Getting there
Minnetonka is about 45 miles from the Cokato shop. We take Highway 12 east through Wayzata and pick up I-394, or come down Highway 7, depending on which side of the city the job is on. It is a solid drive, so we group Minnetonka work into full days.
Postwar ramblers, 1970s splits and the oak under the carpet
Much of Minnetonka was built between the 1950s and the 1980s, in waves. Ramblers near Glen Lake, split-levels and two-stories along the Highway 7 corridor, and larger lots toward the lake. The common thread is 2 1/4 inch red oak strip flooring on the main level, and in a lot of these houses it has been under carpet since the 1980s or 1990s. Bedrooms often kept the oak. Kitchens got vinyl and then tile. When we pull carpet in these houses we find a floor that is usually sound and sometimes never finished to a modern standard. The original coat was often a wax or an early varnish that wore through in the traffic lanes. A full sand to bare wood followed by stain and three coats of finish turns it into the floor the house should have had. Where the kitchen was tiled over oak, we can often pull the tile, lace in new red oak where the subfloor was cut and finish the whole level together so it reads as one floor.
1990s maple and the staining question
The subdivisions that filled in during the 1990s and early 2000s went heavy on maple, both site-finished and factory-finished. Maple is hard (1,450 on the Janka scale against 1,290 for red oak) and it wears well, but it has two habits owners run into at refinishing time. The first is that the factory finish on prefinished maple is thin and the micro-bevels between boards hold dirt, so a buff and coat does not clean it up the way it would on a site-finished floor. The second is that maple blotches under dark pigment stains. Owners who want the current dark or warm brown look on a maple floor are often disappointed. Our advice is honest and sometimes unwelcome. On maple, go natural or very light, or budget for a replacement in white oak if the dark look is the goal. We will show you a sample board of both before you decide, because a photo on a phone does not tell you how maple takes stain.
Repairs, buff and coats and the smaller Minnetonka jobs
A lot of Minnetonka calls are not full refinishes. A dog has worn a path from the back door to the kitchen. The finish in the hall is dull but the rest of the house is fine. For these we do board replacement, spot repairs and buff and coats, and we tell owners when a buff and coat is enough and when the finish has worn through and a buff will not take. The test is bare or gray wood showing in the traffic lane. If you can see it, the finish is gone there and only a sand will fix it.
Refinishing hardwood floors in Minnetonka
Minnetonka is where we do more hardwood floor refinishing than anywhere else, so our refinishing page is the right next read. It covers what a full sand involves, how long furniture is out and how we pick a stain. How a refinish runs, start to finish.
Around Minnetonka
- Glen Lake
- Tonka Bay
- Smithtown Bay
- I-394
- Highway 7
Hardwood services we bring to Minnetonka
- Floor refinishing
- Floor Installation
- Buff and coat
- Stain color matching
- Floor repair
- Engineered Hardwood Install
Every hardwood service, on one page.
Questions from Minnetonka homeowners
We have 1990s prefinished maple and want it darker. Is that possible?
It is possible, but we usually talk owners out of it. Maple takes dark pigment stain unevenly and blotches, and once it is sanded flat the micro-bevels are gone, which changes the look of the floor. We can sand and finish it natural or in a light tone. For a dark floor, replacing with white oak gives a better result.
Our oak hallway is dull but the bedrooms look fine. Do we need to redo the whole floor?
If the hall finish is dull but not worn through, a buff and coat on the connected areas brings it back without sanding. If you can see bare or gray wood in the traffic lane, that section needs a sand, and we usually sand the whole connected floor so the color stays even from room to room.
There's tile over the original oak in our kitchen. Can you bring the hardwood back?
Often, yes. We remove the tile and underlayment, see what the installer cut or nailed through, lace in new red oak where the subfloor is exposed, and sand and finish the kitchen with the adjoining rooms so it reads as one floor. If the old oak was torn out, we install new matching stock instead.
How long are we out of the house for a full refinish?
Plan on about a week for a typical main floor. Sanding takes a day or two, stain and three coats of finish add several more, and the finish needs to cure before furniture goes back. Water-based finish lets you walk on it in socks sooner. We give exact dates once we have measured the floor.
Nearby
We also work in Wayzata, Plymouth, Eden Prairie and Edina. Everywhere we work.