Finding a high quality refinisher in Winchester is a challenge. Either they use only old school…read moretechniques (polyurethane only), have a terrible work ethic (no show to provide estimates, no return calls, or won't remove baseboards, etc.), or treating your wife like she's a second-class citizen. I had nearly given up.
Enter Only Floors. Rafael Flores and his awesome team have been amazing to work with. They guys he uses have extreme attention to detail. Our house has original red oak that had been stained a dark walnut--a look that looks great on walnut and select other wood varieties, but it never really looks good on oak. Plus, the previous owners had renters in it that had dogs with velociraptor-like paws that scratched the Alpo out of many areas in the house. We wanted to go natural/clear.
Rafael came to our house and provided the best price that included moving larger pieces of furniture, removing all baseboards, installing new pre-primed, sanding down, and installing new flooring in a few areas where we reconfigured a doorway and wall (and thus it was missing any flooring). I wanted to see some of his work so he confirmed with another homeowner if my wife and I could swing by. We did and saw the work his crew was doing and had no doubt we were making the right choice. Selecting a flooring refinisher can be a make or break it decision. You have to get it right or you will pay. We have learned a few lessons from another house where we had floors done twice--because the first "2nd generation flooring specialist" screwed up our floors and it had to be redone by another company.
This is what I learned during that experience. First, many homeowners don't know what to look for in a flooring company when it comes to final product. If you just glance into a newly completed room, you may think it looks great. But slow down, get on the ground and run your hand across the newly redone floors. Do you feel gritty like bumps (this most likely is from them not vacuuming/dusting really well before laying each coat)? Do you see dog or human hair or other dust bunnies embedded in the clear coat (again, more lack of prep work)? Is the entire house coated in a layer of dust from the sanding (do they hang plastic and tape down to keep the mess to a minimum)? Do they remove the baseboards to do it right or do they leave them in place and figure it's not that big of a deal (if not they are lazy and lack attention to detail)? Do they hand sand and do a good job between stair spindles and railings? Many of these things you should look into with proven work. Only Floors passed all these tests for me.
Another thing I've come to appreciate is water-based finishes. Scour the internet and you will read many conflicting things about polyurethane vs. water-based finishes. What you'll read is usually influenced by two things: 1) what that product vendor/trade association sells 2) what the local company is comfortable using and has experience with. It's hard to find objective information. My experience is that I could not find anyone in greater Winchester that knew what they were and had to talk to companies in Leesburg/Ashburn before I found some that offered them. One from Leesburg with many great reviews came out to bid and made a comment that "Winchester flooring people are about a decade behind in finish technology" and at first I found that to be a bit of a slight. It turns out, he was right and I was later told flat out misinformation from several in-town companies. Established in 1752, yet there is much to be learned here about this topic.
Here is why I love water based product: first, your house can be lived in while it's being applied. There are fumes, but they are low-VOC and within hours dissipate and can be walked on in a matter of hours. They have also proven to be incredibly durable where water is concerned. For instance, during an out of town trip our fridge opened and a grape juice spilled over the wood floors and eventually evaporated. On seeing this, I thought...here we go, this will cost thousands to refinish!?! And I wiped it up, with no stain or bleed into the seams. How on earth is that possible? Water finish. It's provides a harder top finish and is heavily favored now in commercial applications. My house is like a commercial for what will go wrong with several kids so this is why I love this stuff.
You probably figured by now that Rafael offers this, the only one I found locally...
The end result is a beautiful floor that always gets comments. It was fixed of all dents, dings, scratches, and he actually found massive water damage from a toilet overflow that rotted the wood but you couldn't see it when it was stained dark brown--he advised us he could fix it and replaced several planks. And the areas that he installed new, he somehow blended it with new wood and you cannot tell there was ever a wall there.
Highly recommend Only Floors! Thanks again Rafael and team, you guys are awesome! :)
