Getting there
Delano is about 25 miles east of our Cokato shop, straight out Highway 12. It is one of the closest cities we serve, close enough that small jobs and follow-up visits are easy to fit in and a crew can be there without the day being planned around the drive.
Older Delano homes near the Crow River
Downtown Delano along Highway 12 and the streets near the Crow River have the town's older houses, many built in the early 1900s with maple or oak strip floors. Like the old houses in Minneapolis, a lot of these floors have been under carpet for decades and come out with tack strip holes, pad residue and a few rough boards. Those are good floors. The wood is old-growth, thick and tight-grained, and a full sand brings it back. Older houses near the river can have damp basements, so we check for cupping and for soft spots near exterior walls and old plumbing before quoting. On the oak we usually suggest a natural or medium finish. On maple we suggest a clear coat, since maple blotches under dark stain. If a few boards are gone we lace in new ones before sanding so they finish as part of the floor rather than as a patch.
New construction on Delano acreage
Most of our Delano volume now is new construction. Builders are putting up homes on acreage lots outside town and in the newer neighborhoods, and the plans call for the same floors the lake cities get: wide plank white oak, engineered boards over in-floor heat in the walkouts, and stair treads to match. We work from the builder's schedule. The floor goes in after the house is closed in and the heat is running, and we move crews when drywall or cabinets shift the date. Prefinished boards are the faster path and skip the cure time, which some builders prefer when the schedule is tight. Site-finished takes a few more days but lets the owner pick a custom color and hides the small height differences between boards. We will tell you which one suits the plan rather than defaulting to either. Builder estimates are itemized in JobTread so everyone can see what is in them.
Winter and summer movement in a Delano wood floor
Wright County houses get the full Minnesota swing. Forced-air heat in January drops indoor humidity below 25 percent in a lot of homes, and solid oak shrinks enough across its width that gaps open between boards. July closes them again. That is normal, and a floor installed with proper acclimation and expansion gaps rides it out for decades. Trouble comes from wood delivered to a cold, unheated house and installed before it has reached the house's moisture level, which is why we will not install until the HVAC has been running. Cabins and lake homes that sit closed up in winter are the other case. Wide temperature swings and no humidity control are hard on solid wood, and engineered hardwood is the safer choice there. For an existing floor in Delano, a maintenance coat every few years and a humidifier on the furnace go a long way.
Refinishing hardwood floors in Delano
The older houses by the Crow River are why Delano shows up so often on our hardwood floor refinishing page. If your floor is original to the house, start there. It covers the repairs, the sanding and the finish choices for old oak and maple. How a refinish runs, start to finish.
Around Delano
- Crow River
- Downtown Delano on Highway 12
- Lake Rebecca Park Reserve
Hardwood services we bring to Delano
- Floor refinishing
- New Construction Flooring
- Floor Installation
- Engineered Hardwood Install
- Floor restoration
- Buff and coat
Every hardwood service, on one page.
Questions from Delano homeowners
Do you work with builders in Delano on new homes?
Yes, new construction is most of what we do in Delano. We install solid, engineered and prefinished floors and stair treads on the builder's schedule, acclimate the wood in the house once the heat is on, and move a crew when the date moves. Estimates are itemized in JobTread. Homeowners building their own house can call us directly as well.
The floors in my old Delano house are under carpet. What will they look like?
Usually better than you expect. Early 1900s maple and oak strip floors are thick, tight-grained wood, and a full sand removes the staple marks and pad residue. Expect a few boards to need replacing near old walls or plumbing, and some color variation that is part of an old floor. We sand a test patch before you pick a finish.
Is engineered or solid hardwood better for a walkout in Delano?
Engineered, nearly every time. Walkout lower levels sit against the ground, run cooler and hold more moisture than the main level, and solid boards there tend to cup. Engineered hardwood has a stable core under a real wood wear layer and handles that, including over in-floor heat. Upstairs, solid or engineered both work.
How far out are you booking refinishing work in Delano?
Typically a few weeks, longer in spring and late summer. Delano is close to the shop, so when a day opens up we can often move a smaller local job into it, but we would rather give you a date we will keep than one we hope to. Tell us if you have a move-in or a listing coming.
Nearby
We also work in Cokato and Buffalo. Everywhere we work.