Reclaimed Kitchen Floor!

Underneath a layer of vinyl and a layer of linoleum you will

most likely find a floor that looks something like this:

As you can see what is left is the paper, glue, and damage done by years of moisture creaping underneath the linoleum and sitting. At this point most homeowners and some flooring companies will begin to consider new flooring.

Top Shelf knows that there is beauty underneath all that and would prefer to take the time and spend the energy to reclaim a floor like this. It costs less than a new floor (hardwood, tile, or vinyl) but more importantly it is original to the house. This particular house was built in 1916 and it would be a shame to throw away a perfectly good fir floor for the sake of ease.

The next few pictures will show you the difference that a little sweat and integrity can make.

Looking better!

Now it's beginning to look like a kitchen someone could cook in.

This process is extremely labor intensive and most would not take on such a project. However, this floor speaks for itself at this point (and it is only halfway through the sanding process). After loosening up at that glue and paper this floor has seen three grits of sandpaper in three passes. It will now get at least one more pass to take out any imperfections that may be lingering and generally smooth out all the other passes. It'll then get 2 MORE passes with the buffer (each pass mentioned being a seperate grit of sandpaper) and finally finish. Extra care must be taken with a project like this as much of the required sanding and scraping has to be done by hand. Check back to see more photos of this and other projects. We can't wait to see how this floor looks with finish.

Call Danforth at Top Shelf for a free consultation and estimate: 319 321-5814

Eucalyptus Flooring

This installation is an example of a new product on the market and Top Shelf is the first in our area (Iowa) to work with it. Its coloration varies from dark reds and browns to light ambers and blonds. Eucalyptus from Argentina comes in three grades: Country (as shown above), Colonial, and Prestige. As the grades move up from Country to prestige you will find more uniformity in color and imperfections on the face of the wood will disappear. The floor shown above was of the lowest quality and had a few knots in the grain that did not alter the profile of the wood at all. This floor was 600 square feet and we counted a dozen small imperfections. Not bad!

We found this flooring to be easy to work with and extremely affordable and recommend this floor for its uniqueness, FSC certification, beauty, and cost (much lower than most products on the market). This is the second Eucalyptus floor Top Shelf has installed and as far as an endorsment goes the pictures speak for themselves.

This wood flooring is made from Eucalyptus Grandis grown in Argentina , the wood species has a Janka Scale rating of 1150, softer than Red Oak and slightly harder than Teak. Eucalyptus Grandis flooring is made of wood sourced from plantations certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This means the forests are being managed in a way that ensures long-term productivity and protects local cultures, economies, wildlife, soils, recreation and other uses. So instead of contributing to the destruction of the tropical rain forest in Latin America ,buying this flooring actually helps keep tropical rain forests intact.