Getting there
Buffalo is about 20 miles northeast of our shop in Cokato. The usual route is Highway 12 east and then Highway 25 north into town, and Highway 55 brings us in from the other side. It is close enough that repairs and buff and coats are easy to fit in around the larger jobs.
Buffalo Lake homes and the cabins that became houses
A lot of the homes on Buffalo Lake started as seasonal cabins and were added onto over the years, which means the floors change under your feet. A 1950s cabin core with narrow maple, a 1980s addition with oak strip, and a 2010s kitchen with prefinished wide plank can all be in one house. We see this on the other Wright County lakes too. The usual fix is a refinish that brings the solid sections to one color and sheen, with new boards laced in where a wall came out, and sometimes a full replacement of a section that has been through too many winters. Lake homes also take more water than most, from wet gear at the door to the occasional ice dam, so water-damaged board repair is a regular call from the lake. Engineered hardwood in a walkout that faces the lake is the right choice, since that level runs cool and damp.
In-town Buffalo houses from the 1970s through the 1990s
Buffalo grew steadily through those decades, and the neighborhoods from that period have the floors we refinish most. Builder-grade 2 1/4 inch red oak in the kitchen and entry, often with an oil-based finish that has gone orange, and carpet in the rest. The oak itself is fine. A full sand takes off the orange and lets you choose a current tone, and a lightly whitened or medium-brown stain on red oak covers the pink cast that people dislike. Many of these homeowners also want the hardwood carried into the family room when the carpet goes, and we install the new boards and sand old and new together so there is no line at the doorway. Some of the older houses downtown are more like a Minneapolis floor, early 1900s maple and oak that needs board replacement before sanding, and those get the same careful approach.
New construction around Buffalo
Acreage builds outside Buffalo along Highway 55 and Highway 25 are a steady part of our install work. These are often larger custom homes with open plans, and the floor is a big part of the design. Wide plank white oak is the most requested, site-finished when the owner wants a specific color and prefinished when the schedule is tight. Stair treads to match the floor are nearly always part of the package. We work from the builder's calendar and keep enough crews that a slipped drywall date does not push the floor into the following month. The step we insist on is acclimation. New wood goes into the house only after the heat is running and the slab or subfloor has dried down, and it sits in the rooms it will be installed in until its moisture content matches the house. Skipping that step is where the gaps and cupping in a new house come from, and it is the step that gets skipped when a schedule is rushed.
Refinishing hardwood floors in Buffalo
For most Buffalo homeowners the hardwood floor refinishing page is the starting point, since the 1970s to 1990s oak in town and the patched-together floors on Buffalo Lake both come back with a full sand and the right stain. How a refinish runs, start to finish.
Around Buffalo
- Buffalo Lake
- Sturges Park
- Highway 55
- Highway 25
Hardwood services we bring to Buffalo
- Floor refinishing
- Floor Installation
- Water damage repair
- Floor repair
- Engineered Hardwood Install
- Solid Hardwood Install
Every hardwood service, on one page.
Questions from Buffalo homeowners
Can you fix water damage on the hardwood by my back door on Buffalo Lake?
Yes, that is one of our most common lake-home calls. We cut out the cupped or stained boards, check the subfloor for moisture and let it dry if needed, lace in new boards of the same species, then sand and finish the area to blend. If the damage covers most of a room, refinishing the whole room matches better.
My Buffalo house has orange oak floors from the 1980s. Can you make them look current?
Yes. The orange is the old oil-based finish ambering over decades, and a full sand removes it completely. From bare wood, red oak takes a medium-brown or a lightly whitened stain that reads current and covers the pink cast. We finish with a water-based polyurethane that stays clear, so the color you pick is the color you keep.
Do you install hardwood in new homes outside Buffalo?
Yes, new construction on acreage around Buffalo is regular work for us. We install solid, engineered and prefinished floors plus matching stair treads on the builder's schedule, and we hold the wood until the house is heated and dry enough to acclimate it. Builder estimates are itemized in JobTread. Owner-builders can call us directly.
Can you refinish our Buffalo floors while we live in the house?
Usually, yes. We use dust containment on the sanders, seal off the work area and plan the job in stages so you keep a path to the kitchen and bedrooms. You will be off the fresh floor for a day or two after each coat, and the smell is minor with water-based finishes. A few nights away speeds up a whole house.
Nearby
We also work in Delano and Cokato. Everywhere we work.