We asked wood floor pros to share their most challenging jobs. Here are our favorite responses shared by our readers on the WFB Facebook and Instagram pages:
Jim Hyde
This floor had the remnants of old linoleum—I had to get that off, and then the old varnish under that. I wet it down and hand-scraped off as much as I could before we started sanding with 16-grit. Of course it was summer and there was no air conditioning … I lost a few pounds on that job.
tyy_lorr
The one I'm on right now … resanding three bedrooms because I broke every rule I have when it comes to staining a floor: trying a new brand of stain from somewhere other than my floor distributor, not staining at the beginning of a day, staining by myself. Also made these mistakes because I broke another golden rule: Don't do jobs for "friends." The homeowners couldn't agree on a stain and were arguing for days about the decision. I also was playing the matching stain game to an oil-based stain that has been discontinued with the husband who smokes 10 joints a day … I knew better than to move forward but I prayed to the floor gods and hoped for the best. I'll be edging gummed-up sealer/stain tomorrow.
Ron Teljeur
From 2015, prefinished maple floor with 280 feet of continuous border and many direction changes and a few curved millwork bits as well as custom-made treads and bow-front stairs. Every joint is splined. Challenging but super rewarding and fun!
just2wildandcrazydags
A basement ... with the homeowner literally RIGHT OVER your shoulder for the whole job saying "excuse me" well over 100 times was INSANE.
Troy Stanfield
The one where I fell asleep at the sanding machine after 18 hours straight sanding through the night. I had an impossible deadline for a high-profile state government client in the city who was moving in in a couple days. It was bad scheduling from the GC. I drove 40 minutes home and switched my phone off and slept for five hours, then woke up to 20 or so irate missed calls from the GC!
Daniel Springer
This one from 2023—it took me eight months to do 4,500 square feet. Wayfair packages that weighed 200-plus pounds would show up every day. One of the GCs she brought on stole her credit card and bought $4,000 of tools, then took four days to build two deck steps. That's when me and two other people took over and started telling her who to hire and who not to. We're the only three who saw our contracts through without change orders or taking advantage of her.
Michael R Leonzal
One of the largest Bona glaze jobs in the U.S. done on the top level of a high-rise building in downtown Chicago. It was executed on raw maple to emulate walnut. This location was used as the location for a New Balance commercial with NBA player Zach LaVine.
daniels_floors
We had a nightmare job for a contractor whose client purchased cumaru flooring from Lumber Liquidators. They had it inside their home for two months to acclimate. The flooring was milled so poorly: Planks were wider at some spots and narrower at others, leaving gaps. We used putty to fill the gaps. My fingertips got blisters from rubbing that putty into the gaps. The flooring was absolute garbage. The worst part? We didn't even get paid for the job. We pointed out the problem to the GC, who told us to proceed with the installation. Then, the client didn't want to pay. That was when I decided to open a showroom and only sell/install first-quality wood flooring. Now we turn down jobs from people who purchase cheap flooring.
