This European white oak floor installed by San Francisco-based Area Floor Works appears to have a standard aluminum feature strip (top)—until the LED lights inlaid with the aluminum are turned on (bottom).
Some projects start out with a bright idea; for others, like this LED-lit wood floor, the idea comes toward the end. San Francisco-based Area Floor Works Owner Avo Sanasaryan had just installed European white oak floors in a 250-square-foot exercise room when he found out the architect wanted to add a feature strip. After discussing it, Sanasaryan and GC Jason Lindley of San Francisco-based Citidev took the idea a step further: What if they included an LED light as the strip? "I'd never seen one recessed right in the floors," Sanasaryan says. He and his crew routed the path for the feature strip, carefully cutting ½ inch deep into the ¾-inch-thick flooring that was nailed and glued over a radiant heat system. When the 1-inch-wide track was ready, Lindley installed the aluminum extrusion, and then an electrician fed the wiring with the lights into it. Area Floor Works taped over the open track to sand and apply water-based sealer and water-based finish. After the final plastic covering for the lights was installed, they buffed and did the final coat. The setup, which can be dimmed or brightened, was so unusual that the city didn't even have building codes for it. "People always think that light comes from the top," Sanasaryan says. "But it can also come from the bottom, especially with these new techniques and new generation of lighting."
Abrasives: 3M | Finish: Bona US | Nailer: Powernail Company | Sander: American Sanders
