Hardwood Floors June/July 2026

Floor Master Company | Crystal Lake, Illinois

Glue Down Rubio Monocoat Pure Matte Quartersawn and Plainsawn White Oak, American Black Walnut, Purpleheart, Zebrawood, Wengé, Heart Pine 132

INSTALLATION METHOD: FLOORING FINISH: FINISH SHEEN: SPECIES:

SQUARE FEET:

and a router jig set to a 20” radius was used to shape each circle. The stars were assembled from plainsawn and quartersawn white oak and American black walnut, then free-hand cut on a band saw before being set in place. A 1/8” purpleheart strip was routed into every outline, running more than 40 linear feet through the floor. As Szyszka notes, “It’s a very small detail, but it makes a huge difference. It just guides your eye through the floor.” The border is made from end-grain heart pine sourced from 6’ x 6’ beams, each piece shaped individually to follow the surrounding geometry and assembled in 12 panels for installation. The floor was sanded with a Bona Power Drive planetary sander, with Woodwise black filler used on the border and walnut and oak filler on the main field. Rubio Monocoat Pure hardwax oil then was applied, bringing the full range of species and colors to life. Reflecting on the project, Szyszka said,

“I just wanted to step out of my comfort zone and raise the bar. I made a ton of mistakes and learned a ton of new things. I had to think about each step and figure out how to transfer my vision from my head to the floor.”

SEE YOUR FLOOR HERE NEXT YEAR

Follow us on social to discover details about the 2027 Wood Floor of the Year awards.

Submit your floors beginning on July 1, 2026.

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the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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