Hardwood Flooring Update

 BEFORE..









AFTER!

Bona! Can't say enough good things about these products. Bona Amber Seal is essentially a stain that is applied before the Bona Mega, which is the clear protective finish. They are waterbourne products and contain low amounts of VOC's. Though it is pretty pungent while wet, after a day or two it is hardly noticeable.

There was a learning curve with the application. I basically ended up sanding the first application of Amber Seal off.  I left puddles and pools and it ended up looking blotchy. As long as you even it out and don't leave any pools it will come out looking good.

The Amber Seal has a very warm look and feel. I bought two gallons of the Amber Seal and three gallons of the Bona Mega. The total was less than $300. I finished around six hundred square feet and I have leftover of both products.

Renting a buffer and screening after the Amber Seal really is necessary.

Finish your floors last! This remodel would have destroyed the finish on these floors. I'm glad I waited until nearly the end to do it.

 Vi Vi did not help...

Hardwood Flooring

Time to sand the nasty floor.

I was able to get most of the bad spots out but the worst stuff in the middle was through to the sub floor. Probably dog pee.

The bad boards had to come out. It's a pain to take out single boards and not wreck the ones right beside them. You've got to saw two times along the length of each board and then chisel the rest out.

It took me all day Friday to patch up this area.













 The final result of the patchwork. Next, more sanding.

7 bundles of red oak flooring for the kitchen.

Original linoleum floor. Who came up with this crap?

Ricardo working on the old floor.

 Subfloor was in decent condition. It is 3/4" ply. But we had to remove 3/4" MDF that was laid on top of it. The linoleum was on top of that.

We took up the old roofing felt and put down red rosin paper.

In the foreground you can see where we have taken out every other board to interlace in the new flooring.

One third of the way. The pneumatic nailer is a must.

 Two thirds done

Hardwood kitchen floor installed.
The several gaps in the foreground I didn't worry about since there will be an island where they are.

Cabinets and appliances replaced.

Discovered later on that the original flooring was white oak not red oak. Doh!