Here it is. The big reveal. After a week of teasing you guys silly, we’re here to announce the major home improvement project that whipped through Casa Petersik like a tornado. No, we didn’t blow out a wall (although we’re nuts about open living, we blew out all the walls that we could last year- which you can read about here). And we’re not adding a second story or an addition- we already have two bedrooms that we don’t use so more space is currently out of the question. And although a super huge closet, a remodeled bathroom or bedroom, and exposed beam ceilings sound super fantastico, that’s not what we were up to either. Oh and about that nursery rumor, well, no dice.
But we did GET OUR WOOD FLOORS REFINISHED! Yup, we took down our Christmas tree a week early, painstakingly cleared out the guest bedroom (along with our other two bedrooms and the living room), froze our little buns off (the windows were constantly open to air out the house), hung a curtain to shield ourselves from sanding dust and lived in utter chaos, relegated only to the den and the kitchen (which were packed with all the furniture from the rest of the house!) all in the name of glossy new mocha floors.
A few of our diehard readers guessed this right on the nose from the very first clue. Our orange 50-year-old hardwood floors have bothered us for a while, especially because the new mocha hardwood that we had installed in the kitchen, den, laundry nook and half bath looked so clashy against the original yellowy-gold flooring in the living room, hallway, guest bedrooms and main bedroom. Here’s a visual:
See… yucky. So although it meant moving more than half of our house into two rooms and losing access to our only full bathroom for a whole week, we jumped at the chance to refinish the yellowed flooring- especially when we got a killer estimate that was simply too good to pass up. In New York the average floor refinishing price is around $5 per square foot, and here in Richmond it runs about $2.50. But thanks to a few of our favorite negotiation techniques, we locked in a fabulous $1.50/square foot rate and got 600 square feet completely sanded, stained, and polyurethaned (four days of work!) for a mere 900 clams. Score.
We were actually originally quoted $1200 which included new shoe molding to match the deeper stained floors, but after mentioning that we’d love to come in under 1K our refinisher suggested that instead of putting $300 of that estimate towards the purchase of new shoe molding he could refinish our existing stuff (by scraping it and restaining it)- which ended up looking flawless and saved us a bundle to boot. Here’s a bit of scraped molding along with the mostly sanded floor mid-project:
Here are the floors all stripped. Blonder than a Swedish baby, eh? You may notice that we covered the vents with plastic during the sanding step to avoid serious dust spreadage (but we removed the plastic coverings before the stain and the poly went down since blasting the heat is an important step when it comes to speeding up the drying time).
As a reminder, here’s what the hallway looked like before Project Refinish Those Orange Floors. And check out that stain that we inherited from the previous owners in the bottom left hand corner of the pic:
Here’s the yummy after shot. The stain is gone and mocha deliciousness replaced those orange eyesores. Swoon:
And here’s the guest bedroom all gussied up with tasty chocolate flooring:
And the living room wearing a rich brown tone that perfectly complements the new hardwood that we laid in the adjoining kitchen and den:
We especially love how seamless the entire house feels thanks to cohesive dark wood flooring. In fact, every single room in our house now boasts mocha hardwood floors except for our bathroom, whose vintage tiles look super fab against the authentic deep brown wood in the hallway:
And speaking of thresholds, here’s what the prefinished oak hardwood floor (snagged on clearance from Lumber Liquidators last year) looks like next to our newly refinished 50 year old oak flooring (on the right). When it comes to matching prefinished oak with refinished oak it doesn’t get much closer than that, in fact our wonderful floor guy mixed three batches of stain to come up with the perfect color. The main difference between factory prefinished oak flooring and refinished-on-site oak flooring is that the knots and veins in the wood are a bit more distinct in the sanded and stained refinished floors. But we’re absolutely thrilled with the match-job, it really looks a million times more cohesive and consistent from the moment you step in the door.
And speaking of our fabulous floor guy, he came highly recommended by more than one person, so we knew he was trustworthy and positively meticulous (which is always a good thing when it comes to matching existing flooring). For all you locals we’ll pass along his info: his name is (fittingly) Mr. Charles Sanders and here’s his site. You can give him a ring at 804.921.6916. Tell him John and Sherry from Bon Air sent you.
For more floor refinishing tips and tricks (how to find a reputable floor guy, what to ask, what to expect, and even how to do it yourself) stay tuned for more details later in the week.
luuve says
niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice…this looks hellllaaah awesome!!!!
Laura says
Nice! Waaay better than the orange! Your house is even more beautiful than before.
I wish Charles lived in my area.
We’ve been working on our floors for a while now (a long while) and we should’ve just hired it out. Oh well, Live and learn!
heather says
Looks great! I’m not a fan of stained quarter round (I prefer for it to be the same color as the baseboards to make the baseboards look more grand than they are) but you did a great job negotiating the trim work!
DJ says
Lovely!
When we bought our house, we were lucky to find a great company to refinish the floors in one day, before we moved anything into the house.
I can’t imagine the nuisance involved in re-doing floors while living in the home. Hurrah for you
Casamacho says
Wow it must have been crazy to move everything into two rooms, but definitely worth it! The floors look awesome!!
michelle says
ok, that is so much better!
we are definitely putting in a call to mr. sanders when the time comes to refinish our century old floors!
my guess was an addition of sorts…had my fingers crossed for a nursery! :)
Meredith says
The floors look absolutely fantastic!
I feel you about the different colors of wood clashing. That’s an ongoing problem we have, and is definitely going to make picking out hardwood come February VERY difficult.
Jessica says
Yup, I thought so. They turned out gorgeous!
Meg says
I have been dreaming of pulling up the old cream carpet and refinishing the wood underneath to a beautiful mocha ever since we have moved in. We pulled out blue and red shag carpets and refinshed the bedrooms before we moved in but I didn’t stain them. I am amazed at home much the orange bugs me. Feeling jealous that I don’t live near this Charles fellow. There is a reason why this project hasn’t been done yet.
megan says
What a week you had, and well worth it! The floors look fabulous!
Cindy says
Congrats on getting such a great deal. The floors look amazing!! Such an improvement!
Blayne says
Looks amazing! I can’t imagine living in two rooms though!
Sara says
I knew it! I love the new floors. Now I really want to redo ours, but that would consist of us literally moving out for a week! Can’t wait to see updated pics with all the furniture back in place!
elizabeth says
It looks beautiful!
Joni says
Nice choice! We had our floors patched, sanded, and restained before we moved in and it made such a difference. Our floor guy kept second-guessing our decision to go with a darker stain (“Are you sure? Are you sure?” Yes, just do it!), but we are so happy with them!
http://joniluvschachi.blogspot.com/2008/11/april-16-inspection-day.html
http://joniluvschachi.blogspot.com/2008/11/july-24-floors-are-done.html
Ryan says
I think it looks great, guys!
Can you post one more shot, from the same vantage point as that first picture (from the kitchen looking into the living room)?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey guys,
So glad you’re loving our mocha-licious floors. Stay tuned for a rundown of floor-refinishing details and a slew of pictures with the furniture in place later in the week. And Ryan, we’ll be sure to include one from the same vantage point of the first picture for comparison. You really won’t believe the difference such rich new floors (that match!) really make. Everything looks a lot more open and cohesive- plus the furniture really pops off the chocolate wood. Stick around for all the juicy details…
xoxo,
Sherry
Sandy says
They look fab, fab, fab!!!!
Karen says
I’d love to see your stuff back in the rooms, but I’m sure you’ll share that soon. Just curious if you are still dusting though from the process? I imagine dust flying around forever after a project like that.
laurajane says
me likey!
Anneke says
wow! it’s amazing how much more the oak wood grain stands out with the darker tone. looks lovely!
Brandi H. says
Wonderful job Mr. Sanders!! You two made out on the price. I was one who guessed nursery, unfortunately I was wrong, but it’s nice to know that when you do set the nursery up… he/she will have a great floor to crawl on!!
LindaS says
Gorgeous!
Allison says
SO gorgeous!
Jessica says
wow! they look amazing! definitely worth the money and hassle I would say, nice job!
Michele L. says
Stunning! Someday when kids and dogs grow up I hope to do the same. We’ll be going from light to dark too. Love it!
Jane Lynch says
Beautiful! I love the black and white bathroom floor, too. I have Tarkett laminate in my condo, and it looks good, but makes a funny noise when we,or little puppy toenails, walk on it. My daughters loved the silhouettes of Nugget, Arnold and Roosevelt that Santa brought!
CAROL S. says
That was my initial guess…but I second guessed myself when I looked at your original floors which looked in decent condition. I think I forgot you had the different colors throughout. Looks fantastic and like it was totally worth the brief inconvenience. I imagine the guy who did them will be very busy with referrals from this site. Enjoy!
Valerie says
Seriously, the floor guy is named Sanders? That is so awesome. And your floors look absolutely fabulous.
Shannon says
Oh, you guys, amazing! I wish we’d known about this guy before we did our floors. Any prizes for the very first person who called it? :-D
G&D says
The new floors look absolutely gorgeous–I love them!
Amy says
Beautiful! I love the look of the wood grain with the new mocha color.
Y says
I know this is a super old post, but we are currently refinishing are hardwood (before we move in, thankfully) and I need help with the colors. I like medium dark. Can I go darkish with dark brown leather couches and dark coffee and side tables? I have a large light stained wall unit and light walls, throw pillows, artwork, etc. I don’t like any red tinge in the floor at all, just a medium espresso. Should I be going lighter with so many dark furnishings? The room is pretty big with four decent windows. How did you choose your stain color? Please help! Thanks so much!! Good luck with your move, BTW. I am following closely for tips! Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We chose our color to match the new wood flooring that we installed in the rest of the house (we loved the rich mocha tone) so we just had the floor guy match it). Maybe try going to a flooring store and picking a color you love there and trying to match that? And as for your furnishings, I would highly recommend bringing in a rug no matter what color floor you go with. We love the look of area rugs on wood floors, so all of your wood furnishings wont blend in with the floor or clash. With a rug you can’t go wrong on any floor color that you choose! But the medium dark not-red tone you describe sounds lovely!
xo,
s
Emily says
Hi, I know this is an old post, too; I hope you have time to answer my question. I am wondering why you decided to stain the shoe moldings instead of painting them to match the trim. I just moved into a house that already has (new) hardwood with matching molding, but I always thought that the molding should match the trim (mine is white). I’d just like to know what the school of thought (or your opinion) is on this. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve seen it done both ways, so it’s really your preference! Our floor guy offered to stain them as part of the deal so we went for it. We think it looks good either way.
xo,
s
Daniel says
We are just about to finish lots of oak floors in our house and your mocha color looks great. Could you please share what the color mix is and the brand of stain? From some pictures it looks pure chocolate and from others like it has a tint of red.
YoungHouseLove says
He actually custom mixed two Minwax stains together (walnut and something else, unfortunately we don’t remember). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lesley says
Well, just found your link and I am in RICHMOND!! I am planning on getting floors done in the entire house, Westover Hills. I found a Richmond firefighter who does this as his sideline, $1.50 sq ft.
After this and one friend if Fredericksburg, I am asking for that third coat of Poly But here is what I really wanted to know….what was the dust like after. I have heard that anything I keep in the house, even in a closed off room, will need to be cleaned of dust, even if it’s packed away in a box, it will be covered in dust…..what was your clean up experience like. I have 3 rooms to store things in and I have several folks suggesting a POD now…
Thanks
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, dust is crazy! You can seal things off with a plastic tarp taped outside the closed door though (tape it along the top, sides, and bottom and nothing should get through). But any room you actually refinish will be crazy dusty so it’s best to completely clear it out (including taking down stuff off walls, curtains, etc).
xo,
s
lil says
The finish looks great! Did the refinisher use moisture cured product or oil based polyurethane? Is is high or semi gloss?
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
It was an oil-based poly in semi-gloss. It was fumey for a while after, so we’d go with something eco/water-based if we ever did it again!
xo,
s
Lesley says
I was told the water based made the floor look more like it’s laminate, but after researching, I am going with the water anyway. The fumes are way less intense and the dry time and complete cure time is a LOT less time than they are for oil.
Thanks for your response!
Lesley says
Oh, and I also read water based is more scratch and wear resistant.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome! Good luck Lesley!
xo,
s
CHARLES says
hi mr. & mrs. petersik how r you’ll doing i went by the house but find out u hah move give me an email back charles the floor man
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Hi Charles! So nice to hear from you! I’ll email you asap!
xo
s
christy says
Thank you, John and Sherry, for your post about refinishing your wood floors and the recommendation for Charles Sanders. I’m a Bon Air neighbor and have been searching for a great (but reasonable) refinisher for several years. Seeing the results you got and how pleased you were with Mr. Sanders’ work, I gave him a call. Fast forward one week and I am the proud owner of gorgeous refinished, English Chestnut-stained floors. Happy! Just wanted to tell you thanks for sharing your experience and finding a great craftsman. I’m passing along his contact info to all my girlfriends who have similar projects in mind.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome! So glad!!
xo
s
Annette McKelvey says
Thanks for the review and recommendation. We have scheduled Charles to do our floors this summer. I can’t wait! Are you pleased with the semi-gloss finish and have you seen any floors done in satin? I’m trying to choose between the two. I have an old traditional brick colonial, three kids and a dog.
Your website is such a great information resource for home improvement. Thanks so much.
YoungHouseLove says
We were really happy with the semi gloss finish. It looked nice and rich and was easy to wipe down. Probably couldn’t go wrong either way.
xo,
s