I went to an estimate Saturday and the homeowner said that they took up the old carpet and look what they found-a hand-installed top-nail 5/16 floor! This is a 90-to 100-year-old home and can you see some nut job putting carpet over this?
The border is hand-cut, the field is tight and it looks like the flooring was cut on site. I am going to get this job; we will not get underbid. I want to repair the flooring, resand it, coat it and make it look like it should. Can you understand why they put carpet on it?
Now on to a bad deal that had me just a bit unhappy⌠I did a bid on a job and was given the job by the GC. Well, I got a call from the job foreman, and he said he found a better deal and he was going with the other folks. So I asked, "Who can make that change? He said, "I can, and you're too high." I asked, "How much less," and he said, "$3,000 less." They have no idea what it will take to make that floor look right, but go for it. We will not drop our price, so have at it. It did make me upset that they played that game, but what can you do? I do not think we will be working for this guy in the future.
We got to the hickory job this week and man did it look great-No. 2 common 4-inch hickory with a ton of heartwood in it:
We installed it, then we let it sit for a few days, then we got it ready for finish. Once more, they went with Monocoat finish. I tell ya, folks, if you want the matte look, try it. It's easy to buff in and easy to make it look great. The key is to make sure you finish the floor as if you were going to stain it. Get the scratch out along the walls and door jambs just like you would with hand paper and hand work, then buff it out.
Clifford ran the multi-disc sander on the floor; it is flat flat flat flat flat. We call the sander Sweetie because the floor is so sweet when you're done, and did I say flat? Our concern is the scratch from the unit, so we follow that up with the buffer and 120-grit gold paper. Recall the soft plate idea, where we use the pads to make it cut less or more? On this one here, we went with the 120-grit gold on a new driver that I made with a ž-inch red pad. My pad driver is nice, and if you are coming to the NWFA Expo, I will be showing it at the Revolution booth.
In my head, the pad drivers we all use did not offer the best use of the paper and the buffer. So that set the wheels in motion⌠this is a mix of steel, plastic and rubber with the uniform grip face. So come see it and please give me your insight.
Well, we start the next job Thursday. It's a simple install, sand and finish with a set of stairs to install. This is the nice part: The floor is on the second floor, and the homeowner took the wood up for us⌠yay, and thank you very much. How many times will that happen? Not just to tote the wood, but even better, up the stairs ... someone is living right.
We trim out the hickory job in the AM and make sure we get the tools back in place for Thursday. Clifford said, "Boy, we drag out the tools," and he is right, you just do not know how many till you have got to put them back. Trust me, we clean at the end of each day, and it just seems like we have hours to put stuff away. I like everything in its place and everything has a place... I hate looking for stuff when you need it. We both know where the tools are, and it helps us never forget anything. If the spot is open, then it is not put away, and that saves money and time.
Alright, it is getting late and I need to hit the rain locker before supper. Be safe.
