Hardwood Flooring in Greece, NY

A lot of hardwood flooring in Greece was put down in a single generation. George Eastman opened the first Kodak plant in 1891 at Mount Read Boulevard and West Ridge Road, and for decades the company was the largest employer in the greater Rochester region. After a severe freeze in 1934 destroyed many orchards, farmland was sold for development. Housing for returning World War II veterans and Kodak workers drove the town from about 15,000 residents in 1940 to almost 50,000 by 1960. Houses from those years were commonly built with solid oak floors, and a great many are still there, waiting under carpet or a tired coat of finish.

Koda-Vista and neighborhoods like it

The Koda-Vista Historic District, listed on the National Register on August 16, 2019, covers Hoover and Vista Drives along with Merrick, Allerton, Hammond, Maiden, Acton, Ayer and Elmguard Streets and part of West Ridge Road. It is one example of the modest, well-built housing that fills much of the town. For floors in houses like these, our advice is usually the same: keep the original oak and refinish it.

What a refinish involves

People considering refinishing for the first time usually want to know what the days look like.

• Day one: move-out of furniture (or we work around large pieces by agreement), staple and tack strip removal, repairs to damaged boards, then sanding through a sequence of grits.
• Day two: final sanding passes, vacuuming, then stain if you chose one, followed by the first coat of finish.
• Following days: additional coats, with drying time between them that depends on the finish and the weather.
• After: light foot traffic in socks first, furniture back later, rugs last. We give you the specific timing for the finish we use.

Patching after a renovation

Postwar houses in Greece have been remodeled many times over. Kitchens get opened up, heating registers move, a half-bath goes in where a closet was. Each leaves gaps or mismatched patches in the floor. We replace damaged or missing boards with matching width and species and weave them in so the repair does not show as a square. Sanding and refinishing the whole connected area afterward is what makes the patch disappear.

Northern Greece and the lakeshore

The town runs north to Lake Ontario, where Cranberry Pond, Long Pond and Braddock Bay line the shore at the lowest point in town, 243 feet above sea level. Houses near water and wetlands are more likely to have damp basements or crawlspaces, and moisture rising from below is a common cause of cupped boards. We check subfloor moisture before sanding a cupped floor or installing a new one.

Lead-safe planning

Nearly every house from the postwar boom was built before 1978, the cutoff for the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule. That rule, fully effective since April 22, 2010, requires EPA- or state-certified firms and lead-safe practices for work that disturbs lead paint. Painted baseboards and shoe molding sit right at the floor's edge, so we agree on how they will be handled before sanding starts.

Winter care for a refinished floor

With about 102 inches of snow a year in the Rochester area under the 1991-2020 normals, entries take a beating. Use a mat inside and out, wipe up meltwater instead of letting it sit, and run a humidifier when the heat is on. A Great Lakes flooring guide notes that gaps open once indoor humidity falls below 30 percent.

Our services in Greece

• Hardwood floor refinishing
• Repair and board replacement
• Screen and recoat
• Hardwood stairs
• Solid hardwood installation
• Engineered hardwood for basements and slabs

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

Get a Free Estimate