Low odor polyurethanes have lower VOCs. And lower VOCs are healthier for you and healthier for the planet. But it is more difficult to engineeer low- or no-VOC protection. Hardwood floor finishes need to incorporate really hard, wear-resistant resins and solids in...
“We don't want orange floors.” When we first help a typical DIY floor refinishing customer, we ask about their hopes and dreams for their refurbished floor. Their most common wish is to “take away the orange.” We hear that and can help.Many hardwood floors still look...
This happens all the time, but especially on Saturday mornings. A new homeowner shows up at our St. Paul storefront at 9am, no appointment, no job pictures, no plan. But they are determined to rent sanders right now because have just pulled up their carpet and found...
Here in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, we have a lot of historic housing stock with covered fir porches. We need porches to take advantage of our short and glorious summers. But wood exposed to sun and weather year round takes an extreme beating and it...
It’s new; isn’t it already perfect? I know – this seems crazy, right? This beautiful, fresh-from-the-mill, newly-planed wood gets nailed to your subfloor, and now you have to sand it? Why??It’s not that the wood surface isn’t smooth. After installation to your...
OMG please do! We didn’t plan for this when we first started carrying Rubio Monocoat, but almost half of what we sell now is for coating wood other than floors.And countertops are the perfect project for Rubio:No stink. Most countertops are already in place by the...
As we’ve probably told you a million times already, Pete’s is proudly located in Minnesota. So the lion’s share of our customers have floors made of northern woods like oak, maple, or birch. But the next most common wood in these parts is Douglas fir which we see on...
We love this question so hard. Because any time your sandpaper is gumming up, it is not a problem; it is a SOLUTION! When sandpaper is loading up, it means that the friction and heat created by the paper as it spins on your floor is actually melting off the old...
"Can you tell me if this will sand out?" Some customers come to us unsure of whether their floors can be saved. But about 25% of them arrive with panic in their hearts and photos like the ones above, hoping that we have a magic cure.Most water stains sand out; most...
Have you been Googling “wood floor problems?” You just bought a house and pulled up the carpet to get a good look at the hardwood floor the sellers promised, and you find blemishes you don't even have words for. If you don't have the words, how can you figure out what...