The last thing on Steve Madwell's mind on July 28, 2006, was his ash living room plank floor. About that time, he and his wife were stuck in the second floor of their home waiting out a historic flood that came through Lake County, Ohio.
When the waters receded, Madwell's home was intact, but six inches of mud and silt had washed onto the home's main level. Remarkably, after a good power washing, he realized the ash floor-complete with a Waterlox Original tung oil finish-was still intact. He then got the idea to save the floor.
The wood floor was special to Madwell because he made the flooring himself from an ash tree he had cut down on his own property, and later Madwell-who is a touring musician-put his feelings about it into song with "Old Wooden Floor," which is posted on YouTube.
Madwell is convinced the finish helped keep the boards from warping during the flood's aftermath. After he cleaned off the mud, he took up the boards and placed them in a warehouse for six months to dry out. Then he had a contractor friend help with re-installation.
Everybody tried to tell Madwell he was crazy when he wanted to re-install the floor, but he didn't listen, and today he still lives with his ash floor and has a great song to sing about it. "You might not believe it, but every word I say is true," the song goes, "we nailed it down a second time and it looked might new."
