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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Quote:

brewster wrote:
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MDM wrote:
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brewster wrote:

So what are the pros using now?

I hate the way water based looks without stain, pale and cold. Getting a couple of prices now, they seemed to have no problems with the oil base. Should I ask for stain & water base instead? I'd be doing satin anyway, it's show wear less in a rental.

BTW, thanks for the heads up about the low VOC, I'm refinishing the kitchen table and got the high VOC spar finish by looking at the labels.



I just finished putting the second coat of poly using THIS PRODUCT.


I ended up ordering online because every store I checked, only carried low VOC in gallons instead of high VOC in quarts (you can still get it in quart cans). Worse, it seems all the stores carry Minwax or Varthane, neither of which IMO are much good.

This brand I got, Bona, went down perfectly using lamb wool. It self levels, spreads smooth, and dries evenly. The worse part about the low VOC Minwax I used last time: The surface dries, but underneath, it still wet / soft. Even with the room set at over 75 oF+, the stuff would dry in a 24 hour period.

Posted on: 2017/11/20 16:39
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Need help with floor repair
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We need to replace some chipped off parquet floor tiles (6x6inch) affected due to water damage.

Can anyone recommend or direct to a handyman/contractor to help us out? The apartment is in Newport,Jersey City NJ

Thanks
Darryl

Posted on: 2017/11/2 22:42
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Quote:

MDM wrote:
Quote:

brewster wrote:

So what are the pros using now?


Based on searching forums, it appears more are going to water based. If you want a dull or satin finish, water base may work out okay. If you want a semi-gloss or gloss.. water base just doesn't look as good.

I am going to do an experiment by adding the VOCs back in and see if I get my good old fashioned oil based poly back. Then positively ventilate the room for a couple months while the floors out gas.


I hate the way water based looks without stain, pale and cold. Getting a couple of prices now, they seemed to have no problems with the oil base. Should I ask for stain & water base instead? I'd be doing satin anyway, it's show wear less in a rental.

BTW, thanks for the heads up about the low VOC, I'm refinishing the kitchen table and got the high VOC spar finish by looking at the labels.

Posted on: 2017/8/12 18:29
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Quote:

brewster wrote:

So what are the pros using now?


Based on searching forums, it appears more are going to water based. If you want a dull or satin finish, water base may work out okay. If you want a semi-gloss or gloss.. water base just doesn't look as good.

I am going to do an experiment by adding the VOCs back in and see if I get my good old fashioned oil based poly back. Then positively ventilate the room for a couple months while the floors out gas.

Posted on: 2017/8/12 16:04
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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That's weird. I spoke with her yesterday and she just told me that their name changed to East Coast Hardwood. They're scheduled to give me a quote this afternoon. I'll let you know if they show.



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The problem with refinishing floors now is the low VOC polyurethane is nightmare to work with.

This link pretty much describes my experience with it.

Unfortunately, I can't find the high VOC quart cans anymore for floor poly (still can get the high VOC in small can for spar varnish).

Tried the water base alternative... not impressed with the finish and the durability.



So what are the pros using now? And half the contractors are out of business, tried Alpine @(201) 533-0100, no go, apparently reassigned. Feel bad for the person, but she's an idiot for just hanging up and not saying it's no longer their number.

Posted on: 2017/8/11 18:11
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Diego at Outstanding Details and his team (based in basking ridge but service JC) refinished my 100+ year old wide plank flooring after years of it being covered with horrible carpet and totally uncared for. The team are so efficient and tidy and used Bona satin waterborne varnish which doesnt have a strong odor. The results are truly beautiful. Their phone number is 908-229-7791.

Posted on: 2017/8/11 16:46
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Quote:

MDM wrote:


The problem with refinishing floors now is the low VOC polyurethane is nightmare to work with.

This link pretty much describes my experience with it.

Unfortunately, I can't find the high VOC quart cans anymore for floor poly (still can get the high VOC in small can for spar varnish).

Tried the water base alternative... not impressed with the finish and the durability.



So what are the pros using now? And half the contractors are out of business, tried Alpine @(201) 533-0100, no go, apparently reassigned. Feel bad for the person, but she's an idiot for just hanging up and not saying it's no longer their number.

Posted on: 2017/8/11 16:21
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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The problem with refinishing floors now is the low VOC polyurethane is nightmare to work with.

This link pretty much describes my experience with it.

Unfortunately, I can't find the high VOC quart cans anymore for floor poly (still can get the high VOC in small can for spar varnish).

Tried the water base alternative... not impressed with the finish and the durability.


Posted on: 2017/8/11 1:26
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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This guy isn't around anymore either. Someone else has this number.



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Antonio (973) 886 8276. Him and his father have YEARS of experience between them and are always looking to do side jobs. Just mention JClist to him. He is a JC resident.

Posted on: 2017/8/10 21:06
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Anyone have anything to add to this list? KBJ doesn't appear to be in business.

Posted on: 2017/8/10 17:24
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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i mean install prefinished hardwood floors engineered or regular.

your points are valid, it's up to the individual, just giving my experience.

Our upstairs floors were badly damaged so we decided to replace them with engineered wood floor ~700 sqf, and the whole thing was done in 2 days after delivery with very little odor or issues.

So just comparing to the downstairs refinish, we definitely just going to replace going forward, unless like what the previous poster said you got some 1850 special wood floors etc..

Posted on: 2017/3/17 13:44
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Re: General contractor recos for condo work
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unless you have some very special wood, dont do it. I just had it done and the chemical is so bad 10x worse than paint, my neighbor called the fire dept. I had the whole place vented afterwards with homedepot blow fans to create a vacuum for over 4 weeks now and the smell is still there. And from my understanding those are very harmful to you inhaled.

It's absolutely NOT worth it to resand and refinish, instead just get new floor installed. The cost is really not that much higher and you dont have to deal with the chemicals. I hired a very experienced contractor but this is the process no way around it.

They have the new water based whatever refinish coating now but my contractor said those dont last and end up looking bad - he has no reason to lie to me as i am paying for all material.

if i had to do it over again i definitely would just have new floors installed, cost may $1500 more for builder grade bruce brand level engineered or hardwood for a 700 sqf.



Umm, except for engineered flooring, any new real wood floor would need to be sanded and varnished. Is the "chemicals" you're referring to just the oil based urethane? This has been the preferred finish for many decades. It sounds like you're a bit sensitive to it, we've had it done several times and it's no big deal. Do what's right for you, but most people do not have a big problem.

Also, "just have new floors installed" is very simplistic. Material cost aside, you either need to rip out the old floor at great labor, and because oak is 3/4 and engineered is at least 1/4 thinner, end up with a problem of door casings not meeting the floor and paint lines on the baseboards are exposed because the toe mold is now lower. Or if you lay the engineered over the oak, you now have to trim all your door casings and doors for the raised floor. And never be able to go back down without all new cases and doors.

Posted on: 2017/3/17 1:17
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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We have a historic house with original wide plank hardwood from 1850's. We had the hardwood sanded and refinished by Conquer Hardwood Floors. We researched different companies and Conquer, a local family business from DTJC had great reviews, not just on Yelp but when we inquired by local contractors.

The crew was very professional and had a lot of knowledge and pride and Junior, the owner's son really did amazing job of not just refinishing our hardwood but repairing some damages. Our house never looked so amazing.

We cannot recommend this company highly enough. Good luck.

Posted on: 2017/3/17 0:49
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Re: General contractor recos for condo work
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Looking for a contractor to do wooden floor (sanding and refinishing), painting and a little bit of electrical work (add wiring for and ceiling fan to a room). Need someone who has experience working in condo buildings in downtown JC and has the required contractor insurance.


unless you have some very special wood, dont do it. I just had it done and the chemical is so bad 10x worse than paint, my neighbor called the fire dept. I had the whole place vented afterwards with homedepot blow fans to create a vacuum for over 4 weeks now and the smell is still there. And from my understanding those are very harmful to you inhaled.

It's absolutely NOT worth it to resand and refinish, instead just get new floor installed. The cost is really not that much higher and you dont have to deal with the chemicals. I hired a very experienced contractor but this is the process no way around it.

They have the new water based whatever refinish coating now but my contractor said those dont last and end up looking bad - he has no reason to lie to me as i am paying for all material.

if i had to do it over again i definitely would just have new floors installed, cost may $1500 more for builder grade bruce brand level engineered or hardwood for a 700 sqf.


Posted on: 2017/3/16 19:24
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General contractor recos for condo work
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Looking for a contractor to do wooden floor (sanding and refinishing), painting and a little bit of electrical work (add wiring for and ceiling fan to a room). Need someone who has experience working in condo buildings in downtown JC and has the required contractor insurance.

Posted on: 2017/3/16 0:40
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Staining floors this old scares me. I also wanted the natural color of the white pine. Now I'm thinking of just leaving it, even thinking of using water based poly which would leave the wood almost completely unchanged and very pale like the picture above as apposed to oil which will darken/yellow it a bit. Thing is, the reason I bought "reclaimed" wood was to get rid of the ugly patches someone else made on the floors, and while it looks better now being that the wood is the same width/thickness as the original, it still looks like a patch. I understand that wood oxidizes differently, but if you look at the close up above, the wood I was given doesn't even have the same grain as the original pine.

Posted on: 2011/8/20 4:31
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Wood oxidizes at different rates depending on conditions. If that wood was from a barn, it was far more exposed than a floor. ( I hate working in wood, it's too damn organic)

Are you prepared to gel stain the light to match the dark? It's probably more realistic than trying to bleach the dark. Or just leave it as just another "artifact" in a old home.

Posted on: 2011/8/20 3:26
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Hi all, so I had the floors repaired with reclaimed white pine which is what I was told my original floors are. However, after sanding everything down, the reclaimed wood looks very different than the original. The picture below is test patch with sealer applied. The lighter wood is my original floor and the darker is the "reclaimed" wood, again this is with sealer applied. I really need some help/suggestions on getting the two to match. I wanted to go with a clear coat but I think the difference is too noticeable between the two and it would look like a big patch. Photobucket In this picture you can see the patch/repair against the rest of the floor. I have a repair like this in every room in the house. Photobucket

Posted on: 2011/8/19 23:25
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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No. I did the paint removal myself. Home Depot sells "Peel Away" in different formulas--numbers. I used peel away 7. You brush it on thickly and cover it for 24 hours with paper that they sell with it. Then it scrapes off and the residue is cleaned with water and steel wool. I know it sounds awful but the stuff doesn't smell or burn you skin at all. It's non-toxic. I saw some workers Hoboken removing the paint from a rowhouse in Hoboken with Peel Away. Boy did I feel sorry for them. It's something you could hire out to cheap labor--there's really no skill involved.....

Posted on: 2011/7/15 17:55
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Awesome! I'm going to give them a call. Did they also do the paint removal for you?

Posted on: 2011/7/15 16:05
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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C & M floors (of Hoboken or Jersey City, don't remember which) did 2 rooms downstairs in my Victorian and they used Waterlox. They have experience using it. You could hire someone to "peel-away" the lead painted floor in the other room. It's non-toxic and it would remove the paint between the gaps because it gets rinsed down with water and steel wool and that really gets into those gaps. I did this upstairs in a room in my house.

Posted on: 2011/7/15 15:23
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Thanks again bunny. I had a guy come out yesterday to give me an estimate and once again as expected he said he'd use oil based poly. He wasn't sure about Waterlox and said isn't that for decks? Hmm. I showed him the painted floor and he said he wouldn't be able to get it off because of the paint getting into the wide gaps between the boards. I'm have another guy coming out tomorrow, I'll see what he says.

Posted on: 2011/7/15 15:02
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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The painted floors in you 100 year old house are almost certainly lead paint. I would do both rooms at the same time and hire a dustless sanding guy. It's the only safe way to remove the paint and it's actually law now. If you wait and have just the painted floor room done separately, it'll probably cost a lot more. Your pine floors sound thick enough to not worry about another sanding down the road. My pine (or fir) I'm not sure which are in delicate condition and cannot take another sanding. They are the original subfloors, as Brewster mentioned above. but that does diminish their beauty at all, in my opinion. I don't know if you visit the old house blogs like I do but I can tell you that the subfloors were final floors when they were built and not meant to be covered like the new houses nowadays. Most people who value the beauty of an old house will restore these subfloors and enjoy as they were meant to be enjoyed and seen.

Posted on: 2011/7/15 14:51
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Thanks Chris, I'll give them a call. What method did they use on the painted floors? I have a room in the house that has painted floors and I'm going to have that done at a later time. What kind of finish did they use on the pine floor poly?

Posted on: 2011/7/14 22:15
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Re: Refinishing 100 yr old white pine floor
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Thanks bunny. I've heard Waterlox mentioned before but doesn't Waterlox not allow you to use poly down the road if you wanted to because it seals the wood or something like that? Also about the floors not having enough surface, is there a certain portion of the wood that is considered the surface? I ask because the planks in my floor are 1" thick and its seems like you could sand away all you wanted. Thanks again.

Posted on: 2011/7/14 22:09
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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I did two floor jobs in Jersey City with KBD from Elizabeth (someone wrote KBJ above but it is KBD). One was pine similiar to yours but in much rougher shape having been painted over for probably 50 years. Another company came and quit after a few hours leaving me in a lurch but KBD did a great job.

Last year in my new house I had an old pipe leak terribly and did bad water damage to my parquet floors which I thought might be beyond repair. The insurance company gave me like $4,500 and I got three estimates to replace some wood beyond repair and sand and refinish the entire living room and dining room to match.

Estimate one was for like $7K from Kocher Floors - he seemed very knowledgable but never got back to insurance company to justify additional cost.

Alpine gave me an estimate of like $1200 plus whatever it costed to replace the damaged area so that was a variable.

KBD gave me an all in estimate to repair/replace what needed to be replaced/sand refinish everything for $1,250. If I wanted to completely scrap the old parquet floors and put down new red oak it would have been $3300.

I thought about it for a while how could the estimates be so different and I finally rolled the dice on KBD and they did a fantastic job. The parquet floors look beautiful and far better than even before the pipe flooded the floors.

While making my decision numerous people told me that Brazillians are know to be excellent and inexpensive wood workers and guess where KBD are from. They must be doing something right as they are in business for a long time and said all equipment/trucks are paid off.

Their # is 908-352-1498.

Posted on: 2011/7/14 21:42
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Re: Refinishing 100 yr old white pine floor
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Waterlox. It's part tung oil and part resin. It's oil-based and smells a lot and takes awhile to cure but it is low-voc now. What's nice is that it's old-school, not plasticy like a polyurethane. Even more important, if it scratches, you can spot wipe with some more and the scratches will go away--you dont' have to sand the whole floor as you would to "refresh" a polyurethane. This can be important because these old floors often don't have enough surface to do another sanding.

Posted on: 2011/7/14 21:34
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Refinishing 100 yr old white pine floor
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Hello! We recently purchased our first home, a 100+ year old cozy little town house with great wide plank pine floors. A local restored wood place from which we ordered a few replacement planks told us it is white pine. The living room floor is in pretty rough shape compared to the rest of the house and we want to have it refinished. I've had two floor guys come take a look and they've both suggested polyurethane, seems like that's the standard. I'd love to hear suggestions as to how to go about refinishing the floor and what products to use. I don't want anyone to damage these beautiful old floors! We also want them to look as close to the rest of the house as possible after they're refinished. Here is a picture of the living room floor now, this is the section we're going to repair with the restored wood planks. Photobucket

Posted on: 2011/7/14 20:18
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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Thanks eckster. Does your floor have a lot of gap space between the boards? I'm wondering if this matters in choosing what kind of finish/product to go with. It seems most floor guys like to use poly, I have yet to hear anyone I've spoken to suggest otherwise. I'm only doing one room in the house and I want it to match the other rooms as close as possible in color/shine. I'm going to have someone come over for an estimate and I will ask them for some information but if anyone else can chime in I'd appreciate it. Here is a picture of the floor, this is a damage section that I'm going to repair with matching antique white pine. Photobucket

Posted on: 2011/7/13 17:52
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Re: Wood floor sanding and varnishing
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I ended up laying laminate myself, something I've done plenty of. Closer examination of the floor showed lots of gaps and spacer pieces, it was really meant as a subfloor. Also there was a lot of looseness, which is more effectively treated with screws rather than the nails you'd use of you were sanding. The tenant loves it.

Posted on: 2011/7/11 16:56
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