
In the old whaling town of Sag Harbor in New York's Long Island, Glenn Harris of Oakdale, N.Y.-based Town & Country Floor Designs was tasked with slaying not a white whale, but a white pine floor dating to around 1890. The flooring, referred to as "pumpkin pine" by the contractor, Brendan Tolley at Hamptons Wood Company, was in rough shape and coated in what Harris believes was probably shellac. "I was worried about ripping out splinters, so I used the old Porter Cable half-sheet sander, on hands and knees, board by board, after the big machine, and for intercoat abrasion. No buffer was used," Harris explains. After sanding he coated the floor with four coats of satin water-based finish, giving new life to a historic floor.
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