Hardwood floors in Wayzata, installed and refinished by Alpine

Teardown new builds on the north shore and what they ask of a hardwood floor

The lots between Ferndale and Holdridge and along Wayzata Bay have turned over hard since the 2010s. Older houses come down, and what goes up is big and glassy. These builds almost always call for wide plank white oak, usually 7 to 10 inches, and almost always run engineered over in-floor radiant heat. Solid wood over radiant moves too much through a Minnesota winter. Engineered planks with a thick wear layer stay flat and still take a site-applied stain and finish, so the floor reads as one surface from the front door to the lake side. The other thing these houses have is a wall of south- or lake-facing glass. Strong sun fades and ambers wood unevenly, and a rug or sofa leaves a sharp line after a year or two. We talk through this before the stain is picked. Lighter, more natural tones and water-based finishes that stay clear hide the change better than dark stains and oil finishes that amber on their own. We also tell homeowners to move their rugs around the first summer. Builder schedules matter here. We are approved with firms like John Kraemer & Sons, Hendel Homes and Streeter Custom Homes, and on these jobs the floor goes in during a tight window between drywall and cabinets. We hold that window, and if the schedule moves, we move with it.

The 1960s to 1990s Wayzata house with oak strip under the carpet

Not every house in Wayzata is new. Plenty of ramblers and two-stories off the lake went up between the 1960s and 1990s, and a lot of them still have the original 2 1/4 inch red oak or maple strip flooring. Often it is under carpet that went down in the 1990s, and the wood beneath has barely been walked on. These floors refinish well. We pull the carpet and set any nails, then sand to bare wood and finish. The hard part is where a wall came out or a kitchen was reconfigured. We lace new boards into the old field so the patch disappears under the finish. Red oak has a pink cast, and that bothers some owners once the dark 1990s stain comes off. A light custom stain or a whitewashed tone cools it down. Maple is the opposite problem. It blotches under dark pigment, so on a 1980s maple floor we push for natural or a very light tone. We would rather say that up front than hand over a floor nobody loves.

Hardwood floor work we do most in Wayzata

New-construction installs with the builders above make up the largest share, followed by full refinishes in older houses and stair tread work where an open stair meets a new wide plank floor. Lake houses also bring us water damage, from ice dams and failed water heaters mostly. We cut out the cupped boards and dry the subfloor, then lace in new stock and refinish the room so the repair reads as part of the floor. Herringbone entries and borders come up more in Wayzata than in most cities we serve, because the new builds have the budget and the square footage for them.

Refinishing hardwood floors in Wayzata

Most Wayzata calls that are not tied to a new build are refinishing calls, and our hardwood floor refinishing page covers the full process, from the moisture check through the final coat. Start there if your floor is original to the house. How a refinish runs, start to finish.

Our work in Wayzata

• European white oakEuropean white oak flooring install in Wayzata, MN

Around Wayzata

• Lake Minnetonka
• Lake Street
• Wayzata Bay
• Ferndale
• Holdridge
• Highway 12

Hardwood services we bring to Wayzata

• Floor refinishing
• New Construction Flooring
• Engineered Hardwood Install
• Pattern Floors
• Stain color matching
• Stair Treads

Every hardwood service, on one page.