About an hour west of Madison, Wis., the small town of Spring Green has a big claim to fame: It’s home to Taliesin, the UNESCO World Heritage Site that was the house, studio and school for legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright for close to 50 years. And just outside of Spring Green, nestled in the Wyoming Valley, is a chapel also designed by Wright that had fallen into horrid disrepair. “The architecture specialist removed all of the white pine flooring, remilled it and reinstalled it to keep this historic building original,” explains wood floor pro Adrian Molitor of Madison, Wis.-based Molitor Traditional Flooring. “They also had to completely rebuild the floor joist system throughout.” Extra wood for repairs was harvested from Taliesin next door. Upon the recommendation of a local artist, Molitor Traditional Flooring, which consists of the father-son team of Adrian and his son Isaiah, was brought in to sand and finish the historic flooring. Once the white pine was sanded, “I used a sealer that protects against side bonding, then oil to protect against the nasty Wisconsin road salt, and two topcoats of German 2K satin,” Molitor explains. “After almost 20 years of doing wood floors, this is a top five job for me.”—K.M.W.
SUPPLIERS: Abrasives: Bona Green, Norton Mesh | Big machine: Lägler Hummel | Edger, Vacuum: American Sanders | Finish: Berger-Seidle Exo Bloc, GreenStar (satin) | Multi-head sander: Bona Flexisand Power Drive
