Floors.. check! Before and after.

The floors are done!  After getting quotes from four different flooring companies, I hired Paul Secondino from Advanced Wood Flooring (www.addwoodfloors.com) to bring life back to my floors.  He blew the other guys out of the water with his professional, thorough, prompt, and responsive manner.

Here's the side-by-side before and after:  

After!  

Before...

Here's the Realtor's rendition of the room.  Magical flattering lighting and all: 

Before: the Realtor used some 

photography magic to get this shot.

The first thing Paul did when he came to the house was get on his hands and knees and inspect the flooring. He was the only one of the four contractors to do this, and to identify the type of wood (white oak). I was very impressed! When I asked more technical questions regarding his buffing pads and sanding process, he was happy to take the time to answer my questions. Even before any money was exchanged, he offered to come back at a later date to do some "test sands" on areas he thought might be troublesome.

Here he is below, coming to do the test sands.  

Floors, with the carpet removed.

After the test sands were done, he put down a coat of finish to give me an idea of the final color.

Doorway of the worst room

A little color: front bedroom

After the test sands were completed, I was sold.  Advanced Wood Floors: Hired!

Floors, sanded. 

 I wish I could keep them unfinished, but Paul let me know that unfinished wood oxidizes.  That light color won't last forever.

First coat of satin down, and buffed

By the time the first coat was done, the character of the house had changed drastically.  I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Second coat: satin, unbuffed.

 After the second coat was done, Paul called to see what I wanted to use as my finish coat.  My options were satin, semi-gloss and high gloss.  My initial reaction was HIGH GLOSS!!! SHINE IT UP, BABY!  But after reading some reviews online, I realized that a high gloss finish would require much more maintenance, and wear would show much more quickly.  Doggies in mind, I decided on semi-gloss.

After!   I am thrilled with the results.

The entire process with Paul and his company were second to none.  I've never been more impressed.  I can't wait to show off the house when everything is done!