Hardwood Floors October/November 2017

WFOY WINNER SPOTLIGHT:

Today, more and more consumers are turning to social media to nd inspiration for their homes. Sites such as Pinterest and Houzz allow people to discover millions of design ideas online and create boards and collections. What started as a simple “save” on a client’s idea board, evolved into an award-winning oor in the Best Color & Finish category for Artistic Floors by Design. “We had recently worked on a separate job that was a 3”–8” reclaimed, red/white oak mix. We had posted those pictures on Houzz.com and this client loved those pictures,” says Joe Rocco, co-founder, Artistic Floors by Design. “We took them to look at the oor, and they decided they wanted the same oor. My wife, Joni, and I worked with the client and explained that we wouldn’t be able to replicate that exact same oor due to availability of materials.” He continued, “We worked with this new client and set out the parameters that this job would be similar in size, but couldn’t be a red/white mix and instead would be completely white oak. ey were OK with that; they just wanted the same look.” FLOOR FOCUS e material, 4”–8” white oak, was then ordered and installed. “ e homeowner was ecstatic about the initial look. We went through the sanding process and then most of the nishing process, and we were just unable to get the variations that we had go en on the previous oor since it was all white oak instead of a red/white mix. e oor had a golden hue to it.” e team then went back to the drawing board and ended up sanding the entire job o . “I think we went through a good week messing around with small samples and then we spent another week experimenting by nishing around 500 square feet out By Stacy Brown From Online Inspiration to Installation

of the approximately 2,100 square feet job. Once we got to a position where they liked the variations of the colors that we were able to create in the lower 500 square feet, then we moved on to nishing the rest of the house.” In the end, each board was custom colored to create a random reclaimed look on newly milled white oak. Twenty- ve di erent processes were used creating a unique look on each board. e base colors included four stain colors, three dyes, three clear stains, and three reactives. e layering colors over each other produced more than 25 custom colorant processes. e nishing systemwas a three-coat system of the nish manufacturer. “Most people think this is a reclaimed oor, but it’s not. Nothing reclaimed about it. It’s all brand-new white oak. ere’s nothing special about the oor other than what we did to make it look special. at’s always been my kind of inspiration, adding uniqueness to something that most people think is a commodity,” says Rocco. Rocco is a Certi ed NWFA Professional and multiple wood oor of the year winner, and handles all aspects of the cra from installation, sanding, and nishing, to inspection. He has more than 20 years of woodcra ing and oor installation experience. “What I thought I wanted to do in life and where my passion eventually took me were two very di erent roads. Even while I was ge ing my degrees in economics and political science, I was installing and nishing wood oors. e work got me through college, but, more importantly, the art of it got under my skin. I kept at it, and, in 2006, my wife and I started our own company, Artistic Floors by Design. We put our passion for quality and cra smanship into every project,” says Rocco.

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