Big Cracks, Nail Holes Old Floor
Here's a situation with a small bungalow in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Improve House Value When Selling
This home was going directly on the real estate market as soon as we were done with the floors; a very wise decision by the owners, because everyone knows the first thing a person looks at when they walk through the door are the floors. A fresh looking hardwood floor will not only help sell your home faster but it also increases the value of the home. It is something to give serious consideration to before putting your home up for sale.
On this particular job, the floors were in very poor shape with huge gaps between the boards. Cracks so wide you could get your big toe stuck in them. Normally we wouldn't fill gaps as large as these, but the customer insisted and we obliged. When we first walked through the door we filled the sections of the floor that had the most separation between the boards. Filler in very large cracks will shrink as it dries, so this one took multiple fillings.
Hundreds Of Nails In The Floor
Next step was the rough sanding but we discovered someone drove nails through the top of the floor in a very poor attempt to stop the many loose boards in the floor from squeaking. The hundreds of top nails had to be counter sunk and then filled. At this point we filled the entire floor again.
When sanding a loose floor with large cracks that have been filled, a lot of the filler will pop back out when the big drum sander vibrates across the floor. The best way to minimize the amount of filler that pops back out is to do final drum sanding while the filler on the surface is dry, but the cracks are still wet. Floors with cracks this large are never going to be perfect, as you're always going to have a concave look to the filler in the larger cracks because of shrinkage.
Final Staining and Finish
After the final sanding with the edger and drum sander, we took our Clarke buffer and put a Norton 100 grit sanding screen on it, buffing the floor to a fine polished look and feel. After a good cleaning of the floor it's time to stain the floor. This was one of the few times in my entire career that I agreed to be the person who made the final decision on stain color. I will never show anyone a sample chart to pick colors from simply because they never look the same on your floor. I will always create samples on your floor.
Both the husband and the wife worked and assured me whatever I picked would be fine just as long as I got close to the color of the stairs which worked out fine. Since this home was going right on the market I gave the customers the choice of using the cheaper oil base urethane, but they chose the more eco friendly option of our 3 coat Basic Coatings Street Shoe system. When all was said and done we impressed our self, the job turned out looking a whole lot better than we thought and the customer was very excited.
Big Cracks Before
Big Cracks After - stained with Dura Seal Golden Brown
Big Cracks Before
Filling Cracks
First Pass After Fill
