I started installing wood floors during summer vacation when I was 17. One of the guys in my Rock 'n Roll band had a job in the city installing wood floors in tract houses. They needed more help and my friend helped me get a job there. There were no air nailers, jig saws, table saws or miter saws. Every cut was done with a 7 1/4 inch skill saw. I shutter as I think back how really dangerous that was. I remember coming home when my friend had his skill saw jamb on him and kicked back into his knee.
After about the 50th house it just becomes a job. You never get to meet the people who owns the house you are working on. In fact I never saw a sander or the finished job. There was no satisfaction. Just the boss telling you you weren't installing fast enough. I did learn the fundamentals though and this was a good thing.
Several years later I owned a cleaning company. I was a one man company. I washed windows, cleaned offices, shampooed carpets, washed walls and floors. One of my customers had a restaurant with a royal red carpet. He also had a heated buffet every weekend. The area around where the tables with the food was got really dirty and had to be cleaned about every 3 months.
One night when I was waiting for them to close the owner came up to me and asked if I would be interested in sanding the banquet hall floors upstairs. We went up and looked at it and I said sure. I had never sanded a floor in my life before. Little did I know how hard that job would be. The fact is that job was a turning point in my life.
I rented a drum sander and edger and started working on it. I made a complete mess of that floor. First off I didn't get all the old wax off and secondly I didn't get it smooth enough. When I started putting finish on it was like putting finish on a plowed field. It just absorbed every bit of that finish. There was no shine and the wax made it not look very good either.
After the third coat I was totally discouraged. I got home and called the first company in the phone book under floors.
Within an hour the owner was at my house talking to me. We talked for about three hours and it was obvious to me this guy knew the business. He left me with the question, "If I teach you the wood flooring business would you take care of our local residential work while we are doing gyms during the summer." I told him I would be interested.
I didn't hear from him for three weeks. I had pretty much given up on him ever calling me.
He did in fact call three weeks later with a different question. He told me they had a "little problem". They had 16 gyms to do in the next 3 months. He wanted to know if I would be interested in going out on the road and helping them with their gyms. I said yes. That was over 35 years ago. I worked with that company for three years and then went out on my own.
Over the next 30 years I hoarded every scrap of left over flooring, and molding I could, I have quite a collection of all kinds of woods in all kinds of dimensions. Often I have been able to use a lot of this wood for repairs and complete installations. I still have a lot left and I see that much of it is just taking up space. I will never be in the business long enough to find a home for it.
With the economy the way it is I see major flooring companies offering 60 percent off, 12 months of no payments or interest. It is kinda hard to compete in a market where big companies are practically giving the wood floors away just to keep going.
I have started a process of culling out most of the wood flooring in my stock and cutting it into fireplace lengths. I fill my wheelbarrow up at the saw and cart it out and stack it between two trees near the road.
As i stack the wood I am finding myself reminiscing about the jobs where each piece of wood came from.
I have wood flooring from upstate New York, Northern VA, Washington DC, Maryland, Billings, MT, Denver Colorado, Olympia, WA, Raymond ,WA and many other places.
I see wood made of pine, old growth fir, heart pine, white oak, maple, red oak, Brazilian cherry, walnut, ash, American cherry, hemlock, hickory, cedar, and alder.
Some of it is cut offs from stair treads, some parquet, and some very old., I reflect back on the repair this piece came from or the inlay that one was used for. A set of stairs which came out beautifully. Memories of a life well spent taking pride in old school craftsmanship.
One piece reminds me of salvaging wood from an old house that an old couple had owned for years. They had let it go and the city of Falls Church told them they had 90 days to salvage what they wanted and then it would be demolished. I found out about it and met with the woman of the house.
She told me she had a doctor's appointment but I could start taking up the floor while she was gone. I rough sanded the floor so i knew what I was taking. When she got back she was totally amazed how beautiful her floor was..
She asked me if I would take up a room for her in exchange for the rest of the wood so it could be installed in her new home. I agreed and ended up installing it.
Another piece reminds me of a border I did long ago and yet another piece reminds me of a brass inlay.
Memories of jobs I haven't thought of in years come to mind as if it was yesterday.
I carefully place my treasure on the stack knowing it is going to it's final use. I console myself knowing that it will keep someone warm this winter. Someone who has needs far greater than my own.
I think back on where I started this journey and satisfied that it has been a good adventure.
