Hardwood Floors Oct/Nov 2019

Wood

By Burt Bollinger bridging the gaps

CONTRACTOR CORNER

• Construction employment increased by 4,000 jobs in July and by 202,000, or 2.8 percent, during the past 12 months, while the number of unemployed jobseekers with construction experience rose, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. • Don Lewis, of Lewis Flooring in Hillsboro, Missouri, received a restored one-of-a-kind antique 1938 Dodge pickup truck as the grand prize winner of the Robert Consolidated Industries Inc. 80th Anniversary Giveaway Sweepstakes.

before, so I knew the sanding process; however, I had some concerns about filler. They don’t make Brazilian teak filler, and I didn’t know what I was going to use to get the stain to match,” explains Schmidt. “If I used the wrong type of filler, I could end up with racing stripes on the floor. I needed to ensure that the filler would take stain in the same way as the wood so that they would age well together.” Another concern of Schmidt was the naturally oily characteristics of Brazilian teak. After buffing, he would need to get the floor sealed as soon as possible so as not to have a reaction between the finish and the wood’s oils. “In addition to worrying about the stain, I was also very concerned about the gaps in the floor. Along the walls and around the vents, it had separated so bad that you could see the subfloor,” says Schmidt. The gaps in the floor were due to the fact the wood was likely improperly acclimated to the home, shrinking soon after installation, and also due to the original installer not installing the floor tightly enough. “My initial thought was to simply pull up six or seven rows along the wall where the gaps were the worst, and then reinstall,” says Schmidt. Unfortunately, pulling the boards and reinstalling turned out to be

When Dave Schmidt was called out to look at a floor in disrepair that the homeowner wanted to cover with LVP, he had no hint as to the journey he was about to embark. “Being a hardwood guy, I did not want to cover the existing floor, but I did agree to come out and take a look at it for the homeowner. I felt if we could save the floor, then it would add a lot of value to the home versus covering it with vinyl,” says Schmidt. I gave the homeowner a bid for LPV and another bid for repairing the existing hardwood floor. By the time materials and labor were factored in, the LPV floor would have actually been more expensive,” explains Schmidt. “I also told her that I had worked with realtor's in the area, and that I knew keeping the existing wood floor would be a huge positive if she ever decided to sell her home. When Schmidt first saw the gapped and cupped floor, he thought the material was perhaps cherry, but in reality, what he was looking at was Brazilian teak, also known as cumaru. “I immediately reached out to some of my friends at the NWFA to get advice on how to work with Brazilian teak. I had sanded dense woods

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