The Kalispell Mercantile building dates to 1892, and it became one of the largest retail and wholesale operations between Seattle and Minneapolis before closing in 1980. By the time wood floor pro Wood floor pro Alex Franklin was charged with preserving the character of the floors in the Kalispell Mercantile building, and he had to throw all of his experience at the renovation project., owner/operator of Kalispell, Mont.-based Revive DecksNFloors LLC arrived during its renovation, five layers of flooring had been removed from the original flooring—maple in the middle and larch on the sides. Gummy black mastic covered a large area, and Franklin couldn’t sand the floor with a drum machine because the owner wanted to preserve the character. “He wanted me to keep the patina, the scratches—there’s all kinds of crazy stuff in there from the carts they rolled across the floor,” Franklin says. “If I sanded it harder, it would have taken all of that history.” To remove the mastic, he did all sorts of things, including buffing it with a 16-grit copper plate, spraying mastic areas with WD-40, soaking an oily area with paint thinner and more. He also used a few tricks, including water-popping to help remove deep scratches before buffing and alternating worn and new abrasives on the multi-head on the buffer before ending with a final buffing with 120 and coating with four coats of water-based finish. “As far as what it was and how it came out, it looks amazing,” Franklin says.
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The Kalispell Mercantile building dates to 1892, and it became one of the largest retail and wholesale operations between Seattle and Minneapolis before closing in 1980. By the time wood floor pro Wood floor pro Alex Franklin was charged with preserving the character of the floors in the Kalispell Mercantile building, and he had to throw all of his experience at the renovation project., owner/operator of Kalispell, Mont.-based Revive DecksNFloors LLC arrived during its renovation, five layers of flooring had been removed from the original flooring—maple in the middle and larch on the sides. Gummy black mastic covered a large area, and Franklin couldn’t sand the floor with a drum machine because the owner wanted to preserve the character. “He wanted me to keep the patina, the scratches—there’s all kinds of crazy stuff in there from the carts they rolled across the floor,” Franklin says. “If I sanded it harder, it would have taken all of that history.” To remove the mastic, he did all sorts of things, including buffing it with a 16-grit copper plate, spraying mastic areas with WD-40, soaking an oily area with paint thinner and more. He also used a few tricks, including water-popping to help remove deep scratches before buffing and alternating worn and new abrasives on the multi-head on the buffer before ending with a final buffing with 120 and coating with four coats of water-based finish. “As far as what it was and how it came out, it looks amazing,” Franklin says.
SUPPLIERS:
Abrasives: Diablo | Buffer: Extreme | Edger: American Sanders Super 7 | Filler: DuraSeal | Finish: Loba WS EasyFinish (satin) | Multi-head sander: American Sanders HydraSand | Sander (palm): Makita
When Franklin arrived at the job site, five layers of flooring had been removed from the original wood flooring, and this is what he had to work with.
Franklin had to use this copper plate to get all the mastic and top layer of glue off the wood floor (there had been five floors on top of this floor).
This area of the floor had some sort of oil on it, and there Franklin had to use WD-40 and then 60-grti on the HydraSand to remove it.
This area was so oily that Franklin used paint thinner instead of WD-40; he brushed it in and let it sit, then edged it off. Because it was so wet, it was slinging all over while he was edging, so he spread leftover sanding dust on it to soak it up.
Before buffing, Franklin water-popped the floor to raise all the big scratches and make them easier to buff out. In the picture at right, you can see where it water-popped and raised all the scratches in the grain.
What the floor looked like before coating—with the history preserved.
The floor after coating—the maple in the middle and larch on the sides are clearly visible now.
All Things Wood Floor, created by Wood Floor Business magazine, talks to interesting wood flooring pros to share knowledge, stories and tips on everything to do with wood flooring, from installation, sanding and finishing to business management.