Hardwood Flooring in Brighton, NY

Hardwood flooring in Brighton usually starts with an existing floor rather than a new one. The town counted 18,036 residents in 1950, 27,849 in 1960 and 35,065 by 1970, according to census figures on its Wikipedia page. That is a lot of housing built in two decades, and houses from those years were commonly finished with solid strip oak. In many of them it went under wall-to-wall carpet later on. Pulling up a corner in a closet is the quickest way to find out what you have, and it is the first thing we will ask about.

A farming and brick town that became a suburb

Brighton was formally established on March 25, 1814, and stayed a farming and brick-making community until the 20th century, when it grew into a suburban residential area. A few much older buildings survive. The Stone-Tolan House on East Avenue has a one-story frame wing believed to date from 1792, and the Landmark Society of Western New York bought it in 1956 to restore and preserve as a museum. At the other end of the timeline, the Alcoa Care-free Home at 1589 Clover Street, built in 1957 with post-and-beam framing and aluminum-framed glass end walls, was listed on the National Register in 2010. Most Brighton houses fall somewhere between those two, and their floors are just as varied.

Our usual sequence after carpet comes up

Uncovering an old floor is exciting until you see the tack strip holes, staples and paint drips along the walls. Most of that is cosmetic. Here is how we approach it: 1. Pull remaining staples and tack strip, and set any raised nails. 2. Check thickness and look for boards that are cracked, stained black or loose. 3. Replace the boards that cannot be saved, weaving new ones in rather than leaving a square patch. 4. Sand the whole room in sequence so old and new wood take finish the same way. 5. Stain if you want a color change, then apply finish coats with drying time between.

When walls move or rooms combine

Opening a kitchen to a dining room, or removing a closet, leaves a strip of subfloor where the wall used to be. That is a repair job, not a reason to replace the whole floor. We lace in boards that match the width and species of the surrounding floor, then refinish the connected rooms together. The same approach works where an old floor register or radiator came out.

Smaller households, condos and apartments

Brighton households are on the small side: Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the average at 2.16 people, and the owner-occupied rate is 56.4%, so a fair share of homes here are rented apartments and condominiums. In an apartment or condo with a concrete slab, nail-down solid wood is often not an option. Engineered hardwood, which has a real wood wear layer on a stable core, can be glued or floated instead. Check your association rules first; many require a sound-rated underlayment on upper floors.

Older trim, newer rules

Houses built before 1978 may have lead paint on baseboards and shoe molding. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, fully effective since April 22, 2010, requires EPA- or state-certified firms and lead-safe practices for work that disturbs lead paint in those homes. Because a floor sander's edge pass runs right along that trim, we decide with you up front whether shoe molding comes off and how dust is contained.

Winter in a Brighton house

Rochester-area winters are long, with about 102 inches of snow a year at Rochester under the 1991-2020 normals. Forced-air heat dries the house, and one Great Lakes flooring guide notes boards shrink and gaps open once indoor humidity drops below 30 percent. Manufacturers generally want 35 to 55 percent. A whole-house humidifier and boot trays by the door do a lot to protect a new finish.

Brighton services

• Hardwood floor refinishing
• Screen and recoat
• Repair and board replacement, including lacing in where walls were removed
• Hardwood stairs
• Hardwood floor installation
• Engineered hardwood for slabs and condos

Call (585) 632-6150 for a free written estimate.

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