When to finish the hardwood flooring

[Steven Hockstein]

We have an ongoing discussion in my office about the order of the work being done. The flooring people like to complete their finishing work and make others responsible for protecting the floors. The trades like to have an unfinished floor and let the flooring people follow. The problem is that working around finishes, espcially expensive cabinetry is risky.

For those of you in construction I am curious about what you think. Do you like to finish the wood floors before or after painting? Do you finish hardwood flooring before or after you install kitchen cabinetry? I can argue both sides of the situations. Other opinions?

[kurt]

Floor sanding, sealer, 1st coats first. Always. Finish interior. Tell people to use drop cloths and don't mess up the floors. 1/8" masonite protection in high traffic areas, red rosin paper at periphery. Everyone is responsible for keeping the paper functional. Anyone that doesn't want to play, doesn't work our jobs.

Final coat when everyone is gone. Real careful like.

Sanding the floor when everything else is finished is a total mess; fine particle dust on everything, everywhere. It even hangs on the walls. We'd have to vacuum every square millimeter of every ceiling, floor, wall, and fixture.

[hausdok]

Agree with Kurt except make sure you get the wood in early and sticker it in an out-of-the-way place. That means busting ass to finish one room way ahead of the others so that the stack won't get disturbed.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[gtblum]

The VCT guys would have a fit if we couldn't wait for them to catch up.

They hated cutting around science lab islands and other stuff. It was more about the extra work than them being worried about our cabinets. It didn't happen often. Floor guys usually had the green light before us, but not before the painters and ceiling guys, on commercial jobs.

We never wrecked anybody's floors. Slammers didn't last long. They would quickly be invited back to the mud where they came from. Nobody cares if you scratch a concrete form. We knew better than to trash floors and be back charged for repair.

[John Kogel]

Around here, it is all click-plank, so to speak. Glued or nailed, it will be Pre-finished hardwood or engineered hardwood, and it goes in last, just ahead of the final trim. But often ahead of the kitchen island.

We just don't see sanded floors anymore, even in the high-end units.

[kurt]

That's wild. It's all I see in single family.

Not that I have a problem with engineered, but a laid floor is nicer in my mind.

Click plank. I'm going to use that.

[Jim Katen]

. . . For those of you in construction I am curious about what you think. Do you like to finish the wood floors before or after painting? Do you finish hardwood flooring before or after you install kitchen cabinetry? I can argue both sides of the situations. Other opinions?

The same as Kurt. Sand, seal, & first coat shortly after the flooring is laid. Then put down protection until final clean up. Just before completion, the floor guys make one pass with a fine screen, clean everything up and put down the final coat.