Last December we got a call from a homeowner in Drexel Hill who had bought the house three years earlier and never really looked at the floors under the area rugs. She pulled back one corner of the carpet on a whim and found original red oak underneath — tight grain, no cupping, in remarkable […]
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White oak has been the most-requested species in our shop for about three years running now. We’re not complaining — it’s a great floor. But we’ve had enough conversations in driveways and on front porches to know that a lot of homeowners aren’t entirely sure what they’re asking for when they ask for it. Here’s […]
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We get calls pretty regularly from people who cleaned their floors and expected them to look better than they do. Sometimes the issue is the cleaner — some products leave residue that actually makes floors look duller over time. But more often, it’s that the floors themselves need work, and no amount of mopping is […]
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This is probably the question we get most often, and it’s a good one because the price difference is real and the right answer isn’t always obvious. Here’s the short version: Screen-and-coat (also called buff-and-coat or recoat) is exactly what it sounds like. We lightly abrade the existing finish with a screen disk to give […]
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Every few months someone asks us to paint the risers white when we’re doing their stairs. We understand the appeal — it’s the classic look, white risers against stained treads, very traditional, very New England Colonial. We’re not going to tell you it looks bad. It looks great when it’s done right. What we will […]
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