Restoration: Page 2

Herringbone Conundrums & Seniors Day at Henry Ford’s Fair Lane

Evidently Henry and Clara Ford were somewhat fond of the herringbone pattern. They have about 18,000 square feet of it in the home they built in Dearborn, Mich., in 1915. It’s quartersawn white oak, and it’s stood the test of time. The only damage we found during our restoration was man-made.

4 11 Waterdamage1

Remodeling or Remuddling: Are You Making the Right Choices on Remodeling Jobs?

When doing a wood floor in a remodeling job, there are many unexpected complications. Here's an overview of what to watch out for.

A compelling reason to check for flatness before starting: At this old home, the exterior walls had settled, creating this drastic slope in the wood floor. (All photos courtesy of Roy Reichow)

The Resourceful Dutchman: A Great Option for Old-Floor Repairs

Let me be specific from the get-go about what type of flooring repair the "Dutchman" method best addresses. The Dutchman works best on specific spots of structural damage or aging issues with the wood. Splitting, checks and splintering are some of the best examples. I’m not talking about animal urine stains, long indentations or watermarks. Those fall into a different category.

Michael Purser 12 22 15 Before Dutchman

The Low-Hanging Fruit: Old Floor Refinishing

(This blog is directed to that group in the wood flooring industry with sore knees, sore backs and callouses on their hands. We often feel like we are struggling to hold onto a market that reacts every time the prime rate hiccups, a contractor is looking to save $100 or a decorator sees nothing but ebonized floors. I want you folks to stop, turn around and look behind you. You just may be looking at a market that dwarfs anything you, or the industry, have seen in a long time.)

Fastener heads like these are a sure indication there is no wood left to sand on an old floor.

Repairing a Top-Nail Parquet Floor

As noted before, top-nail floors are very common in my area, metropolitan San Francisco. More than 75 percent of our refinishing and repair work is on a century-old 5/16-inch (7.937-mm) oak floor.

3 16 Avi Top Nailed Parquet

The Floor Listener: Wood Floors Have Stories to Tell

Longtime wood flooring pro Michael Purser has uncovered some truly bizarre things in his lifetime doing wood floors, and he shares some of them here.

When refinishing the library at Montpelier, I found these ink spots. Tour guides at the famous home now point out the ink spots to visitors.

Uncovering An Old Trick During a Restoration

Recently we did a restoration job on this floor in an older home. This is the “before” pic of the floor:

Mike Dittmer Border Repair1

Trick of the Trade: Cautious Cuts

When you're pulling up hardwood for a remodel, you run the risk of damaging door frames, cabinets, walls, and anything else that's in the way. A good idea is to make a saw cut around the obstruction. Remove the wood in the center first. Then you can easily pull out the pieces under the frame, which don't have fasteners, without damaging the trim.

Wood Floors Part of Grand Renovation at UT's Ayres Hall

It's likely that grand ideas were always circulating in Brown Ayres' mind as he strode the University of Tennessee campus paths during his tenure as 12th president from 1904 until his death in 1919. When he took the helm of the school, it was already more than 100 years old. Originally located in what is today downtown Knoxville, the university moved to the 40-acre tract known as "The Hill" in 1828.Architects: Weeks Ambrose McDonald Inc. (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Ross/Fowler (Knoxville)

Ayres Hall at University of Tennessee Knoxville

How to Do a Repair by Replacing Wood Flooring Boards

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