In central Illinois, it’s rare to have a high-end wood floor project with elaborate patterns, borders or inlays, but on occasion there’s an intricate restoration, and when those come up, it’s usually Springfield, Ill.-based Brookens Wood Floors that gets the call. This historic farmhouse had been built by the homeowner’s grandfather in the late 1800s, and he had installed the maple and walnut floors himself. The job for Brookens wasn’t restoring the existing original wood floor but creating new flooring to match the grandfather’s existing floor in the three rooms that had been carpeted between the original floors. First, a few decisions were made: They chose to use 21/4-inch strip instead of special-ordering 2-inch flooring to match the original maple, and they used ¾-inch solid flooring instead of the original thinner dimension. Next, they debated if they should cut the border in their shop or on-site, almost two hours away, and ultimately decided to do it on-site due to the rooms not being square. “I wanted to be able to make microadjustments as I went, as opposed to having something premade,” explains installer Andy Burk. A square medallion and the strip between the dining room and living room with a diamond pattern were made in the shop, but “all those pickets were cut individually and installed on-site because we were trying to make it look the best we could and stay relatively square with the house,” he says. From ripping out the carpeting to making extensive subfloor repairs to installation and finishing, the job took about three and a half weeks for Burk and fellow installers Aaron Burk and Ross Carson. “The homeowner was very happy and very excited to watch the process,” Andy Burk says. “It turned out being a very cool floor and experience.”
SUPPLIERS: Abrasives, Adhesive, Buffer, Filler: Bona | Edger: American Sanders, Lägler Flip | Finish and Stain: Bona DTS, Traffic HD (satin), DriFast | Moisture meter: Delmhorst, Tramex | Nailer: Powernail | Router: Porter Cable | Sanders: Lägler Hummel, Trio | Sander (palm): Festool | Saws: Dewalt | Vacuum: PAW | Wood flooring: Aacer Flooring
