/July 2025

Wood Stock

By Libby White Johnston

The two-story house was right on the bay with a crawl space but was elevated off the water considerably. The first step was removing about 3,500 square feet of existing engineered floors that were glued down with no nails on plywood. Derry notes there was a lot of prep work involved, including buffing to remove the glue. After completing the demo, he waited a few months for the drywall and other parts of the renovation process to be completed before delivering the new wood flooring for the replacement. “We did a 10” wide, ¾” engineered livesawn white oak character grade with lengths of 2’ to 12’. I placed half of it on the top floor and half of it on the bottom floor to acclimate,” explains Derry. “The install was completely glue down with silane adhesives by Loba-Wakol and we did a nail assist. I had to turn the flooring in the bedrooms different directions because of the joists. Some people want it all going the same way, but we were able to explain the sanding process and how it can affect the sanding outcome going across the joists.” As the work moved downstairs, the homeowner wanted to include a pattern but wasn’t sure which one. Derry set out a few options, and they chose a 30-degree chevron pattern. This was about 700 square feet in the living room entry area. could have been just scrap wood flooring pieces into a stunning pattern for a homeowner in south Tampa, Florida. Patrick Derry II of Awesome Hardwood LLC turned what

PATTERNED Perk

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PATRICK DERRY II | AWESOME HARDWOOD LLC

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