Rustic Hickory Floor| Appleton, WI

Posted Feb 28, 2019 by Aaron Schaalma

We received a call from some clients in Appleton who were looking to have hardwood flooring installed in their home. They were hoping to have Brazilian Tigerwood installed as their flooring choice, so we set up a consultation to discuss exactly what they were looking for, as well as get an idea of the space that it would be installed in.

The Consult

During our consultation process with the clients, our first step was to listen to the client to find out what their dream is and what they are looking for in a finished product. Often times, because clients are unaware of all of the possibilities with hardwood, we display previous jobs we have done, in addition to the various species of hardwood that are available and color options. The other part of the consult is identifying any external factors that might affect how the final product performs. A few examples of external factors would be moisture content in the house, number of people in the household, and whether or not there are pets. All of these things can play a role in how the hardwood performs, and based on our findings, we may make suggestions to the client so that they get the best use out of their investment and are able to protect it for years to come.

The Decision

After we had spoken with the client during the consult, we found out that the reason they loved Brazilian Tigerwood was due to its unique grain patterns. However, there was one slight problem…the natural red pigmentation of Brazilian Tigerwood clashed with their current decor. Now, had this been a refinish job where they just didn’t like the red tone of the wood, a possible option would have been to bleach the floor like we did in a previous project in Green Bay,WI. However, since this was a new install, it was much more cost and labor effective to select a different species of hardwood. The client needed a wood that would hold up well to the couple of dogs that they had, while still having a unique grain pattern and the ability to stain the floor to match their decor. After taking all of these things into consideration, and showing the clients pictures of previous jobs, they decided to go with hickory as the wood species for their floors. Hickory wood flooring is a hard, dense wood that I have found to perform well with dogs. It also has more of the rustic feel and unique grain patterns which is what they were looking for. We then set a date for the project, and got ready to install another beautiful hickory floor.

The Process

The first part of the hardwood installation process is to bring the wood inside of the client’s home so that it can acclimate to the temperature and moisture content. After this, we prepped the subfloor, which you can read more about here.

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Applying a moisture barrier to the subfloor[/caption]

Subfloor prep is essential as it creates the foundation for the install. After the hickory flooring had been installed, it was time to start the sanding process to get the floor ready for staining.

Now hickory has a is a much denser wood than oak, and has a tight grain pattern and structure. Because of this, when we stain hickory it requires a lot of detailed sanding, especially when staining, to make sure that there are no scratches in the wood from the main sanding of the floor. After the detail sanding was completed, we then applied stain to the floor a color that the clients had selected that complimented the wall color, trim, and decor. One of the reasons to apply a wood stain to the floor is to cut down on the color variations of the hickory.

The Finishing Touch

After the staining process was complete, we applied the first coat of finish to the floor. Once the finish had dried, we re-installed the base board and added base shoe as well to cover the gap between the flooring and the wall which we needed to

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Freshly applied finish[/caption]

leave so that the floor could expand during the warmer more humid months. After the baseboard and base shoe had been installed, we buffed the floor down to smooth out any raised grain, and then applied the final coat of commercial finish.

With the curing process completed, the clients were able to move their furniture back in place and start enjoying their new hickory floor. Our clients agreed to let us come back and take some photos of the finished project, so we had Rachel from Elegant Exposures come in and take some awesome photos of this job.

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