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Need Tips for Job Finished Hardwood Flooring Project

lmalm53
14 years ago

We will be obtaining estimates in the next few weeks for our hardwood flooring project. We have approx 1000sq ft of 20 year old existing hardwood that will need sanding and refinishing. (this is the original job finished 2.25" red oak installed at the time of our home construction) At the same time we will be replacing carpeting from 2 large rooms and a stairwell with new hardwood installation to match existing which will be approx another 800sq ft.

We have never refinished flooring or lived in a house during installation before. One concern is that my husband is in a wheelchair and the whole kitchen, entry foyer and hallway to the bedrooms will be included in the refinishing process. How long would this project be anticipated to take? Will my husband need to find a hotel room if his access to bed and bath will be unavailable? Are there ways the installation process can be segmented to limit his loss of access for the fewest number of days?

Other than the access issues, I would also like to hear general tips on questions to raise with the flooring contractors during the bid process. What are the issues I don't want to overlook when deciding on which contractor to go with?

I am currently using Angies List to locate highly recommended contractors in our area. I have my first on-site estimate scheduled for this coming Friday and plan on getting at least 2-3 other bids. I have choices of small owner run companies with 3-4 employees up to large business' which have 60 employees or more.

We just had the interior walls, wood trim and baseboards in these rooms painted over the summer so have some concern about how to best protect them during flooring installation.

Our old floors had an oil based Swedish finishing process called Glixa which we loved for its durability and smooth finish, but we are hearing that such finishes are no longer available and everything has moved to water based for environmental reasons. Are there certain finish products that would be recommended over others? My main concern is that we get enough finish coats of poly to really protect the floors. We had a small room done a few years ago in which they said the initial stain coat counted as the first poly coat and then they just added 2 more coats of poly for their "3 coat" finish. That room still has wood grain texture that can be felt with your hand or catch threads of your socks when you walk on it. I was not happy with the final finish in that room as compared to our 20 year old finish.

What do I need to know about the grades of hardwood to make sure we get quality wood that will closely match the grain pattern of our existing wood?

I am hoping to get basic information here to help me avoid the common pitfalls with hardwood installation. I am in the process now of doing searches on older posts here and trying to get up to speed. If someone has a link to a helpful post that would be great too. The kitchen forum was such a tremendous help during our remodel. I am now looking forward to getting to know all the flooring experts here on this forum!

Thanks for any input or suggestions!

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