After a hardwood floor disaster, our client is completely obsessed with her hardwood floor color! We have erased most all signs of the botched hardwood floor job she received from an exterior roof and siding contractor. Not having any formal training, the hard working employees should never have tried to refinish hardwood floors.
Pretty savvy ‘Do It Yourselfers’ realized they experienced a ‘botched hardwood floor job’ and began damage control.
Using the word “botched” I immediately knew Christine had read my case study on line, and after listening to her concerns I agreed she was in “botched hardwood floor limbo,” with her current situation, and needed help fast.
First mistake.
This is a failed hardwood floor refinishing attempt
Without vetting out their work, the new owners had a new roof put on, and did decent work. Nice people and hard workers, why not let them do the hardwood floor refinishing. They were already there. And it was one less thing to have to search for or monitor. Christine, a new mommy and professional pilot realizes she should have had a closer look at their experience doing hardwood floors. Turns out they had no training or experience in refinishing.
Turns out training and on the job training is critical when doing hardwood floor refinishing. To learn what is important about experience and training click here: Why Finishing Hardwood Floor Training Matters
They just “went with it” and gave them a deposit for hardwood floor finishing. Both busy parents and professional pilots, Christine and her hubby were in and out while the previous hardwood floor refinishing was being done. And without closely watching they did begin to feel something was wrong.
The floors began to have wave marks along the edges and on the stairs, down the hall, near the fireplace.
All marks that weren’t there when the uncovered the floors, these marks were showing up everywhere. Not paying too much attention they continued to watch the work progress. Again, both pilots, parents with a newborn, and in the midst of packing and moving off base, this couple had a lot on their plate.
But when the lovely grain of the wood was completely covered up by the stain that was rolled on, they pulled the plug.
These treads are overstained so badly it looks painted
Calling them out, what in the world did they do to the floors? The stain was rolled on the floor. Not only that it was rolled on the floor in the opposite direction of the grain. There were divots and waves everywhere, and holes in the floor were left as is. This job was performed with not an ounce of proper execution.
When they met with the contractor reps it was a mutual conclusion that this was a failed job.
At this point, with various tasks being done by the contractor, they withheld paying them until it was worked out that they would get the floors fixed. And from what I understand they had given them a deposit for the hardwood, and they owed them money for other things that were still being done.
Independent of the contractor, Christine jumps on the internet and finds my post about “Fixing A Botched Hardwood Floor Job.”
With a complete loss of confidence in taking the contractor’s recommendation, Christine was impressed with our post about restoring a really screwed up hardwood floor job we fixed. (Want to see the problem floor job we fixed that inspired her, click here Fixing A Botched Hardwood Floor Refinishing Job
On several occasions now we have taken over and fixed another contractor’s failed attempts, and shared those projects on our website under “case studies- hardwood.” Clearly seeing the before and after pictures, starting with a red-hot mess and delivering a beautifully restored floor, Christine called us.
I answered the phone and Christine in a pleading tone says, “I have a botched hardwood floor job and I am hoping you can help me!”
Listening to her tale of woe, I began to agree with her. I guess the tipping point was the disgustingly brown “painted” not stained floor color was unacceptable. She said “I kid you not, my floors look painted, not stained. There is not one ounce of grain showing thru, it looks like a painted floor!” She gave me further details and mentioned that the contractor sees their mistake, and wants to make it right. She said they hadn’t quite moved in, but time was of the essence. And however it has to work, we will do what we have to, to have you help us.
Not promising complete reversal, we presented our estimate and got an immediate “when can you start?”
We already had 5 deposits ahead of theirs, and 4 other repeat customers also lined up for more refinishing. But realizing time was of the essence, we hoped an opening would pop up, and it did. Turns out a customer was heading overseas and was not ready for us to do her project. So we offered to begin 2 of 3 phases of their job.
On day one they were thrilled to see the problems disappearing and the floors begin to be restored.
Focusing on sanding the stairs, the “edger digs” were removed. The treads were flattened out completely, and the mahogany was revealed. And with the first cuts of the hummel, the paint was removed from “the field,” and the drum marks were removed as well. FYI, edger digs look like a half moon, and is created by the edger that a floor sander uses.
If they don’t hold the edge flat, and not turn it a certain way the edger will create uneven waves.
Just below the spindles you can see the wavy edger digs left after improper sanding
And on these floors they were everywhere, especially near the spindles on the stair treads and upper railing. There were also along the edge of the room. Drum marks, or divots are depressions created by the drum sander. In order to avoid a drum mark divot the drum sander must be moving when you engage the sander. In other words, when the sander lowers the drum to begin sanding the machine must be moving in a forward position. If it is not moving while being lowered it will quickly sand down into the wood creating a depression.
As the job progresses, our tech was erasing the bad stain color, and reversing about 98% of the damage created with the prior refinishing attempt.
Now Marvin, our floor refinishing tech was earning his stripes and beginning to be elevated to hero status, and rightly so. Not over-promising, he was over delivering to our customers, both husband and wife’s delight. In fact, smiles replaced the frowns and Clint even commented he could feel his blood pressure coming down when he looked at this floors!
After several stain samples, a decision was made.
Although not quite what they wanted initially, a blend of colors was done to give some medium color to the floor, light enough, but not too light so the rubber carpet pad stains showed through. With a slate floor and a stone fireplace wall in this mid century modern ranch, the stain color pulls it all together.
Christine text’s me, “I am totally OBSESSED with the color of my floors! Marvin crushed it!”
This Botched Hardwood Floor Job in Yardley is fixed, and yes we crushed it!
So with forward momentum she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and grain in the wood that was recently totally painted over!
If you fear something is wrong with your hardwood floor job give us a call. We can give you a professional opinion about it, or offer a solution to fix your hardwood floor. Free estimates and friendly advice, you don’t have to live with messed up hardwood floors. Call 609.953.0472 or Contact Us on line.
We won’t be bugging you, selling your contact info, or otherwise making you regret signing up. We will just be sending you an occasional message with articles and our digital magazine, Surface BUZZ, from time to time (you’ll love it, we promise!) and on occasion a little reminder that we are there for you for your surface care needs.
“I’m OBSESSED With My Hardwood Floor Color!”
After a hardwood floor disaster, our client is completely obsessed with her hardwood floor color! We have erased most all signs of the botched hardwood floor job she received from an exterior roof and siding contractor. Not having any formal training, the hard working employees should never have tried to refinish hardwood floors.
Pretty savvy ‘Do It Yourselfers’ realized they experienced a ‘botched hardwood floor job’ and began damage control.
Using the word “botched” I immediately knew Christine had read my case study on line, and after listening to her concerns I agreed she was in “botched hardwood floor limbo,” with her current situation, and needed help fast.
First mistake.
Without vetting out their work, the new owners had a new roof put on, and did decent work. Nice people and hard workers, why not let them do the hardwood floor refinishing. They were already there. And it was one less thing to have to search for or monitor. Christine, a new mommy and professional pilot realizes she should have had a closer look at their experience doing hardwood floors. Turns out they had no training or experience in refinishing.
Turns out training and on the job training is critical when doing hardwood floor refinishing. To learn what is important about experience and training click here: Why Finishing Hardwood Floor Training Matters
They just “went with it” and gave them a deposit for hardwood floor finishing. Both busy parents and professional pilots, Christine and her hubby were in and out while the previous hardwood floor refinishing was being done. And without closely watching they did begin to feel something was wrong.
The floors began to have wave marks along the edges and on the stairs, down the hall, near the fireplace.
All marks that weren’t there when the uncovered the floors, these marks were showing up everywhere. Not paying too much attention they continued to watch the work progress. Again, both pilots, parents with a newborn, and in the midst of packing and moving off base, this couple had a lot on their plate.
But when the lovely grain of the wood was completely covered up by the stain that was rolled on, they pulled the plug.
Calling them out, what in the world did they do to the floors? The stain was rolled on the floor. Not only that it was rolled on the floor in the opposite direction of the grain. There were divots and waves everywhere, and holes in the floor were left as is. This job was performed with not an ounce of proper execution.
When they met with the contractor reps it was a mutual conclusion that this was a failed job.
At this point, with various tasks being done by the contractor, they withheld paying them until it was worked out that they would get the floors fixed. And from what I understand they had given them a deposit for the hardwood, and they owed them money for other things that were still being done.
Independent of the contractor, Christine jumps on the internet and finds my post about “Fixing A Botched Hardwood Floor Job.”
With a complete loss of confidence in taking the contractor’s recommendation, Christine was impressed with our post about restoring a really screwed up hardwood floor job we fixed. (Want to see the problem floor job we fixed that inspired her, click here Fixing A Botched Hardwood Floor Refinishing Job
On several occasions now we have taken over and fixed another contractor’s failed attempts, and shared those projects on our website under “case studies- hardwood.” Clearly seeing the before and after pictures, starting with a red-hot mess and delivering a beautifully restored floor, Christine called us.
I answered the phone and Christine in a pleading tone says, “I have a botched hardwood floor job and I am hoping you can help me!”
Listening to her tale of woe, I began to agree with her. I guess the tipping point was the disgustingly brown “painted” not stained floor color was unacceptable. She said “I kid you not, my floors look painted, not stained. There is not one ounce of grain showing thru, it looks like a painted floor!” She gave me further details and mentioned that the contractor sees their mistake, and wants to make it right. She said they hadn’t quite moved in, but time was of the essence. And however it has to work, we will do what we have to, to have you help us.
Not promising complete reversal, we presented our estimate and got an immediate “when can you start?”
We already had 5 deposits ahead of theirs, and 4 other repeat customers also lined up for more refinishing. But realizing time was of the essence, we hoped an opening would pop up, and it did. Turns out a customer was heading overseas and was not ready for us to do her project. So we offered to begin 2 of 3 phases of their job.
On day one they were thrilled to see the problems disappearing and the floors begin to be restored.
Focusing on sanding the stairs, the “edger digs” were removed. The treads were flattened out completely, and the mahogany was revealed. And with the first cuts of the hummel, the paint was removed from “the field,” and the drum marks were removed as well. FYI, edger digs look like a half moon, and is created by the edger that a floor sander uses.
If they don’t hold the edge flat, and not turn it a certain way the edger will create uneven waves.
And on these floors they were everywhere, especially near the spindles on the stair treads and upper railing. There were also along the edge of the room. Drum marks, or divots are depressions created by the drum sander. In order to avoid a drum mark divot the drum sander must be moving when you engage the sander. In other words, when the sander lowers the drum to begin sanding the machine must be moving in a forward position. If it is not moving while being lowered it will quickly sand down into the wood creating a depression.
Want to see more about weird marks left because of sanding mistakes click here Weird Sanding Marks & Stain Issues.
As the job progresses, our tech was erasing the bad stain color, and reversing about 98% of the damage created with the prior refinishing attempt.
Now Marvin, our floor refinishing tech was earning his stripes and beginning to be elevated to hero status, and rightly so. Not over-promising, he was over delivering to our customers, both husband and wife’s delight. In fact, smiles replaced the frowns and Clint even commented he could feel his blood pressure coming down when he looked at this floors!
After several stain samples, a decision was made.
Although not quite what they wanted initially, a blend of colors was done to give some medium color to the floor, light enough, but not too light so the rubber carpet pad stains showed through. With a slate floor and a stone fireplace wall in this mid century modern ranch, the stain color pulls it all together.
Christine text’s me, “I am totally OBSESSED with the color of my floors! Marvin crushed it!”
So with forward momentum she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and grain in the wood that was recently totally painted over!
If you fear something is wrong with your hardwood floor job give us a call. We can give you a professional opinion about it, or offer a solution to fix your hardwood floor. Free estimates and friendly advice, you don’t have to live with messed up hardwood floors. Call 609.953.0472 or Contact Us on line.