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October 27, 2007

Floors revealed!

So here were the floors BEFORE:

As you can see our cat was pretty bummed out about them. They were down right dingy.

Then the folks at Summit arrived and BEHOLD:

a ray of light in an otherwise very dark tunnel

The first time I saw these floors after they were resurrected was the very first time I thought that the potential I saw in the house was not just a figment of my imagination.

Mind you--this gloriousness is currently only enjoyed by the tenants and T and I -----when we are working in the tenants' apartments. Many moons from now--we too--will have floors that we can walk barefoot on without the fear of splinters.

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Comments

I love your cat!

I also love the floors. Maybe on the other floors you'll want to strip the purple before sanding and staining the floors; just a suggestion knowing how gooey and awful peel-a-way can be.

Posted by: guest at October 28, 2007 5:40 PM

What a difference! Shined up floors really make such a difference in the polish of a house.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at October 29, 2007 8:02 AM

Hey there 6:45--i will make sure to relay the compliment to the cat! You are totally right about stripping before doing the floors. But unfortunately-as much as we would love to strip EVERYTHING of the terrible purple paint--we are in the process of painting over it (with much more pleasing tones). As I mentioned--this is the common entrance way and will be used mostly by the tenants--we made the decision to slather on another coat of paint becuase 1. we really need to make the building functional and pleasing to our tenants (or would be tenants) immediately 2. There is a ton of work--stripping and otherwise to do in our own space , 3. The hallway is going to be well used and may take a bit of a beating with move ins and outs etc. and keeping it painted protects it and most importantly: 3. Resources are scarce. All of that said, We are not proud of adding another layer and we hope to one day strip more of the wood from the thick coatings of paint but until then it is what it is. We are however going to strip the newel post. Its really intricate and we are contemplating engaging a professional (cost depending)--anyone have any suggestions?

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at October 29, 2007 10:13 AM

hi, nice work

would you recommend summit?
how did their quotes stack up agiainst others?

how many floor people did you speak to before choosing summit?

is it water or oil finish?

thanks and good luck!!

Posted by: coopsarestress at October 29, 2007 3:55 PM

I know it must be completely vile and eye-peeling to see every day, but I am kinda getting to like the burple paint job. In a whimisical, I-don't-have-to-live-with-it kind of way.

Posted by: guest at October 29, 2007 4:13 PM

Wow, absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful floors even make a purple and lavender staircase look fashionable.

Love your cat too. Mine probably would just upchuck a hairball on the new floor to let me know he's not THAT impressed.

Posted by: guest at October 29, 2007 5:09 PM

The floors look great. We have almost identical flooring, but have been told that they are now pretty thin and may not cope with another surface clean. How did you find that with the treatment you did on yours ? As for the paint stripping - it's a never ending process so I wouldn't feel too bad about painting over it. I've been doing our front doors for the past three months and you just can't do these large intricate items quickly if the only time you have is on the w/e's. Keep up the good work.

Posted by: guest at October 29, 2007 5:48 PM

Is that cat dead?

Posted by: guest at October 29, 2007 10:01 PM

I'm in the market for floor people. Is that Summit Flooring in Manhattan?

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at October 29, 2007 10:23 PM

5:48 Don't believe the hype. we were told that our floors were too thin by the first person that came in--his brilliant suggestion? Rip them all out and start over. BOY am I glad i went for a couple of additional opinions. Summit has a lot of experience with old floors and have a special sander that takes off only the bare min. They did a really good job and did it quickly and Bruce--the guy who runs the outfit--is awesome--but here are my disclaimers--1. The job included doing some repair work--some they did --some they didn't do. We pointed it out and they did ---most of it. We didn't realize that they didn't do all of it because we immediately covered the floors with rosin paper to protect them from everything else we had going on. That said, we do plan on giving Bruce a call and I am pretty confident--he'll recitfy the problem (I will let you know) 2. He did the work for the rentals on the upper floors. There was no reconfiguring or recreating. It was simple sand and poly--although he let us know that he could do that stuff.

We priced out the floors from 3 people. One was downright wrong (as indicated above). The 2nd seemed to be a wood floor guru but was was too lax about getting us quotes and actually scheduling the work. Bruce was our third-he was professional efficient and reasonably priced--I wish more contractors were like him.
That said, the workers of summit performed one of the more vile and disturbing incidents in the history of the brownstoner (yes-even more gross than the bed stuy frig maggot incident). I have been trying to get T to post about this uber gross event but i think he is still traumatized.

Posted by: HomeSweetstuy at October 31, 2007 9:23 AM

don't leave us hanging! Perfect day to tell a gross story.

although I think I can hazard a guess. A clue like 'floor repairs' makes me think...exposing innards of house. Makes me think...rodent mummies.

I could be wrong though :)

Posted by: guest at October 31, 2007 3:18 PM

HomeSweet - Do you have the number for Summit Floors? I want to make sure that I'm calling the right person. Thanks

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at November 1, 2007 1:07 PM