What’s the Most Challenging Thing You’ve Done on a Wood Flooring Job?

Christopher Cook

Probably this waterfall set that turns into a waterfall hearth at the bottom. Exposed end grain on the edges.

Micheal Seeley

Jackhammer a P-trap out of a concrete mop station in a janitor's closet. My help was mixing self leveler in the mop station and apparently spilled. I was doing a gym in the middle of nowhere North Dakota and the only plumber who could fix it was two months out and wanted $2K to fix it.

Floor Master Co.

My current project. Not done yet. The border was pretty challenging. 75 linear feet, over 2,400 hand-cut pieces.

bigwilly

Sand and refinish prefinished aluminum oxide flooring that only had a 1/16-inch wear layer.

Larry Israel

Agree to deep-hand-scrape 170,000 square feet in two hotels.

southernoaksflooring

Hand-sanded original poplar floors in a log cabin built in 1794.

Josh Hansman

House was out of parallel by 2 inches over 25 feet and the homeowner insisted that flooring be square on all walls. So we cut 1/4 inch off eight rows of the 5-inch prefinished product over the length of the close-out wall to "fan" the floor to be square. Re-groove, re-bevel, and re-stain to match.

Goodman Custom Flooring

Turning a pile of wood like this into a finished floor is a fun-challenge. Working alongside other trades on a packed job site is a cringe-challenge.

cottonwoodfinishesllc

I fractured my ankle while doing a floor. No insurance, so no doctor—I had just gone out on my own. It was 2008, so any income was hard to come by. I woke up the morning after and could not believe how bad it hurt. I finished the floor because the owners had left town for the project and were due back the next day. My ankle still clicks to this day.

Kristopher Jeter

Custom basketweave. A solution to turned wood joists in an upstairs hallway.

relaxed_sc

Coated a 120,000-square-foot gymnasium. Two seals, two finish coats.

Dave Marzalek

Stringing fiber optics through a finished inlay, drilling 560 holes into it, hoping it worked out the way I envisioned, and to have it turn on!

Benny Powell

Weaving into 100-plus-year-old vertical grain fir, not the easiest thing I've ever done!