FloorShop

Kris Zimmer

alex — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:00:48 +0000

I would strongly recommend FloorShop to anyone considering re-finishing their home’s hardwood floors. My wife and I are extremely pleased with the results of the hardwood floors in our 1950′s bungalow; in a way it feels like a new home to us.What we were even more pleased with was the professionalism of Alex and his crew. I am usually the first guy to point out any errors in someone’s workmanship, but I have to say that I was hard-pressed to find anything to complain about. Alex and his crew used state-of-the-art equipment, kept/left a clean work-site, were accommodating to our schedule, and did the job for a great price too. One thing that made my wife and I feel comfortable was that Alex really took the time to help us make the right re-finishing choice. We were never rushed and Alex always made himself available throughout and after the project if we had any questions.

I would recommend FloorShop for their quality work but I would strongly recommend FloorShop because it was an absolute pleasure dealing with Alex”.

Kris Zimmer

Solange B.

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:22:25 +0000

I found your work to be professional, timely, and high quality. I was completely satisfied with the work carried out.

Thank you SO much Alex for your excellent work, our place look beautiful (floor part anyway). Your craftsmanship is an example and I appreciate that you were on time. You can leave your sign in front as long as you want and hope it brings you some more business.

Solange B.

Jessica A.

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:20:21 +0000

We recently had our 1967 oak hardwood floors refinished by Alex from the FloorShop. He and his team did an amazing job, I can hardly believe that is it the same floor. The entire experience was simple and efficient. Alex showed up to give me quote for the project at exactly the time he said he would, despite the fact that we were in the middle of the first snowstorm of the winter. He gave me an exact time frame for the project and he stuck to it. He said it would take 3 days and it took 3 days. We were initially concerned that there would be a lot of dust and mess to clean up after the sanding. When we returned there was no mess left behind and all we had to do was wipe a little dust off the cabinets. I would highly recommend this company to others.

Jessica A.

Douglas fur natural

alex — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:34:17 +0000

Douglas fur refinished (9)

alex — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:29:41 +0000

Views of transformation

alex — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:07:32 +0000

Unsuccessful DIY attempt, that needed to to be fixed.

Layers of led - based paint.

Maple/Birch combination, Santos Mahogany feature strip

alex — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:07:22 +0000

Very common layout - nook, kitchen, hallway receive hardwood flooring, living room gets carpet, leaving the owner with a question.. "what the hell do i do if i want to get rid of the carpet"?

Stone around the fireplace presented a challenge - the profile was really uneven, so the only option that was left is to undercut the stone to the thickness of the wood- 3/4". Had to have a tool made for that - but it worked!!

As you can see the effort was worth the while.. Clean line giving an illusion that the stone was installed with hardwood already in place..

The most common option that is being offered to owners if they want to save the existing wood is "feather-in", or fitting new wood in to the existing. Feather-ins work good on small areas, a span of a whole main floor will not deliver a satisfactory result - difference in color, milling will still show a rather unsuccessful attempt to match both new and existing floor.

So we took a " flow- break up, birch - maple, colorful grade - clean grade, seamless transition - dividing line, straight lay - diagonal lay" road.

Far from a traditional look, but let's see the benefits. The cost is brought down since the existing wood was left in place (no removal, supply, installation, finishing expenses) and the floor showcases somewhat of an artistic touch. Or at least, how i would like to think of it:)!

“Queen of hardwoods” – Black Walnut stairs and floor

alex — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:42:08 +0000

Located in Marda Loop, this house had to have a floor that is sought after - Black Walnut hardwood.

Main floor had an existing Black Walnut hardwood floor, put in and finished on site as the house was constructed. To continue the flow of colour, the owner opted for the same wood to installed on stairs and throughout

Black walnut nosings and 2.25" Black walnut hardwood flooring was used on the stairs for risers and stair treads.

To make sure the staircase is properly wrapped, existing bullnoses need to be cut back. In this case, black walnut plywood stringer where installed as part of the staircase, so we just had to spruce them up.

The staircase just turned into one of the most attractive focal points of the house.

To make sure. that both floors look the same - fresh and new, main floor needed to be refinished. This picture shows a coat that just went down.

Red oak resand

alex — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:29:59 +0000

50 odd year old floor, covered under carpets for almost half a century.. Until today. Floor showed significant amount of wear and traffic patterns. Refinished to natural tone, watebased sealer, 3 coats of Bona Mega waterbased poly.

Very common layout and scenario- living/dining room covered with old carpets, and hardwood floor buried under.

The floors shows at least 10 years of intense traffic before the carpets were installed. Grey coloration shows that protective layer of poly is entirely gone.

As the floor is being sanded, the old poly get removed so as the "dirt and grit" deposits.

The beginning of the "divine transformation" - back to natural color, truly amazing and touching process - from old to young again in a course of just hours!

We are just about to start putting sealer down.

Now the floor has a coat of sealer on it. This picture shows some inconsistency in color. but it will disappear, as the floor gets buffed and coated with successive coats of poly.

Various Projects – Refinishing

alex — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:20:11 +0000

Combination of Maple 3rd grade flooring with oak border strip.

Maple resanded to natural colour (oil-modified sealer), coated with 3 coats of Bona Mega

This floor had to be re-sanded after an unsuccessful DIY attempt. Turned out just great. Natural tone, finished with three coats of Bona Mega

One of those "50 years old home" floors, buried under the old ugly shag, beauty revealed back to the world, and to be made look even better, stained Jacobean stain by Bona Kemi, finished with 3 coats of Bona Mega

Hard Maple stained a mix of Ebony and Mahogany stains by Bona Kemi, finished with 3 coats of Bona Traffic satin. The floor looks blotchy, because of the ... sugar in the wood!! As the timber dries in the kiln, being exposed to higher temperatures, the sugar melts, turning into a solid substance and preventing the stain from even penetration, and creating "blotchy" look.

85 year old fir floor, once CP station, turned into a residence. Luckily , we managed to get hold of same wood for repairs. Though being the same wood specie, the new stock shows significant difference in colors.

Same project - final coat - the floor is ready for another era years of use and abuse:). In this case we were bound to go with the oil- based poly instead of water based product to avoid floor cupping - because of it's age, the floor showed some excessive shrinkage.

Custom milled hickory - partially covered with sealer - makes the colours flame up!!

French Restaurant Rouge (Calgary) complete main floor hardwood flooring restoration. Heritage Fund told us to go with .. maple, as they consider this wood be fairly common in residences dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Oh well, i wasn't around anyways to be able to prove otherwise so we had to follow to instruction. Hard maple 2.25" select grade was the choice.

Reno in a 35 year old home - new installation - designer went with a narrow strip to match existing hardwood throughout the rest of the house.

60 year old red oak hardwood floor restored back to its original beauty. Finished in natural tone, with 3 coats of Bona Mega water-based poly, satin sheen

Red oak stained a custom mix of brown stains by Bona Kemi and finished with 2 coats of Bona Traffic satin

Red oak - new and existing - stained Antique Brown and top coated with 2 coats of Bona Traffic. Walnut border at the entrance is used as alternative to patching a new floor into the existing portion.

Red oak stained Provincial stain by Bona Kemi. In the process of applying coats. Santos Mahogany was originally used for the feature strips in living - dining rooms, but as stain was applied, the color changed from red to dark brown.

Red oak stain with a mix of three different stains. The owner wanted to replicate the look of aged oil based finish (without using one). The floor was coated with 3 coats of Bona Traffic.

Even though it is the same wood - Red Oak Select & Better - the difference is very visible. Many factors, such as area of origin (and soil minerals), climate and tightness of grain, mill setting, and, of course, lengthy exposure of the old floor to the UV.

Two natural components- stone and wood, gracefully complementing each other. Spicy Brandy color of the floor highlights the cool grey tone of the slate and fireplace stone.