My dad just sold his hardwood flooring business that he ran for 35-ish years. Makes me smile to see something I grew up doing get it's spotlight on your channel. I can taste and smell the whole process through the video.
One of the most satisfying projects I've done was installing hardwood flooring in our new house a year ago. It had carpet previously that was saturated with cigarette smoke so it had to go, and by happy coincidence I'd come across a home that was being demolished which had a 60 year old red-oak floor that had been covered in carpet and never been stained or sealed. There had been some spills over the years that soaked through to the wood which gave is some beautiful spalting in patches, which look fantastic on individual boards sprinkled around randomly in our home now. We spent 3 days tearing the floor out of the old house, pulling the nails out, and sifting through the boards to see what was no longer usable. We were able to salvage about 1200', which was just enough to cover our 900' when accounting for accidents, experimentation, and wastage from trimming the old boards to fit the new house. Having never done a project like this before there was a big learning curve, and it took about a month to get the floor finished enough for us to move in. Our house is on slab, so affixing a sub-floor OSB layer to the concrete first added a little twist to the project. There was so much sanding, this video really doesn't do that part of the project justice. Applying the finish was tricky at first, there are so many opinions out there on the best methods and tools to use, but I got the hang of it by the end of the 3rd coat. There are plenty of mistakes and things I would do better/differently in the future, but it turned out great in the end and is something I would 100% do again.
Good one. I love Capitalism, liberty, freedom, all that good stuff. But wastage of good material - and worse - good work drives me absolutely nuts. I will never understand how people can demolish nice old houses or throw away good...anything....anything that is good...especially furniture and equipment.....to then build shitty box homes with ikea furniture using home depot tools. When good is replaced by mediocre, capitalism has failed.
What's more impressive is actually finding installers that are this thorough, knowledgeable, and honest about imperfections, etc. Good luck finding one like these
this seriously looks like it costs more than the house. i dont get why the owner didnt opt for pre-finished floors. i seem them available at home depot. they are already stained and sealed.
@ OP, I have been doing this for half a decade. 99% of homeowners are not concerned with the micro-details. Having a few micro-holes is not going to matter. Most are more concerned with the stain color and having a good top coat applied. @BobRooney290 Have you ever tried to refinish prefinished floors? I think you are missing questions and answers on why people prefer on site finished floors. When it's time to refinish factory prefinished floors, it's 10X harder to do than on site finished. Expect to pay a lot more and and expect that not all places will offer it. The factory prefinished floors have Aluminum Oxide in it making require special tools and equipment to remove.
"Leave at least a 4" stagger between butt joints". This made me smile. I have a stickered stack of 4 year air-dried 5 1/4" x 3/4" hemlock t&g sitting in my house. I'll let it dry for a couple of years from it's current 13%, down to about 7% before I lay it. Room is 15' 8" wide. Boards are all 18' - 20'. Butt joints? Seriously though, I agree about the good wear resistance of white oak, but softer woods age to a beautiful patina over the years. Each has a place in our homes IMO. Love your channel!
I bought this nail gun as we were planning to renew all the fencing in our back garden. As this involved 19 double slatted fence panels, 10 of which needed to be cut down in size, we knew there would be a need for a great th-cam.com/users/postUgkxHQsUrwNr5GQrnx9V4xDdUr56qxwuiBHt deal of re-stapling the wooden slats to the wooden framework. Each alteration required the re-stapling of 62 wooden slats with double staples. Prior to starting the work we ordered sufficient additional staples as per the instructions with the gun.The gun performed fantastically throughout the entire project with no jams of misfires. The adjustable power was excellent allowing the staples to be fired into the 8mm slats to the correct depth. For the price paid this was a bargain and it proved itself to be so reliable and versatile making an arduous task much quicker and professional. I cannot recommend this product highly enough and it will be used on many other projects in the future.
Brings back memories. Summer of 1965 got a job with a neighbor sanding and finishing hardwood floors (we did some installation as well). First day on the job, working in Staten Island NY, he tells me, "Today and everyday this week, I'll teach you what I need you doing and we will finish one house everyday. Next week, we will finish two houses everyday.. If we can't do that, I don't need you!" That was some motivation to learn and do a good job in order to keep the job. That sommer and the next, I installed and finished hundreds of houses with hardwood floors. We also refinished many gym floors including Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.
I agree. Nate & Scott are generally very humble about their abilities in making videos however they keep getting better and this one is a prime example. You guys do a fantastic job making these videos. Keep up the good work!
I've seen plenty of master craftsmen and hard wood floors in my life but these guys take the cake. It was like watching Rembrandt paint. The attention to detail was incredible. In a word - WOW!!!
Thank you Scott for anotherintroduction to some real tradesmen and true craftsmen who want to do the job correctly and leave a heritage product that will long outlive them. I hope this inspires all the flooring installers watching to do their best work.
I can watch your videos all day every day. You do things right and never take shortcuts. You are so articulate in how and why you do things. Just an awesome channel. Your voice and narration could give Michael Rowe a run for his money. Keep up the good work.
I was initially going to skip through this video to the interesting bits... but it's all fascinating. First class job, well done. Scott your the David Attenborough of wood working craftsmanship... Keep the videos coming please. Watching from N.Ireland...
Wow. Whole lot different than when I sanded floors in NYC early 70's, hauling my Clarke drum sander up 5th floor walkups for 35 cents a square foot. Ha. Cutting new floors was always a much more serious business than refinishing old ones. Sand, lacquer sealer, buff and poly-- and don't forget to close pilot lights and don't switch light switches (boom), and have them take the pets outside so they don't get gassed. Great to see the trade has progressed to non-toxic finishes and the new generation European dust collection & RO sanders. Cool deal. Whatever they charged you, give them double.
I still love the look of hardwood, used to have old pine floors in my house, when we bought the house, we sanded them down, and went with a old school finish, good old Johnson & Johnson Paste wax and a good buffing. Wife did not like the odor of the wax, I do, but loved how the floors looked
I think one thing you forgot to mention that's important is deciding on the direction that the flooring is installed in. It makes a huge difference aesthetically if the flooring is installed vertically, horizontally, or herringbone, etc.
@@terrillmelwhen I did my condo I did it based on the size of the room. Typically your eyes will think the room is "longer" in the direction of the flooring. So if have a bedroom and you want it to feel wider you'd have it run say left to right where if you want it to feel deeper you run in up and down. I'm not sure how herringbone affects the "feel" of the room, I didn't even think about doing it since it's way too much work for the DIY job we were doing.
It’s based on which direction the floor joist are going. You have to install perpendicular to the joist other wise the floor will flex. that’s the theory and that’s how I was taught to install
I’ve never installed a floor but have heard that you want it to be perpendicular to the joists to reduce buckling overtime and it’s less of an aesthetic thing. Herringbone might not matter 🤷♂️
As I've watched this entire series not only is it a wealth of information on how to build a house, materials and techniques used, explanations of probably a combined few centuries of experiences as to the whys and whens; but it's also a love story of the years of friendships and relationships that you've built over the years. The adoration and appreciation of each of the subs or companies you use shows through in each highlight of their individual trade. I'm an extremely loyal person myself and can fully appreciate what it must take to earn your trust and reliance on them on each subsequent project.
Beautiful floor and amazing work! Refinishing our floor now and soaking up all the info we can - this video was very helpful. They might be 70 years old, but solid wood floors really can be brought totally back to life with some hard work.
I understand the short-term economy and appeal of a pre-finished floor, but I have yet to see one that compared in over-all look and performance to a floor finished in place this way. It takes time and finesse, but boy is it worth it! Thanks as always for walking us through.
If water pop is not the cliché “small detail” I don’t know what is, I would never think fluffing up the fuzz to force even coverage. Mind blowing team work
Also “popping” or “raising the grain” is used before the last sanding because when you use a water based stain or finish the wood will become very rough from all those little grain fibers lifting up
It also saturates the patina to a point that keeps the finish on the top of the plank, where it is supposed to be, as opposed to being sponged too far into the wood and wasted.
I've seen a lot of floors put down on TH-cam and TV, and done a few myself. I've never seen one done with this level of finish. (trowel on wood filler is a thing?!??). Great work as usual!
Yeah, when I did this 60 years ago, it was me on my hands and knees with a wad of putty and a ball of steel wool filling all the cracks and holes. Probably why my knees are so bad now!
No kidding here but I literally just finished putting in real hardwood floor in my dining room. 8x12" area an hour ago. It came out OK but not near as good as I wanted it to. Plus it wore me OUT. I will never ever try that crap again lol. In hindsight I would have gladly paid a pro to do it for me. I have never had nothing BUT RESPECT for all Tradesmen. Sincerely love you guys for all the hard work and dedication. The floor in this video is beautiful.
I'm a carpenter/framer and do general contracting with my cousin. I've never seen this whole wood floor process (we're usually off to another job when flooring guys come) that's pretty sweet.I actually enjoy putting in wood floors planks and even vinyl plank flooring it's just enjoyable to me other than being on my knees lol I enjoy watching videos of people who are masters of their craft it's awesome to see
Can i just take a few seconds to say how much i really appreciate the time and effort you took to assemble the group of tradesmen that did all these fantastic jobs...It is amazing how every single video that you show of the different crews is an example of the finest in their field of work it seems, outstanding , simply outstanding!!!
The material and workmanship cinematography combines to make this an instructive video that's beautiful to watch. I've never seen such care and dedication by a flooring crew.
I do renovation for a living and man what I would pay to have a crew like this. They seem to have pride in their work still. Beautiful video and thank you!
Love your channel. I am an electrician by trade, but love to try my hand at different building trades. You have an extremely satisfying way of walking through projects for beginners and professionals alike. Thank you for taking the time to do what you do, it is appreciated and makes a difference in the lives of craftsman young and old.
Watching these guys hammer down on that stapler reminds me of a job I once worked on several years ago. The hardwood floor contractor used an old nomadic stapler that was probably older than me. He was having to hammer on that thing quite hard to drive a staple in through the tongue. I can remover thinking that he’s was probably working harder than if he would have with an air stapler but, I guess that’s an example and a testament to the older timers who taught us out craftsmanship 👍
Started my carpentry Career back in 1980. I'm a fan of engineered flooring. Super fast, nicer to walk on, no dust, no smell, no gaps/shrinkage. If it wears out , just throw it out and install a a new one in 2 days. Thanks for the Vid.
You mentioned two choices. Real hardwood, vs. Pre-finished laminates. There is a third option. Prefinished solid-oak hardwood is available as well. I installed this in my house. It gives you the durability and longevity of a solid hardwood floor at the expense of a little more texture. The edges of the planks are beveled a little, and the top face of the boards have intentionally-uneven planer marks, both of which I preferred. The real reason for going this route though, was because the house was occupied the whole time during installation. With an open floor plan, it wasn't going to be possible to keep the dust and fumes out of the other living spaces of the house. It also meant that furniture could be shuffled from one side of the room to the other the moment the planks were laid down. There was no need to have the whole room empty for the finishing process. It's possible too, that prefinished hardwood is not as tolerant of liquid spills as post-finished hardwood. Water can still seep down between the planks, whereas post-finished hardwood is encapsulated across the top with the sealer coats.
prefinished hardwood flooring is also the most common choice when it comes to hardwood flooring where I live here in Germany. You may find hardwood flooring that gets laid down like this, but instead of nailing it, you may more likely to find it glued. but for the ease of use and as in rented apartments/condos/flats/houses whatever it is or you call it it has to be easily reversible, the prefinished ones that you can lay down like laminate flooring are quite common. Reason for the flooring not being nailed but being glued, if at all (usually it is just laid down on a moisture/vapor barrier and some sound dampening) is that we very rarely have wooden subfloors. Most times you will find screed, in newer homes usually with underfloor heating, which adds another complication to hardwood flooring. with underfloor heating you cannot just put a 3/4 inch layer of wood on top. so those products you find hear usually are built in layers, with a certain strength top layer that still allows sanding down and refinishing several times. Besides that, solid 3/4 inch oak would be quite cost prohibitive around here. just shy of genuine Carrara marble. (Depending on the wood species marble actually may be a cheaper option)
Here in Australia most pre-finished boards are click-lock rather than tongue and groove, so the entire floor 'floats' on a 3mm foam underlay rather then being nailed or glued into the subfloor. This also means that the install process is independent on the type or condition of subfloor so the labour needed is less skilled and therefore cheaper. Unfortunately engineered boards far outnumber solid floors as solid wood is very expensive here.
@@tmmtmm as you mention it i just realize that whatever is prefinished here (hardwood, laminate, vinyl panels) is click lock as well. Same as it got common with laminate flooring first. If it's massive hardwood flooring that gets glued down, i am not even sure if that is tong and groove or just straight edge boards. But i also remember that the first laminate Flor Boards had not been click lock,but tong and groove as well and it was quite common to glue them together, so the glue also could protect the raw edges against moisture. Modern Boards seem to have a coating going around the edges already. In Germany we call the hardwood flooring "Parkett" by the way, just if someone stumbles upon that word.
Are laminates the one that go CLAKCLAKCLAK when you walk on them? I HATE those, they did base housing with those, the new houses. They feel so cheap and almost trashy to walk on.
@@dethmaul I have laminate in my rental and it feel cheap and goes clakclakclak, but renters don't care. We'll be doing our primary residence soon. I'll go for the 3/4" stuff.
Looks great. We have the original solid oak flooring throughout our house. Our house was built in the 1940's and pleased to say is holding up well apart from a few stains. Probably time for it to be sanded and re stained so this video has really helped.
I did a lot of research into floor finishes and Bona really impressed me. They aren’t cheap but they do a great job of putting out information of floor finishing and they get used a lot in commercial applications.
Nothing like tearing up and then pinching the vapor barrier between 2 pieces. Top notch install there. Wtf, a flooring dude without kneepads? That dude is a beast! 10:15
Hi Scott it's amazing watching part 1 to Part 129, how the whole house takes shape from the ground up including the flooring work. I admire your presentation and so educational. hats off. God bless, Greetings from the Pacific Island of Papua New Guinea.
Thank you for all the details. I've been looking for inexpensive (cheap!) oak flooring, as we can't afford much. Someone on Facebook marketplace had a pile of unused, very old #1 red oak flooring (2.25" x 3/4" thick)for $50, without knowing how much was in the pile. 150 sq. ft. for $50! It was even pre-drilled at the factory, so many decades ago.
great video showing how much WORK and TIME is involved with a sanded in place floor .. reminder to me why I install solid 3/4" pre-finished oak floors now. customers love the look and the factory finish is so much harder than anything you can do on site. but have to appreciate the traditional approach.
That was a great video. I had no idea laying a true hardwood floor was that labor intense and the craftsmanship needed to have floor turn out like this one was remarkable. I am exhausted from just watching the crew work. Thanks for sharing this with us!!!!
Boy oh boy, a stair jig would have made my job so much easier on my last remodel project! But it sure is satisfying to see the things I've figured out the hard way on my own being done by professionals! What beautiful piece of work
What a great detailed video. I am planing to install my first TG oak floor in a 260 sq ft room. I want to do it right and appreciate your precise directions.
Very nice. All done very well in this project. Most Solid Hardwood Floors come with a 6mm Wear Layer which is readily available in engineered flooring. This means you can get the same amount of life/resands in some engineered floors. In our experience the best products available are wide engineered boards with a 6mm wear layer. They’re much more stable, especially in an unstable climate like Australia. Engineered Flooring is normally European oak which people find has a much nicer grain than American White Oak. Also to mention that water popping can minimise scratching from the buffing and edging process.
Wow so great to see European standards of sanding and sealing are combined with American hardwood flooring at long last. Tried it some 15 years ago in la and nobody knew what I was talking about. Your flooring master from Vienna Austria. P.s. I know Bona is suggesting to sand up to 100, go up to 120 , you will get a bit less staining marks and the last 2% of perfect surface. For sure if you waterpop the grain. Cheers
Once again your subcontractor did a beautiful job. I've enjoyed watching this project come together so much. I know I'll be revisiting some episodes when I need a refresher on some technique(s).
We'll be putting a softwood floor in the house we're building. All the 200+ year old houses here in the north east have wide pine floorboards, it stands up to wear over time in its own way. It will have scratches and other marks the day we move in, but over 20 years it will develop a patina of wear that will tell the story of our time in the home. In 100 years it won't look polished and clean, but it will be beautiful.
God forbid you should ever have to take that floor out for whatever reason. It will take a burke bar to prise up the nails. A friend of mine is in the process of replacing a floor done the same way (loads of sub floor and joist damage due to moisture) and he had a hell of a time just pulling all the nails. Once they go in, they don't want to come out.
Hi Scott, love your show you are showing everything people need to understand about both building and rebuilding houses. Your Crews doing a wonderful job you and your son are doing a magnificent job in presenting the material I doubt. I doubt in your youth you would ever think that you would be a presenter of material and such a cohesive and professional manner you are and you do. Merry Christmas from my family to yours, will think of you as we light the candles meanwhile go enjoy your grandbabies there look like they need spoiling. Is there grandfather this is your job I know you'll hate every second of it
My lower back aches from just watching these guys work.
My dad just sold his hardwood flooring business that he ran for 35-ish years. Makes me smile to see something I grew up doing get it's spotlight on your channel. I can taste and smell the whole process through the video.
One of the most satisfying projects I've done was installing hardwood flooring in our new house a year ago. It had carpet previously that was saturated with cigarette smoke so it had to go, and by happy coincidence I'd come across a home that was being demolished which had a 60 year old red-oak floor that had been covered in carpet and never been stained or sealed. There had been some spills over the years that soaked through to the wood which gave is some beautiful spalting in patches, which look fantastic on individual boards sprinkled around randomly in our home now. We spent 3 days tearing the floor out of the old house, pulling the nails out, and sifting through the boards to see what was no longer usable. We were able to salvage about 1200', which was just enough to cover our 900' when accounting for accidents, experimentation, and wastage from trimming the old boards to fit the new house. Having never done a project like this before there was a big learning curve, and it took about a month to get the floor finished enough for us to move in. Our house is on slab, so affixing a sub-floor OSB layer to the concrete first added a little twist to the project. There was so much sanding, this video really doesn't do that part of the project justice. Applying the finish was tricky at first, there are so many opinions out there on the best methods and tools to use, but I got the hang of it by the end of the 3rd coat. There are plenty of mistakes and things I would do better/differently in the future, but it turned out great in the end and is something I would 100% do again.
Nice!! Thanks for the awesome story!!
Another wood rescue.nice.
It would be interesting to see the pictures of the finished product.
Good one. I love Capitalism, liberty, freedom, all that good stuff. But wastage of good material - and worse - good work drives me absolutely nuts. I will never understand how people can demolish nice old houses or throw away good...anything....anything that is good...especially furniture and equipment.....to then build shitty box homes with ikea furniture using home depot tools. When good is replaced by mediocre, capitalism has failed.
And … every time you look at it, I’m sure you enjoy it all the more because you did all that work. Bravo!
What's more impressive is actually finding installers that are this thorough, knowledgeable, and honest about imperfections, etc. Good luck finding one like these
this seriously looks like it costs more than the house. i dont get why the owner didnt opt for pre-finished floors. i seem them available at home depot. they are already stained and sealed.
@@BobRooney290for the same reason some people buy a Porsche, Mercedes, Ferraris ect ect over a civic. Some people can afford it
They are all over the place , yet most go with the lowest quote and expect perfection 😂
@@BobRooney290that last 2 years ….
@ OP, I have been doing this for half a decade. 99% of homeowners are not concerned with the micro-details. Having a few micro-holes is not going to matter. Most are more concerned with the stain color and having a good top coat applied.
@BobRooney290 Have you ever tried to refinish prefinished floors? I think you are missing questions and answers on why people prefer on site finished floors. When it's time to refinish factory prefinished floors, it's 10X harder to do than on site finished. Expect to pay a lot more and and expect that not all places will offer it. The factory prefinished floors have Aluminum Oxide in it making require special tools and equipment to remove.
Those floor installers are unbelievable, Always a pleasure to watch someone working who knows what they are doing.
"Leave at least a 4" stagger between butt joints". This made me smile. I have a stickered stack of 4 year air-dried 5 1/4" x 3/4" hemlock t&g sitting in my house. I'll let it dry for a couple of years from it's current 13%, down to about 7% before I lay it. Room is 15' 8" wide. Boards are all 18' - 20'. Butt joints? Seriously though, I agree about the good wear resistance of white oak, but softer woods age to a beautiful patina over the years. Each has a place in our homes IMO. Love your channel!
I bought this nail gun as we were planning to renew all the fencing in our back garden. As this involved 19 double slatted fence panels, 10 of which needed to be cut down in size, we knew there would be a need for a great th-cam.com/users/postUgkxHQsUrwNr5GQrnx9V4xDdUr56qxwuiBHt deal of re-stapling the wooden slats to the wooden framework. Each alteration required the re-stapling of 62 wooden slats with double staples. Prior to starting the work we ordered sufficient additional staples as per the instructions with the gun.The gun performed fantastically throughout the entire project with no jams of misfires. The adjustable power was excellent allowing the staples to be fired into the 8mm slats to the correct depth. For the price paid this was a bargain and it proved itself to be so reliable and versatile making an arduous task much quicker and professional. I cannot recommend this product highly enough and it will be used on many other projects in the future.
Brings back memories. Summer of 1965 got a job with a neighbor sanding and finishing hardwood floors (we did some installation as well). First day on the job, working in Staten Island NY, he tells me, "Today and everyday this week, I'll teach you what I need you doing and we will finish one house everyday. Next week, we will finish two houses everyday.. If we can't do that, I don't need you!" That was some motivation to learn and do a good job in order to keep the job. That sommer and the next, I installed and finished hundreds of houses with hardwood floors. We also refinished many gym floors including Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.
The flooring crew are true craftsman doing top notch work
I loved the wood, the process of installation, the finishing, it's final color. This video is pure art!!
This video is a masterpiece: fantastic install and so well filmed/edited.
I agree. Nate & Scott are generally very humble about their abilities in making videos however they keep getting better and this one is a prime example. You guys do a fantastic job making these videos. Keep up the good work!
This work is brutal on the back. But God, is there anything more beautiful than a well laid, fresh, hardwood floor? So special.
First class finish! I install floors for a living and that sir was how it should be completed!
It's not often I hear someone speak so fondly of another tradesman. Really nice to hear!
I've seen plenty of master craftsmen and hard wood floors in my life but these guys take the cake. It was like watching Rembrandt paint. The attention to detail was incredible. In a word - WOW!!!
Thank you Scott for anotherintroduction to some real tradesmen and true craftsmen who want to do the job correctly and leave a heritage product that will long outlive them. I hope this inspires all the flooring installers watching to do their best work.
Thanks!
I can watch your videos all day every day. You do things right and never take shortcuts. You are so articulate in how and why you do things. Just an awesome channel. Your voice and narration could give Michael Rowe a run for his money. Keep up the good work.
I was initially going to skip through this video to the interesting bits... but it's all fascinating. First class job, well done. Scott your the David Attenborough of wood working craftsmanship...
Keep the videos coming please.
Watching from N.Ireland...
Wow that is a beautiful floor. Looks like you choose the right guy for the job!!!
Wow. Whole lot different than when I sanded floors in NYC early 70's, hauling my Clarke drum sander up 5th floor walkups for 35 cents a square foot. Ha. Cutting new floors was always a much more serious business than refinishing old ones. Sand, lacquer sealer, buff and poly-- and don't forget to close pilot lights and don't switch light switches (boom), and have them take the pets outside so they don't get gassed. Great to see the trade has progressed to non-toxic finishes and the new generation European dust collection & RO sanders. Cool deal. Whatever they charged you, give them double.
I still love the look of hardwood, used to have old pine floors in my house, when we bought the house, we sanded them down, and went with a old school finish, good old Johnson & Johnson Paste wax and a good buffing.
Wife did not like the odor of the wax, I do, but loved how the floors looked
I think one thing you forgot to mention that's important is deciding on the direction that the flooring is installed in. It makes a huge difference aesthetically if the flooring is installed vertically, horizontally, or herringbone, etc.
What's your preference?
@@terrillmelwhen I did my condo I did it based on the size of the room. Typically your eyes will think the room is "longer" in the direction of the flooring. So if have a bedroom and you want it to feel wider you'd have it run say left to right where if you want it to feel deeper you run in up and down. I'm not sure how herringbone affects the "feel" of the room, I didn't even think about doing it since it's way too much work for the DIY job we were doing.
It’s based on which direction the floor joist are going. You have to install perpendicular to the joist other wise the floor will flex. that’s the theory and that’s how I was taught to install
I’ve never installed a floor but have heard that you want it to be perpendicular to the joists to reduce buckling overtime and it’s less of an aesthetic thing. Herringbone might not matter 🤷♂️
@@nickolasfunk1019 joist direction shouldn't matter since you should have a plywood backer between the joists and flooring.
Boy, that is a lot more work than I ever knew it was. Great video!
such a gorgeous result and wonderfully captured on video for the channel
Love the longer episodes, Scott. There is going to be a big empty hole in my youtube watching to try to fill when this series is over.
As I've watched this entire series not only is it a wealth of information on how to build a house, materials and techniques used, explanations of probably a combined few centuries of experiences as to the whys and whens; but it's also a love story of the years of friendships and relationships that you've built over the years. The adoration and appreciation of each of the subs or companies you use shows through in each highlight of their individual trade. I'm an extremely loyal person myself and can fully appreciate what it must take to earn your trust and reliance on them on each subsequent project.
That was interesting, a lot more goes into it than I thought. I understand the cost and the value.
Beautiful floor and amazing work! Refinishing our floor now and soaking up all the info we can - this video was very helpful. They might be 70 years old, but solid wood floors really can be brought totally back to life with some hard work.
So glad you went with a real floor on this, turned out beautiful!
Anything else in the house would have been wrong and substandard. :-)
I understand the short-term economy and appeal of a pre-finished floor, but I have yet to see one that compared in over-all look and performance to a floor finished in place this way. It takes time and finesse, but boy is it worth it! Thanks as always for walking us through.
People underestimate the distraction of a groove or eased-edge between every prefinished board.
If water pop is not the cliché “small detail” I don’t know what is, I would never think fluffing up the fuzz to force even coverage. Mind blowing team work
If you want to see a general contractor on a commercial gym twitch after beating him up about roof leaks water pop a whole room
Also “popping” or “raising the grain” is used before the last sanding because when you use a water based stain or finish the wood will become very rough from all those little grain fibers lifting up
It also saturates the patina to a point that keeps the finish on the top of the plank, where it is supposed to be, as opposed to being sponged too far into the wood and wasted.
@@bobt9948water popping makes the stain penetrate deeper into the wood fibers.
This was super satisfying to watch! Keep up the good work.
I've seen a lot of floors put down on TH-cam and TV, and done a few myself. I've never seen one done with this level of finish. (trowel on wood filler is a thing?!??). Great work as usual!
Yeah, when I did this 60 years ago, it was me on my hands and knees with a wad of putty and a ball of steel wool filling all the cracks and holes. Probably why my knees are so bad now!
No kidding here but I literally just finished putting in real hardwood floor in my dining room. 8x12" area an hour ago. It came out OK but not near as good as I wanted it to. Plus it wore me OUT. I will never ever try that crap again lol. In hindsight I would have gladly paid a pro to do it for me. I have never had nothing BUT RESPECT for all Tradesmen. Sincerely love you guys for all the hard work and dedication. The floor in this video is beautiful.
I'm a carpenter/framer and do general contracting with my cousin. I've never seen this whole wood floor process (we're usually off to another job when flooring guys come) that's pretty sweet.I actually enjoy putting in wood floors planks and even vinyl plank flooring it's just enjoyable to me other than being on my knees lol I enjoy watching videos of people who are masters of their craft it's awesome to see
Can i just take a few seconds to say how much i really appreciate the time and effort you took to assemble the group of tradesmen that did all these fantastic jobs...It is amazing how every single video that you show of the different crews is an example of the finest in their field of work it seems, outstanding , simply outstanding!!!
What a nostalgia trip! I did all that for 13 years in Calgary.
School gyms across three provinces. Even sanded and finished an elevator once.
The material and workmanship cinematography combines to make this an instructive video that's beautiful to watch. I've never seen such care and dedication by a flooring crew.
I do renovation for a living and man what I would pay to have a crew like this. They seem to have pride in their work still. Beautiful video and thank you!
Wow. Never thought I'd find a wood floor video so interesting. More fantastic craftsmanship on display.
Applies to the whole series--
"What're you watching?"
"Oh I'm watching paint dry. It's so interesting!"
This guy makes everything he touches look top notch!
Love your channel. I am an electrician by trade, but love to try my hand at different building trades. You have an extremely satisfying way of walking through projects for beginners and professionals alike. Thank you for taking the time to do what you do, it is appreciated and makes a difference in the lives of craftsman young and old.
Drop dead gorgeous!
Looks like there’s more nails than wood.
That floor ain’t going nowhere!
Masters at work! Looks real pricey, but man it's fantastic. Great video, I learned a lot thanks!
What a ripper of an episode - answered so many of my questions about floor finishing. My god they are thorough!
Watching these guys hammer down on that stapler reminds me of a job I once worked on several years ago. The hardwood floor contractor used an old nomadic stapler that was probably older than me. He was having to hammer on that thing quite hard to drive a staple in through the tongue. I can remover thinking that he’s was probably working harder than if he would have with an air stapler but, I guess that’s an example and a testament to the older timers who taught us out craftsmanship 👍
Nice camera work showing the finish dry at the end like that it really adds to the story.
Started my carpentry Career back in 1980. I'm a fan of engineered flooring. Super fast, nicer to walk on, no dust, no smell, no gaps/shrinkage. If it wears out , just throw it out and install a a new one in 2 days. Thanks for the Vid.
FANTASTIC video.
GORGEOUS job looks AMAZING.
This wood flooring installation and the video documenting it has a spiritual like quality to it, completely entranced by it. Well done!!
What a beautiful result!!!
You mentioned two choices. Real hardwood, vs. Pre-finished laminates. There is a third option.
Prefinished solid-oak hardwood is available as well. I installed this in my house. It gives you the durability and longevity of a solid hardwood floor at the expense of a little more texture. The edges of the planks are beveled a little, and the top face of the boards have intentionally-uneven planer marks, both of which I preferred.
The real reason for going this route though, was because the house was occupied the whole time during installation. With an open floor plan, it wasn't going to be possible to keep the dust and fumes out of the other living spaces of the house. It also meant that furniture could be shuffled from one side of the room to the other the moment the planks were laid down. There was no need to have the whole room empty for the finishing process.
It's possible too, that prefinished hardwood is not as tolerant of liquid spills as post-finished hardwood. Water can still seep down between the planks, whereas post-finished hardwood is encapsulated across the top with the sealer coats.
prefinished hardwood flooring is also the most common choice when it comes to hardwood flooring where I live here in Germany. You may find hardwood flooring that gets laid down like this, but instead of nailing it, you may more likely to find it glued. but for the ease of use and as in rented apartments/condos/flats/houses whatever it is or you call it it has to be easily reversible, the prefinished ones that you can lay down like laminate flooring are quite common.
Reason for the flooring not being nailed but being glued, if at all (usually it is just laid down on a moisture/vapor barrier and some sound dampening) is that we very rarely have wooden subfloors. Most times you will find screed, in newer homes usually with underfloor heating, which adds another complication to hardwood flooring. with underfloor heating you cannot just put a 3/4 inch layer of wood on top. so those products you find hear usually are built in layers, with a certain strength top layer that still allows sanding down and refinishing several times.
Besides that, solid 3/4 inch oak would be quite cost prohibitive around here. just shy of genuine Carrara marble. (Depending on the wood species marble actually may be a cheaper option)
Here in Australia most pre-finished boards are click-lock rather than tongue and groove, so the entire floor 'floats' on a 3mm foam underlay rather then being nailed or glued into the subfloor. This also means that the install process is independent on the type or condition of subfloor so the labour needed is less skilled and therefore cheaper. Unfortunately engineered boards far outnumber solid floors as solid wood is very expensive here.
@@tmmtmm as you mention it i just realize that whatever is prefinished here (hardwood, laminate, vinyl panels) is click lock as well. Same as it got common with laminate flooring first. If it's massive hardwood flooring that gets glued down, i am not even sure if that is tong and groove or just straight edge boards. But i also remember that the first laminate Flor Boards had not been click lock,but tong and groove as well and it was quite common to glue them together, so the glue also could protect the raw edges against moisture. Modern Boards seem to have a coating going around the edges already.
In Germany we call the hardwood flooring "Parkett" by the way, just if someone stumbles upon that word.
Are laminates the one that go CLAKCLAKCLAK when you walk on them? I HATE those, they did base housing with those, the new houses. They feel so cheap and almost trashy to walk on.
@@dethmaul I have laminate in my rental and it feel cheap and goes clakclakclak, but renters don't care. We'll be doing our primary residence soon. I'll go for the 3/4" stuff.
Looks great. We have the original solid oak flooring throughout our house. Our house was built in the 1940's and pleased to say is holding up well apart from a few stains. Probably time for it to be sanded and re stained so this video has really helped.
ahhhhh.... this was a good one. Greatly satisfying episode. Thanks for sharing!
I just installed hardwood oak flooring in my home, it was one heck of a job but I’m so happy we did it, turned out unbelievable.
This is by far the best and nicest part of this house!
My heart is singing - there’s more videos of the house! Beautiful wood, too!
I did a lot of research into floor finishes and Bona really impressed me. They aren’t cheap but they do a great job of putting out information of floor finishing and they get used a lot in commercial applications.
A fantastic video and a tremendous final result.
IT CAN’T GET MORE PROFESSIONAL THAN THAT 👏👏👏
Nothing like tearing up and then pinching the vapor barrier between 2 pieces. Top notch install there.
Wtf, a flooring dude without kneepads? That dude is a beast! 10:15
Hi Scott it's amazing watching part 1 to Part 129, how the whole house takes shape from the ground up including the flooring work. I admire your presentation and so educational. hats off. God bless, Greetings from the Pacific Island of Papua New Guinea.
Me and my old man redid the floors of my first house with Brazilian Cherry. It was hard work but it came out beautiful. Mad respect for these guys.
That is a gorgeous, camera-perfect finish. wowzers
Thank you for all the details. I've been looking for inexpensive (cheap!) oak flooring, as we can't afford much. Someone on Facebook marketplace had a pile of unused, very old #1 red oak flooring (2.25" x 3/4" thick)for $50, without knowing how much was in the pile.
150 sq. ft. for $50! It was even pre-drilled at the factory, so many decades ago.
Fantastic job those floors.
Awesome video!! Back-breaking work, that is for sure.
Wow great video. Amazing how much work goes into it when done right
Amazing job!! Long process....it turned out Beautiful ❤️
great video showing how much WORK and TIME is involved with a sanded in place floor .. reminder to me why I install solid 3/4" pre-finished oak floors now. customers love the look and the factory finish is so much harder than anything you can do on site. but have to appreciate the traditional approach.
Amazing job!! He even sprayed the water with the grain.
Had no idea wood floors were so involved! Thanks for enlightening!
some gen Z will come in wanting salt and pepper laminate and rip it all out.
That was a great video. I had no idea laying a true hardwood floor was that labor intense and the craftsmanship needed to have floor turn out like this one was remarkable. I am exhausted from just watching the crew work. Thanks for sharing this with us!!!!
Giving us Best Construction Practices 💯💯
amazing how the flooring being in makes it seem way more like a house
Boy oh boy, a stair jig would have made my job so much easier on my last remodel project! But it sure is satisfying to see the things I've figured out the hard way on my own being done by professionals! What beautiful piece of work
Thank you for sharing Scott.
May you live long and prosper, Scott!
Awesome hardwood flooring video! It's the meticulous care/attention during the install that makes the difference. Nicely done by these installers!
What a great detailed video. I am planing to install my first TG oak floor in a 260 sq ft room. I want to do it right and appreciate your precise directions.
Amazing work
Very nice. All done very well in this project. Most Solid Hardwood Floors come with a 6mm Wear Layer which is readily available in engineered flooring. This means you can get the same amount of life/resands in some engineered floors. In our experience the best products available are wide engineered boards with a 6mm wear layer. They’re much more stable, especially in an unstable climate like Australia. Engineered Flooring is normally European oak which people find has a much nicer grain than American White Oak. Also to mention that water popping can minimise scratching from the buffing and edging process.
Watching you is therapy
The last shot of the floor drying
was a 10 👍🏻👍🏻
Seems like u get all professional guys on ur video, awesome job sir. Thank u for great videos
My back is hurting just watching!
What a beautiful, beautiful job they made! A real credit to them, and your choice. 👍🏻👍🏻😀
Hard to beat 3/4 Oak. Beautiful job guys!
I thought staining my little shelf was a big job. They really have a passion for what they do and the work reflects that. It looks amazing.
Wow so great to see European standards of sanding and sealing are combined with American hardwood flooring at long last. Tried it some 15 years ago in la and nobody knew what I was talking about.
Your flooring master from Vienna Austria.
P.s. I know Bona is suggesting to sand up to 100, go up to 120 , you will get a bit less staining marks and the last 2% of perfect surface. For sure if you waterpop the grain.
Cheers
Once again your subcontractor did a beautiful job. I've enjoyed watching this project come together so much. I know I'll be revisiting some episodes when I need a refresher on some technique(s).
Absolutely AMAZING 🤩
That final time lapse watching it call come together was super cool
I wish I could hire these guys. Incredible work and attention to detail
We'll be putting a softwood floor in the house we're building. All the 200+ year old houses here in the north east have wide pine floorboards, it stands up to wear over time in its own way. It will have scratches and other marks the day we move in, but over 20 years it will develop a patina of wear that will tell the story of our time in the home. In 100 years it won't look polished and clean, but it will be beautiful.
You’re not gonna have a floor left after 100 years, even oak would look rough after that much time.
Damn Stephen, leave some woman for the rest of us lol.
@@allysonand I mean... there are plenty of houses in New England with older floors than that
@@allysonand I have 112 year old CVG Fir in my home.
Working as a builder/remodeler ive installed and patched in a good few hardwood floors. And its a fun process for sure.
I did my floors with 8'' and 10'' wide red pine and face nailed it with old school square nails. Looks like a 150yr old floor.
God forbid you should ever have to take that floor out for whatever reason. It will take a burke bar to prise up the nails. A friend of mine is in the process of replacing a floor done the same way (loads of sub floor and joist damage due to moisture) and he had a hell of a time just pulling all the nails. Once they go in, they don't want to come out.
@@thenotsoguitarguy9429, I was thinking the same when I installed it !
Hi Scott, love your show you are showing everything people need to understand about both building and rebuilding houses. Your Crews doing a wonderful job you and your son are doing a magnificent job in presenting the material I doubt. I doubt in your youth you would ever think that you would be a presenter of material and such a cohesive and professional manner you are and you do. Merry Christmas from my family to yours, will think of you as we light the candles meanwhile go enjoy your grandbabies there look like they need spoiling. Is there grandfather this is your job I know you'll hate every second of it