The Installation Experience

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If we are chosen to work on your floors...  

Prepping


Prepping consists of removing baseboards, carpeting, linoleum, underlayments, and other objects that would prevent installation.  The time frame could be a few hours or a full day and will be an estimate option that we are paid to do or that will already be completed before we arrive to install or refinish your floor.

Installation

Installation generally takes between 1-3 days to complete, depending on the area involved. Installations over radiant heated floors may need to acclimate for 5-7 days after the flooring is laid out. Once the wood flooring is installed it is important to keep the home heated to normal living conditions. Leaving the home unheated may cause damage to the flooring.

Sanding & Finishing

Sanding & Finishing usually takes 3 to 5 days. During this process, as bid in your wood flooring estimate...Visqueen (plastic sheeting) will be applied/put over cabinets, doorways and other areas of the house off so as to limit the amount of fine dust that may escape from the work area during the sanding process.

Christopherson Woods Floors prides itself in finishing with three coats of finish. Our finish gives the floor excellent hardness, durability, and spot resistance. Each coat is applied and left to dry overnight.

Post-Finish

Your house must be kept completely closed during the first 3-6 hours of the drying period to keep moisture out
and to prevent dust and other materials from settling into the finish.

DO NOT OPEN ANY DOORS OR WINDOWS DURING THIS DRYING TIME... NOT EVEN A LITTLE.

During this 3 to 4 day process we recommend you stay away from home completely. If you choose to come home in the evenings, you will want to ventilate your home as soon as the finish is dry, usually 4-6 hours after the wood floor finish is applied, depending on humidity and temperature. *(see above note) Since it will take longer to dry if weather conditions are below 60 degrees, you may want to turn up the heat after you ventilate the home for a period of time.  Do not stay in the home while you are waiting for the smell to dissipate.

For best results it is recommended that you wait 2-3 days before bringing your furniture back into the area. If you are unable to wait the recommended length of time then you should at least wait 24 hours after the last coat of finish was applied. It is also recommended that you use self-sticking felt pads on the bottoms of all pieces to avoid scratches to the surface and prolong the beauty of your floors.

Today's large refrigerators tend to weigh so much that not only can they scratch the floors but also leave groove marks across the floor as they are moved. Moving refrigerators...can be one of the trickiest parts of putting your house back together after your floors have been finished.  We highly recommend using an appliance dolly (making very sure that all dirt and sand is removed from the tires and the floors that you are about to move over), hiring movers, or some other well-known technique for moving your refrigerator back into place.

Area rugs may be laid down 7 days after the last coat of finish has dried.  With some wood species, like Brazilian
Cherry, American Cherry or Tigerwood, we recommend a much longer amount of time as the flooring darkens.  Leaving rugs or other solid pieces in place too early will cause a much lighter area on the floor.

Special care must be taken the first month since the finish needs time to create the hardness, durability, and spot resistance to soaps, detergents, water, pets, fruit juices, ink, alcohol, etc. Avoid severe wear and avoid overcleaning the wood flooring during this time period.