This week’s Wood Floor of the Week is just one of the floors that resulted from the most recent iteration of the DM Hardwood Designs School, which took place in October. The schools are led by Dave Marzalek, one of the most well-known and award-winning wood floor pros in the industry, and have been held at various locales over the decades, from New Mexico to Colorado and now Ocala, Fla.
An unusual aspect of this school was that students installed wood flooring in an actual house of an actual wood flooring pro—Bradley Kidder of Precision Wood Floors LLC. In total, 31 students and 14 instructors converged on Kidder’s home for five whirlwind days of learning, installing and camaraderie.
“There was so much going on; we got so much installed in five days,” Kidder says. “The talent was just crazy with so many people … there were probably a few people that were intermediate but probably 75 percent of the students were already advanced installers.”
Because of that, Marzelek and Kidder didn’t have to give much direction to the students assigned to work on the floor in Kidder’s game room. It’s a Bordeaux pattern with a twist: Instead of multiple tiles of Bordeaux parquet, the entire floor is one huge Bordeaux pattern.
Students Benny Powell, Christian Mocanu and Andrew Burk were the main installers for the floor, with Jessica Colpron assisting on the border. The main wood is Goodwin Heart Pine’s Antique Long Leaf Blue Sap pine, and the triangular border is comprised of American cherry and walnut, with pine in a soldier pattern on the perimeter.
Once the flooring was installed (nailed down with glue-assist), students practiced hand-scraping—a signature technique of Marzalek’s. But for the final floor, after the school was done, Kidder decided to sand it (“I like a flat floor,” he laughs.)
And because Kidder anticipates the room will get heavy use, he applied five coats of finish, using a process he knows will make finish reps’ heads spin—but was no-risk since it was his own home. First, he sealed it with shellac to bring out a little bit of amber color. Then, he used two coats of ProCoat Aqua-Pro, one coat of Wearmax for its ceramic durability and a final coat of Loba Invisible to make the floor appear like it has no finish on it. “Who do I call for the warranty?” he asks, laughing, but adds that all the finish coats stuck well and the floor is now “tough as nails.”
(Editor's Note: Keep an eye on the WFB E-News, social media and website for coverage of the other floors installed during this school.)
SUPPLIERS:
Abrasives: Bona, Norton | Adhesive: Bona Quantum R851 | Finish: Professional Coatings, Wearmax, Loba | Sealer: Zinnser | Wood flooring: Goodwin Heart Pine
SCHOOL INSTRUCTORS:
Dave Marzalek, Jon Colpron, Brett Elliott, Patrick Russell, Bradley Kidder, Mike Wong, Daniel Boone (American Sanders), Chuck Crispin, Matt Marwick, Wayne Highlander (Bona US), Randy Harris, Bill Cavey (Loba-Wakol), Chuck Balek (Professional Coatings), David Friedland.
