A Well Lit Hand Scraped Wood Floor!

Being in the wood floor industry, we see just about everything that could possibly go right or wrong with a wood floor.  We try to give all of our customers the best advice we possibly could, to help them to maintain the "perfect floor".  Never did we anticipate that our very own showroom would become victim to water damage!  

One day, "Out of No Where", a HUGE hump placed itself on our showroom floor.  It was literally like walking up a hill made out of wood floor.  There was no sign of cupping, just a large hill.  We began to search for the reason of this sudden terrain change in our showroom and noticed the floor around our HVAC system was nice and wet.  The HVAC and the "hill" were a good 12 ft, or so, away from each other... So this could not mean any good news for us.

Thankfully we knew just the right company to call.... Wichita Wood Floor Specialists of course!  We began by tearing out the damaged flooring, noticed the subfloor was wet as well and so had to tear that out as well.  There was a huge surprise for us under the subfloor... LOTS of water!  It was SO much worse than we had anticipated!  We ended up having to tear out a 1/3 of our showroom floor along with the subfloor and had to completely rebuild it back up.  

So what better to do with such a tragedy, than to make something AMAZING out of it!?  We decided this was our opportunity to really show everyone what is possible with a wood floor.  When folks come in to visit our showroom we like to use the term "Your Imagination is the Limit", but I don't think anyone takes us too seriously on it.  So what better of a way than to recreate our Amazing city's flag with a light in the middle?

We called around to the "Best of the Best" in the Wood Floor Industry to try to receive some advice on how to properly install a light in the middle of our floor.  We could not find anyone else that had attempted this before, so it was all the more reason to do it!  

As the project got underway, the more ideas kept coming along with it.  We ended up using Blue Stained Hickory (which really is NOT stained blue) for the entire flag, except for the medallion in the middle.  For the middle we used End Cut Ponderosa Pine.  Along the edges of the flag and in between each section of the flag we inlayed brass to help define each section.  We then hand scraped all of the Hickory, which not only looks beautiful, but I feel gives it more of a "Waving Flag" look.  

The medallion in the middle was the tricky part.  Luckily we had met a gentleman by the name of Luis who owns a company name Karve here in Wichita who was a MASTER with a CNC machine.  The first go around we tried using a Glow-in-the-Dark Epoxy.  Unfortunately the wood acted like wood (go figure!) and the pores tried soaking up the epoxy before it could dry.  So it was back to the drawing board!  

We ended up with the idea to layer several layers of plexi-glass in the middle until it was flush with the rest of the floor.  Viola!  What we end up with is an AMAZING piece of artwork, with the Pride of our AMAZING city highlighted in our showroom floor!

We would love for you to help us get the word out on our artwork.  Feel free to Share this Blog anywhere you like!  For any questions feel free to comment below or give us a call Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm Central Standard Time. Wichita Wood Floor Specialists is located in Wichita, KS.

How to Properly Protect Your Floors from Your Furniture

If you are the owner of a wood floor, you understand the constant frustration of trying to keep felt pads on your furniture so your floors will not end up with scratches all over them.  Especially if you are a parent and your children love to scoot furniture around the house for fun!  For some reason, our boys are the masters of scooting furniture across the floor for no apparent reason.  With owning a wood floor business and having wood floors in our home, we were at our wits end when it came to trying to keep felt on the bottom of our furniture.

So after some serious research we came across this amazing product called Flexi Felt.  Now when I first saw the product video, I thought there is no way this product is as good as they make it out to be.  Check out the video for yourself and let me know what you think: Flexi Felt Video  I mean, he seems like a nice guy and all but now days it seems everything is always "too good to be true".

So we went ahead and took the plunge to purchase a display case and the assortment of Flexi-Felt that is offered.  We applied it to the chairs and furniture at our showroom and also the furniture in our home.  The Results:  AMAZING!!!  This product is great AND all that he says it is.  Initially the cost is a little more upfront than purchasing the cheap felt pads that fall off.  But when you add up all the felt pads you purchase and the time and gas it takes to get them and then apply them to your furniture, not counting if you had damage to your floors that had to be repaired because they didn't work.... This product pays for itself!

Here is a VIDEO of my husband Jesse applying the Flexi Felt to our square legged office chairs in our showroom.  If you are in need of this product our anything else we may carry in our Products Available @ Wichita Wood Floor Specialists give us a call (316-747-4066) to place your order, or stop by our showroom at 3203 E. Douglas  Wichita, KS 67218.  We are in the heart of the Douglas Design District, door to the West of the Crown Uptown.

Reclaimed Barnwood Doors NOW available at Wichita Wood Floor Specialists!

Check out our short video on our newly available Reclaimed Barnwood Doors!  These doors are getting a lot of attention and will not last long!  Stop by our showroom today @ 3203 E. Douglas in Wichita, KS or give us a call @ 316-747-4066 to reserve your door today!

How to get a New Floor Without Having to Install a New Floor!

How on earth is it possible to get a completely different look to your floor without having to install a new floor?  Easy! Wichita Wood Floor Specialists can take a normal 2&1/4 inch wide oak floor and make it into a 6& 3/4 inch wide plank!!

With our specialized tools and our wonderful Wood Artisans, we hand scrape and use specialized techniques to bring your average oak floor to an entire new level!  Below is the picture of the original floor the customer began with.  It is a 2&1/4 inch wide Red Oak Select.  A beautiful floor, but very average here in Wichita, KS.  The owners of this home wanted their floors to make a statement and have a one of a kind, personalized floor.

The home owners decided that they would like their floors to look like a wider plank with a hand scrape look to it.  We came in with our specialized tools and hand scrapers to scrape out the look of the wider planks.  Below are pictures of an area we patched in because there was a fireplace that was removed.  You can see the difference in the new wood and the old because we hadn't sanded the floor yet at this point.  Just from this point in the job the floor has already taken on a completely different look!

Below is a picture of Jesse hand scraping the new beveled edges in between the "new" 6&3/4 inch plank.  After he finished with all of the new edges, we sanded the floors down and then added the cross cuts, to give the boards a new plank look.  

Once we sanded and hand scraped all of the floors, the next step was to stain the floor!  Below are two pictures of the floor just after the stain was applied.  After the stain dries over night we will be back in the morning to begin coating the floor.

The stain pictures were just taken this morning, so we have not yet coated the floor until tomorrow morning.  But even without the finished pictures, you can already see the difference in the look of the floors from day one to today!  The greatest thing about wood floors, is that the sky is the limit!  There are so many unique and fun things that can be done to wood floors.  We always tell our customers that their imagination is the limit!  If you can dream it up, we can most certainly attempt to make it come true!

We want the world to look at wood floors as the true pieces of art they are.  There is no one same floor when it comes down to it.  Each home has wood from a different tree and each board has it's own finger print with the grain patterns.  Give us a call today if you have an idea you would like to attempt with your wood floors.  We love challenges!  Wichita Wood Floor Specialists  316-747-4066.

Story of how Wichita Wood Floor Specialists Began

You have watched us start from the very beginning as a company.  We can't thank all of you enough for the support over the years.  We hope you enjoy this short video of how we started and how we got to where we are today.  Please feel free to share our story!

#WichitaWoodFloor  #DouglasDesignDistrict

What it Means to Hire a Certified Wood Floor Contractor

Contractors.... for some people just the word gives them the goosebumps!  When you have a big project (like wood floors) that need to be completed around the house or office, you have a few different choices.  You can either try to do it yourself, or you can hire someone.  Most of the time when it comes to projects such as wood floors, YouTube videos or other publications may make it seem pretty easy.  So there are a select few that will attempt to tackle the project on their own. 80% of the time after about a days worth of work they are on the phone trying to find a contractor to get the project completed.

Once the decision has been made to use a contractor, most people start stressing out trying to find the right one.  This is completely understandable.  Not only are you allowing someone you do not know into your home, you are allowing them basically to do surgery on your home and trusting them to meet your expectations of what you want completed.  How do you even begin to try to find someone that can meet this criteria while being a stranger that you need to trust?

The National Wood Flooring Association has you covered!  The NWFA is a non-profit that was founded simply to provide the best education and sources for anything that deal with Wood Floors.  For contractors that want to be serious about wood floors, the NWFA provides several different level classes.  Anything from wood floor basics to advanced level installing or finishing classes, even classes on how to sell the proper wood floor product to a customer.

Before the classes begin, the contractor must take it upon themselves to read up on the manuals and be mentally prepared for the classes.  Once arrived, the students do hands on work with the wood.  By the end of the week long class, the student must prove their knowledge by showing their craftsmanship as well as taking a written test.  If they pass both sections, they then become certified for whichever class they took.  The tests are not simple, and will really test the student on all different aspects of the course.  Not everyone that takes the courses, pass them.

Thankfully though, the NWFA does list these fine contractors on their website for the consumer to find a certified contractor to help them with their hard wood flooring needs.  You can simply go to: http://woodfloors.org/certified-professional-search.aspx and search for what you are needing in the area you live in.  Simply choose what you need (installer, sand & finisher, etc.), the mileage range and your zip code.  If for some reason you do not have a certified person in your area, you can call the office and they would be more than happy to assist you in your search of a qualified contractor.

(This picture is of a floor installed by our very own

Jesse Sample @ Wichita Wood Floor Specialists.

This floor is located in the NWFA's corporate office.)

So next time you hire a wood flooring contractor, be sure to ask them if they are certified through the National Wood Flooring Association.  If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at Wichita Wood Floor Specialists or call us at 316-747-4066.  We love to talk wood!

Customer Appreciation/Open House Party

Customer Appreciation/Open House Party