Schedule a Consultation
The first step in getting hardwood flooring services is to request and schedule a free consultation of your project. One of our flooring specialists will be dispatched to your home based upon an agreed meeting time. From there, you’ll be able to discuss your project to our specialist – who will make recommendations, inspect your floor(s) or stairs, gather the square footage, take other measurements, ask follow-up questions based on the previous flooring condition – if any, and iron-out all specifications on your project.
On most occasions, our flooring specialists are trained to quote your project right on the spot with accuracy – we’ve gathered over four generations of family flooring knowledge after all. In custom or difficult situations, we’ll have to take your project’s specifications to our headquarters and look over the details to provide an accurate quote to your project.
In Preperation of your Project
In preparation of your project, it is important to move any furniture or any other objects OFF of the work area. Whether you store it in another room, garage, or storage container – it is up to you. If you need help moving any furniture, Ryno Custom Flooring will gladly provide moving services for an extra fee. You may also move or cover your paintings, pictures, and any other hanging items if desired to keep them from getting dusty or dirty.
If you are refinishing or installing in your kitchen, please clean off objects from the counters and make sure the cabinets are shut. Ryno Custom Flooring will provide plastic and tape to keep dust and dirt out of your cabinets and off your counters.
If you are a homeowner, we strongly recommend that you find a place to stay during your project, although it is not necessary. Our machines are VERY loud (we use ear protection) and are not pet-friendly, alternatively the chemicals we use for our staining and finishing process are toxic and harmful. Please consult with your project manager on this issue.
We also recommend that you schedule your flooring project separate from other contractors, workers, or jobs. Although it is not neccessary, it allows us to work the fastest and keeps our area accident free. We’ve had too many situations of other workers on a project ruining our craftsmanship.
Prepping Your Project
While prepping your project and work area – Ryno Custom Flooring provides plastic & tape to cover any exposed areas to keep your project free of airborne dust. This helps us keep the work area contained while also providing an extra level of comfort if you happen to be living near the work area. We also tape off any transitions to your other rooms – such as kitchen tile or a bathroom entrance – this helps us by keeping the stain/sand line accurate and straight while also protecting your surface from damage or stain.
For tear-outs and removal, our team will begin removing your older floor piece by piece. We provide the same plastic and tape services above as well as handling any garbage produced from your job. Once your old floor has been removed we can then prep the sub-flooring for installation.
If installing your hardwood floors, our team will prep your sub-flooring for a smooth, flat installation. We sand down any exposed edges, tap in exposed nails or screws, and inspect your sub-flooring for any potential damage, weak spots, or concerns we may have. After leveling your sub-floor, we begin by dropping off your wood delivery 2 weeks prior to installation. This helps the wood adjust to your home or projects moisture levels, we test both the new hardwood flooring and your projects moisture level before installation. We NEVER install freshly delivered hardwood!
Sanding Your Floors
Once your project has been prepped and the moisture level is approved, we start to roll in the heavy machinery. We use the latest machinery for our floor sanding including heavy-duty floor sanders, dust-free vacuum systems, and powerful edgers. We provide a 5-step sanding process on your hardwood flooring for an ultra-smooth and spotless finish.
Floor sanding is the longest part in the flooring process. Depending on your specific situation and project specifications, we try our best to meet your project deadlines and goals. Our flooring specialists sand at a steady rate that includes speed, high quality craftsmanship, and attention to detail.
Stain Color Consultation
In collaboration with the sanding process, we schedule a stain color consultation with you at your project. During this consultation our specialists provide information on your stain, show you samples of colors, as well as custom mixing your stain and adjusting the tone/color to your liking. If you have examples of a color that you like, we try our best to match the color exactly – we can work magic!
Buffing & Sanding
The last step in the sanding process – we use a floor buffer to ensure that there are no sanding marks, imperfections, or uneven sections of your flooring. Floor buffing provides an ultra-smooth and shiny finish while also prepping the floor grain for the floor staining process. At this point in the process, we DO NOT let anyone on floors to prevent any accidents, scuffing, or scratches.
Water Popping
Water popping consists of wiping down your flooring with wet rags to open up the wood pores. This allows the stain to “soak” more into the grain, and makes grain more prominent during finishing. Speak with your project manager during the stain color consultation to see water pop examples.
Floor Staining & Wiping
During the staining process we prime the edges of your floor by hand and brush, our flooring specialists have years of experience and avoid getting stain on anything besides the floor (although accidents happen). We then have one of our specialists run a stain applicator over the middle sections of the floor, this ensures EVERY spot on your floor is covered in color.
Behind the stain applicators we have our stain wiping specialists. Our wipers remove any leftover stain with dry rags to avoid any smudges, spots, or built up areas leaving your floor consistent in color. With extreme attention to detail, our wipers spot out any flaws such as scratches, machine marks, or imperfections and fixes them on the spot.
Finishing – 1st Coat
Due to the toxicity of our finishing products, we STRONGLY recommend that no pets or persons are present during the finishing process. We use special masks and filtration to apply your desired finish, and we do not allow anyone to be near during application.
Whether you want water-based or oil-based we follow the same process as staining, except we use ultra fine brushes and rollers to apply the finishing product. The first coat of polyurethane acts as the protective layer and seals in your floors color and smoothness.
Finishing – 2nd Coat
After the first finish coat, we then install any wall trim that you may have and then use our floor buffer again to slightly sand down the finish – this allows the second coat of polyurethane to bond to the first coat and makes sure any imperfections in the finish are removed. We then reapply a coat of polyurethane for the final layer of protection and a smooth finished floor.
All of our finishing products are self-leveling and take 72 hours to 1 week to cure fully. During that time we don’t allow any furniture or objects on the floor until the curing process is done. We recommend staying off the floors until that time.
Follow Up
We follow-up with you to make sure your floors are fully cured. We check for any imperfections in our work, while also inspecting the quality of the finished coat. We then give you instructions on how to take care and clean your new hardwood flooring, while also giving you some tips to avoid accidental damage to your floors in the future.
If you find any imperfections with our work, we come back and fix the problem for life!