This a valid concern because we do bump walls and scuff them on occasion. Due to the nature of the equipment and the power they have connected to them accidents can happen.
We recommend having painting work done after you have your floors refinished.
If there are any minor scuffs or bumps to the walls, you will be responsible for the touch-up.
This depends on whether you want us to sand underneath them. Half of our clients do, and half of them don’t.
- If you chose to sand under them, we can move them for an additional fee.
- We also do not disconnect any water or gas lines; however, we can provide info to a licensed plumber whom you can call to have that taken care of.
No, A2HW does NOT move furniture.
- We can refer professional movers.
- We can hire professional movers on your behalf for an additional fee.
- If you have extra space like a garage, basement, spare room, or any space that will be off the floors we are working on.
- You can rent a POD.
- You can have it held in storage by a moving company.
Yes, we need the space completely cleared out because we perform the work step by step not room by room. This allows for a seamless project without overlap or sanding inconsistencies.
The only time this may change is when you have two separate floors that we are working on that are divided by a step(s).
No, you do not have to be home during your project, but if you are adding stain to your project we will need someone onsite to approve the color. We can accomplish this at any point in your project to help accommodate your scheduling needs
This can depend on the areas of the home that are being refinished, and what your space allows for.
- Yes, most of our clients are able to stay in the home because we offer dustless sanding and low VOC quick-drying finish options. This allows you access through your space 90% of the time we are working in your home. However, if you are highly sensitive or have medical concerns this might still impact you.
- Are your bedrooms part of the project, and do you have another location in the house you can sleep?
- Do you work from home? Our sanders are loud, and so are our vacuums, so creating a quiet space for you to work can be a very difficult task.
The estimator will have samples of different options available.
We have a flooring visualizer on our website that you can check out.
We use DuraSeal Stain colors and you can check out their color gallery on their website.
We will lay down three stain samples on your floor if you choose to have your floor stained. This will allow you to see the color in your home’s lighting, on the cut and species of wood you have.
This is depending on the materials you have installed in your home.
- If you have prefinished floors we always refer back to manufacturer specifications for maintenance and recommended cleaning products.
- If it is a site-finished floor that A2HW did not finish please call the company that finished your floor to learn more about the products they used and what care those products require.
- A2HW use Pallmann products, and we offer cleaning kits for sale from Pallmann that are for the care of their products. These are available upon request.
For those with a busy home, possibly yes, but there are other services available that might be a better fit. A screen and coat is a professional maintenance step that is frequently overlooked and can extend the life of your wood floors exponentially. This is typically a one-to-two-day process and has a significantly lower cost than a full refinish. This does require you to book an in-home appointment to determine if your floor is a good fit for this service.
Yes, but it might be bigger than just replacing a few boards, I think this requires a conversation and an in-home appointment. Here are some pieces of information we would like to know in addition.
- How long ago did the leak occur?
- Did you have moisture mitigation performed?
- Do you have a prefinished floor or a job site finished floor?
- Do you have solid hardwood or engineered flooring?
- Does the floor with water damage touch wood flooring that runs into other areas or rooms of the home?
- Do you have an additional flooring material that you kept for flooring repairs?
We have included a calendar that is regularly updated on our website that shows when we will be available to start new projects.
This will look different depending on what type of project you are having done, and the scale of your project.
- For refinishing projects, we can sand approximately 200-250 sqft per day. This can change depending on the layout of your space, and the type of flooring you have.
- For raw wood install projects, we can install approximately 250-350 sqft a day. This can vary depending on the width of the boards you choose.
- Sanding must be done on a raw wood install to ensure the floor is flat raw wood sanding we can get approximately 250-350 sqft done per day.
- Prefinished flooring, we can install approximately 200 sqft a day. Again, this can vary depending on installation specifications as well as board width.
- Stain can add 1-4 days to the project not only for application of the stain but adding stain requires additional sanding steps.
- Applying sealers and topcoats is the final step which can add multiple days. This is not only for application, but dry times and screening in between coats.
Before we get into all the options of what types of materials you could have installed and all the different specs on each of those and their varying costs, Maybe ask yourself a few additional questions.
- Do you know how to care for hardwood floors?
- Do you have ways to regulate the relative humidity in my house?
- How much time do you have to allow your house to be renovated?
- What type of substrate will you be installing the wood over, plywood or concrete?
By answering these questions you will be able to tell whether hardwood flooring is a good fit for your home and lifestyle. It will also help point you in the direction of understanding what types of materials work best for your schedule and your budget.
Booking an in-home appointment for an estimate is the next best step. You can schedule this right through the website under the Schedule an in-home appointment tab.
VOC stands for ‘Volatile Organic Compounds’. I could give you the fancy scientific definition but for our purposes regarding your floors let’s keep it simple. It is the off gassing that occurs from chemicals that are applied as protective coatings to floors. The smell to put it very simply. It is measured in grams per liter or g/l . You can find out more about VOC’s and other air quality issues here: https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq
This question has a lot of answers so I will list the pros and cons of each. Let’s start with Polyurethane or OMU pros.
Polyurethane Pros
- Tried and tested, an industry standard for over 65 years.
- Cost, most commercially available floor polyurethane is around $15-$20 a gallon
- Has a thick build more solids than water based finishes
- Has an amber tint also called “grain enhancing”
Polyurethane Cons
- VOC’s the average floor grade polyurethane has about 550 g/l even new VOC compliant poly’s are at 450 g/l. “you should not be in the house”
- Dry times depending on the current humidity and temperature I have seen polyurethane take 3 days to dry before another coat could be applied. Minimum of 12 hours
- Color change over time to orange, I placed this in the cons due to the fact that color matching a repair to aged poly is extremely difficult and the repair will not change with the rest of the floor.
- Can contain lead drying agents pre 1978
Water based Pros
- Low VOC content typically around 225g/l-150g/l very light sent
- Dry times dries to the touch in an hour fully cured in 3-10 days
- Is harder than polyurethane
- Multiple coats can be applied in one day
- Has a true clear finish but can have an ambering sealer added to replicate grain enhancement of poly.
- Much less color change then poly over time
- No lead content at all
Water based Cons
- Cost water based finish is 3-4 times more expensive then poly around $60-$120 a gallon
- Less solids “thinner build” need at least 3 coats
- Only been used commercially for 15ish years
- Most contractors are resistant to change so not as commonly used in the industry and has a different skill set to apply.
Ann Arbor Hardwoods prefers to use water based finish, specifically Pallman, and Bona products.
Dustless is not the same as dust free, you can expect to see a small amount of dust on horizontal surfaces in the immediate areas being sanded, it will be limited to that area and not throughout the whole house. The dust will not build up on walls and other vertical surfaces. Also to put things into perspective a typical 500 sq ft room refinish would yield about 30-40 gallons of saw dust through the entire sanding process. The dustless system Ann Arbor Hardwoods uses will take care of 99.9% of the dust created. The system is a Diamond Jet 1200 dustless system which is manufactured specifically for hardwood sanding. The System is H.E.P.A. certified and is certified for lead safe paint removal.