Hardwood Flooring in Pittsford, NY

Our hardwood flooring work in Pittsford leans heavily toward restoration, because this is a town that holds on to its old buildings. The Pittsford Village Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1984 and greatly expanded in 2016, now covers almost the entire village. It takes in 120 dwellings among 198 contributing elements, in Federal, mid-19th-century revival and late Victorian styles, with buildings dating from the 1810s to the 1930s. A floor in a house like that may have been sanded several times already, patched by previous owners and stained more than once. Our job is to get one more good finish out of it without taking more wood than we must.

Reading an old village floor

Before we quote work in an older Pittsford house, we spend time figuring out what the floor is. Some rooms may have softwood boards of mixed widths; others were updated with oak strip in the early 20th century. Each calls for a different approach.

• Species and width. Softer woods dent more easily and sand faster, so we use finer grits and a lighter hand.
• Remaining thickness. We check at a register or threshold. Exposed nail heads across the field mean the floor has little sanding left.
• Past repairs. Mismatched patches, filled holes from old radiator pipes and boards facing the wrong way are common. Some we redo; some we leave because they are part of the house's history.
• Finish history. Wax, shellac and old varnish behave differently under a sander and with new finishes. We test before committing to a system.

The canal and its buildings

The Erie Canal runs through town, and its completion in 1825 spurred development across the region. Old canal-side buildings and barns have been converted into restaurants, cafes and shops, and the Spring House on Monroe Avenue, once an inn on the original canal, is on the National Register. Commercial wood floors in buildings like these take heavy foot traffic. A periodic screen and recoat, done before the finish wears through, is much less disruptive to a business than a full sanding.

Family homes held for years

Pittsford is overwhelmingly owner-occupied: Census estimates for 2020 to 2024 put the rate at 86.4%, with 2.61 people per household and 85.2% of residents living in the same house a year earlier. Long ownership means floors that see years of kids, dogs and kitchen traffic. A common pattern is a living room and dining room in good shape with a kitchen run and front hall worn to bare wood. Sometimes the right answer is a full refinish of the main floor; sometimes it is replacing a few boards and recoating.

Stairs in center-hall houses

Many colonials and older village houses have a front staircase that is the first thing guests see and the most-used wood in the house. Hardwood stairs take more handwork than open floor: each tread and riser is sanded by hand or with small machines, and nosings wear fastest. We can refinish existing treads, replace cracked ones, or convert carpeted stairs to finished wood with new treads where the originals are not worth saving.

Lead paint on old trim

In homes built before 1978, painted baseboards and stair stringers may contain lead. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, fully effective since April 22, 2010, calls for EPA- or state-certified firms and lead-safe practices when that paint is disturbed. We plan edge work and shoe molding removal with you before the first sander runs.

What we offer in Pittsford

• Hardwood floor refinishing for old and newer homes
• Repair and board replacement with matched species and widths
• Hardwood stairs
• Screen and recoat
• New solid hardwood installation
• Engineered hardwood where a slab or radiant heat rules out solid boards

For a written estimate, call (585) 632-6150.

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