Question: Dear Wooddoctor, PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN FIND A COMPANY THAT HAS YOUR VALUES IN THE LONG ISLAND AREA. We bought this wonderful home and i love the soft rich glow of the natural wood, i want the BEST for our floor,please tell me what i can do to maintain these wonderful floors. thanks, ann Answer: Dear Ann The answer to your first question is a long one, so I’ll skip to the second one. Please read my floor maintenance article in the Floored News section of this web site, it should say it all. But if you have any other specific problems with your floor, please let me know. Finding competent companies to do good floor work is getting to be quite a problem these days. You might find some clues in my hiring contractors article in the Hardwood Authority section, but you could help out also. If you really search your own area you are bound to find some really good floor mechanics still in business, see if they are interested in this site. We would like to provide a nationwide network of good floor tradesmen, but it’s going to take some time. These guys are not very high tech, and may see the web as a medium to be avoided rather than embraced. Oh, and thanks for the compliment. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor

Question: Hallo there and congratulations on your amazing website. I found it while contemplating refinishing a floor myself but after reading your tips… Just bought a condo, 1920s, 1700 sqft floor (in kitchen too!) is dark color, no idea of the wood but probably nothing too exotic. It’s a bit worn and I’d like to change the color, sand it, and generally make it look nice. Never done this before, but thank you for saving me from the ‘rent a sander chew up the floor mistake’ I don’t suppose you have any contacts in the San Francisco area who would do a good job for a reasonable price?! Many thanks and happy wood carpenting! Silvia Answer: Dear Silvia No sorry, I make a point of never recommending any particular company in this site, and most likely never will. Some good companies turn bad, and bad companies can improve. I cannot keep track from here, nobody can. I just set out to inform you the consumer of what your finished floor should look like and how they should perform. And we will do a lot more product reviews in the hear future. So my best advice is to find out the best methods of installing, sanding, staining and finishing wood floors, by reading my famous articles. Then go about finding companies who will generally keep to those standards. So it’s easy really.

Question: Thank you for the response to my question. I do need one clarification, though… Will filling the gaps in the wood planks be sufficient to lay the plywood on top? The rope is a brilliant idea – I never thought of it! Are there any other viable options to considerfor filling those gaps between the planks in case it is still not enough to make the floor more level to lay the plywood? Not only are there gaps between the boards, but some boards are higher off the plane of the floor than others (does that make sense?) Thank you so much! Paige Answer: Dear Paige I would fill low planks with layers of plywood cut into strips. They are then glued (construction urethane adhesive) and then stapled (remember the narrow crown air driven staples ?) to the low spot in the floor. Then take a belt sander or floor edger with really coarse sandpaper and sand the edges of these plywood shims so they are smooth to the rest of the floor. Then you can install the 1/4″ plywood floor over top and paint and stain as you wish. Don’t try the quick fix of those floor leveling compounds, in just a few months they will be crunching under your feet as they crack to pieces on the wooden floor boards. These are used to level concrete floor and they have a checkered past of failures anyway. Oh, and you could always just install 1/2″ plywood underlay (might have a tough time finding a nice grade-try BC douglas fir). This stuff is stiff enough to span a few low boards without any trouble. This is what we use when we are installing a new hardwood floor on a really wonky softwood subfloor. Funny the thicker plywood is not that much more expensive than the 1/4″ underlay I mentioned before. Be sure to give the edges a bevel, before you install in so that the edges are smooth and don’t meet at different levels. You can even staple down the 1/2″ plywood. But in this case screws would be better in this thicker material. And just leave the screws flush but exposed for the neat but industrial look. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: We have small gaps between a few planks. This is a result of house plant plastic trays that have leaked water. All plants that once lived in our living and dining rooms have met an untimely death. There is no stain, just a few small gaps that I feel could be filled with some type of wood filler and stained to match the test of the floor. Am I correct or way off base here? Thank you, Keely Answer: Dear Keely If the gaps are very small, less that 1/8″, I would just leave them alone. All wood floors will develop gaps in time, and this just adds to their character. But if it really bothers you you can fill them with a colored latex putty. Try the products at www.leevalley.com (prod. # 80K86.10). Be sure to choose a color only just a tad darker than the wood floor. You can mix these colors if you wish. But be sure to wipe off the excess right away with a wet cloth, then a dry one, else it will leave a dry dull smear on the wood. You could also use a non drying colored wax beaumontage, and wipe this off with odorless mineral spirits. Again at Lee Valley prod. # 53Z01.41. The latex putty is easier and safer to use, but it will dry hard. You can use an artists brush to apply some floor finish to the filler after it has dried overnight. But if the boards are loose, or move seasonally this filler will crack and fall out. The non drying colored putty cannot be finished with a polyurethane, but will remain flexible for years. Take your choice or leave it alone. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: I know I’ve read about fillers that are used to smooth a rough subfloor. What types and/or brands do you recommend? Answer: Dear Dave You can only fill a concrete subfloor, with special compounds made just for this purpose. Check out http://www.quikrete.com, they have been in the concrete patching business for many years now. Stay away from any gypsum based compounds. They will fail. But if it’s a wooden subfloor (you didn’t say) I’m not sure what you mean by rough. Please tell me what it is made of and how thick it is and what kind of hardwood floor you intend to install on top of it.

Question: I have recently had wood floors redone and stained. Two coats of satin polyurethane were applied, with a final high-gloss polyurethane. But it’s too shiny. Can the final coat of high-gloss be sanded and a satin finish re-applied to have less of a high gloss look Ari Answer: Dear Ari You can have whatever sheen you want, and that is determined by the last coat in any case. You should have 3 coats of finish over that stain anyway. The existing finish is simply screened (like scuff sanding) and vacuumed and washed with solvent. Allow the solvent to dry. Then the coat of satin finish poly ( I highly recommend the Fabulon brand heavy duty pro poly) is BRUSHED on by an experienced floor mechanic. Don’t use a lamb’s wool applicator. You could could do this yourself, but why not pay about 60 cents per square foot and watch the pros do it. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: What is the best type of varnish or sealer to put on a refinished oak hard wood floor? Answer: Dear Randy Please read my floor maintenance article in the Floored News section. It mentions the 5 basic floor finish choices. And there is an article on the Dura Seal 1000 in that section of the site also. But my choice for now is 3-4 coats of Fabulon Brand Pro Polyurethane Satin Finish, sometimes called heavy duty poly. I just finished coating my own floor with it an hour ago. They don’t have a web site, but here’s their # 800-263-8108. And I did find a supplier’s web site at http://www.whscott.com/fabulon.htm. Oh, and except for the water based finishes, never use a sealer on hardwood floors, read my lacquer floor fires article, on this subject in the same section. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: What is the best procedure and the longest lasting finish ? We have just finished stripping the wood floor, and now we are removing all the dust. Help PLEASE!!! Ariel Answer: Dear Ariel This is a heck of a time to be deciding just what finish you are going to use. But you should never leave an sanded floor overnight, it’s won’t take much for the grain to rise, and more dust to settle on it. Clean it up again just before you coat. But in short there are two ways to go, either the water based finish like the Dura Seal 1000. Please read my article on this before you go ahead, you’ll find this in the Floored News section. Or if you have less skill and less money the best buy is the oil modified polyurethane. I use only the Fabulon brand heavy duty pro satin finish, for ALL three coats. Thin the first coat with odorless mineral spirits, to slow the drying, and apply it thinly for the first coat. Use a BRUSH !!!!. Don’t use a lamb’s wool applicator at all. Run a large fan on the floor and wail at least 24 hours to dry, scuff sand, vacuum and clean with the same solvent, by tack ragging with lint free cloth. Allow the solvent to dry and BRUSH on the second coat, wait 48 hours for this to partly cure. When you scuff sand now it should not be clogging the sandpaper. If it doesn’t seem dry, wait another day or two, then repeat the same procedure for the last coat. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: Dear Joseph Thank you for your reply. I am interested then in finding the least toxic finish as I am a doctor and have seen too many occupational exposures to wood dust, solvents etc. If a polyurethane is the way to go what is the best one so to speak in North America and what may be its equivalent out in Australia. Your advice would be thoroughly appreciated Answer: Dear Stewart I became a lot more concerned about these chemicals when I discovered I had Hairy Cell Leukemia. The finish I recommend using is the Fabulon brand heavy duty polyurethane. And I apply one thin coat and two heavy coats. Scuff sanding and cleaning between coats. You will need a day or two dry between coats in hot humid weather. But in very dry conditions it set up quickly. It has a solvent content of about 55%. Look at the health and safety sheets that are supplied with the product. The least toxic petroleum based solvent is the aliphatic hydrocarbon 64742-88-7. This is our equivalent to odorless mineral spirits. You should see this in the highest amount. It makes the finish dry more slowly, but the xylene, benzene and toluene have been extracted from it. The number at the end of the chemical name is it’s universal CAS, and all chemists around the world use this system to identify these chemicals more accurately. Or try the Dura Seal 1000 water base finish, read my article about this available in the search box at the top of this web page. It is quite a bit safer, but is so new as to be unproven for heavy duty floor use. But the safest but longest drying finish would be the Tried and True oil/varnish, take a serious look at this finish, I mentioned it in the last email. You can mail order this finish from www.leevalleytools.com. I don’t know anything about the products in Australia, but get on the net like I did and hunt down those safety sheets, and find some safer floor finish made there.

Question: Hi Woodfloor Doc – Love your site and thought I would forward a few pics of a floor I just installed in our dining room. I am an amateur and the only experience I’ve had is installing about 1500 sq ft of pre-finished flooring. The floor enclosed is in our dining room and I based it upon a picture I came across. It is 2 1/4″ x 3/4″ unfinished red oak. I started by laying a 3′ x 1′ red oak plank in the center and worked each section out from that. Things I learned from this project: ? I stained the center and border cherry (see first pic). Oil based poly darkened the natural part of the floor so much I lost almost all of the border. ? I have used a drum sander for refinishing a friends old floor. I decided because my floor was new that I could get away with using a “square buff” sander rented from Home Depot. Big mistake. Took nearly two full days. Next time (if there is a next time) I would rent the drum sander to level the new floor. ? I have never finished a floor, but I am happy with my results. I used 3 coats of oil based poly and used my palm sander fitted with a scotch brite abrasive pad in place of sandpaper (this was a life saver) between coats as I did not want to rent a orbital sander to scuff (only a 12′ x 14′ room). After final coat I rubbed out using a Makita auto buffer with a foam pad and “3M’s Finesse It” polishing compound (auto detailing trick). Finish came out like glass. I used your site a couple of times for this project so thanks again! Regards, Eric Krupa Answer: Dear Eric Thank’s for the pictures. I regret we don’t have an article about bordered floors. They are really supposed to have a spline or biscuit attached to the ends, to keep them firmly in the floors. And I did warn you about the limitations of the Orbital Floor Sander, in the Case in Point article. But all in all it looks like a great job, and I’m sure your are very proud. We will archive the photos for now, but when we get enough of them, we’ll post them in a section of the site, along with the things you learned the hard way. We like to use boarders of cherry or walnut to contrast the oak. Many thanks again, it was good to hear you found the site useful, we have just begun. If you found this information helpful, please explore the Wood Floor Doctor.com by visiting the rest of our website. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.