Please note: this page contains reviews and opinions sent in by Berkeley Parents Net subscribers. Your own experience may be different. Please always check references before hiring!

Hardwood Floors Refinishers & Installers

Does anyone have recommendations of someone to install, stain, and finish a hardwood floor (about 1000 square feet) in the Lafayette/Walnut Creek area? We're looking for someone who does high quality work at reasonable prices.

Handloggers Flooring, LLC.
305 Cutting Blvd.
Pt. Richmond, CA 94804
Phone: (510) 231-6190 or (800) 461-1969
http://www.handloggers.com/contact_us/index.html
Hours of Operation:
Monday Thru Friday - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Does anyone have experience using Norcal flooring for a hardwood floor refinishing job (with some repair work too)? They do dustless sanding and use a low VOC water-based sealer and finish (made by BonaKemi) which seems good to me. I'd appreciate any input on your experience with their services. K

We are thinking about hardwood in the hallway to match the entry. Any leads on craftsmen appreciated. Alice

A glowing review for Joey Yovino-Young. He just finished a very involved refinish/replacement floor job at our home. You could not ask for a nicer, neater, more professional fellow. He is interested in local work in Berk/OAK and nearby. Joey is honest and his rates are very reasonable. Lindsey

We just had our new floors done by Reborn Floors in Berkeley-- they did the job within a week, and Minh, the manager, was extremely thoughtful about calling us and telling us about timing. The team of guys who did the work were super friendly and talented. Their prices are competitive and they have a nice showroom on San Pablo. julie

Juan Reyes is finishing up a job replacing our kitchen floor and he is wonderful. His price is extremely good and his workmanship is excellent. He's reliable and a nice person.
John

I highly recommend Ivon, at Great Oak, to do your floors. He did an excellent job installing new hardwood floors for us, as well as refinishing one of our damaged floors. Ivon is professional and his work is great quality. We were well satisfied with the results, plus he was easy to work with as well. His number is (510) 465-0876. Sincerely, Susan S

The Great Oak Hardwood, proprieter, Yvan Igbinedion. 510-465-0876. They have refinished the floors in my home, and I have referred many of my friends who have had only positive experiences for both installation and refinishing using both common and exotic woods. THe consistent reports are tidy, efficient, great quality, very reasonably priced, excellent customer service. What more can you ask for? rita

I found Tony of Specialty Hardwood Floors in the Berkeley Parent's Network. He just finished my hardwood floors, and did a great job. He was very professional, was always on time (and sometimes early!), worked quickly, and takes great pride in his work. I was very pleased with the job, and wanted to provide the feedback to this forum. His number is 510-387-3155. Alison

I have hardwood floors thoughout my house, and they are in great condition generally, but in a few spots, particularly under and around the dining room table and chairs, they look terrible. The varnish is gone, they are scratched, and the space between planks is no longer sealed. Having a toddler and a baby hasn't helped the situation, as there is always food on the floor. I am wondering if it is possible to do spot revarnishing or do we have to do a full refinishing job? I would like to wait to do that until the kids are bigger, but I am worried about causing long term damage to the floors. Anyone have experience with this? Also, does anyone have any good ideas on how to protect floors under a table besides an area rug? Thanks in advance. Amy

Our hardwood floor in the living room and dining room area (about 500 sq. ft) was in bad shape due to years of wear and tear from the previous owner. After getting several estimates from those recommended in the BPN, we decided to go with Tony Nguyen of Specialty Hardwoods (510) 387 3155, also www.specialtyhardwoodflooring.com. His estimate was by far the lowest bid and he did excellent work. He is a super friendly guy, he shows up on time, finishes on time and easy to get a hold of. Based on my experience with him, I also hired him to do the baseboards in the living and dining rooms. By the way, the floors now look great. Chris

My mother recently had a wonderful experience with Tony of Specialty Floors (510-387-3155, 415-215-0379). My mother's home is very difficult to access (landlocked, no parking, many stairs) and the job was a challenge. Tony's pleasant, "No problem" attitude was indeed true for him. They were always on time and, even with added attention to detail requested, the original, very reasonable, price held. A job well done. No problem. Erin

We recently purchased a home in Berkeley that had very damaged hardwood floors. We hired Autumn Leaf Hardwood Floors to refinish and stain them. Franscisco was a dream come true. He was on time, actually early, hard working, extremely dedicated and highly professional. We had a few setbacks in our house renovation project and Francisco was very accommodating to our scheduling changes. This guy worked from 8am to 9:30pm on certain days to make sure our floors were in perfect condition for our move-in date. I cannot say enough wonderful things about him. Meticulous, attention to detail, hard working and resonable rates. I just wish I had more things for him to do. He was such a pleasure to have around and his work is of the highest quality. Even when my movers put some stratches in the floors on moving day, Francisco was right back to smooth them out and fix them. What a guy! He comes very highly recommended by us. Autumn Leaf Floor Service( 510-213-0312). Autumnleaffloors[at]gmail.com Eva

I found a few referrals for hardwood floor refinishers in BPN's past recommendations (some time ago). Can anybody give me a more current recommendation? OR, can anybody comment on their experiece with either of the following refinishers?:
Allison w/ 'Hardwood Floor Show'
Lam/ with 'Above Grade Wood Flooring'
Tony w/ 'Specialty Hardwood Flooring'
We are just about ready to start the project and I want to make sure that we make a great decision in terms of who to go with! Thank you all for you input. Heather

We recently has new floor installed in our living room. And refinished the four bed rooms. They did a very good job so that both the refinished floors looks just like the the new installed one. We love it so much, we are so please that we end up installing hardwood in our stair and replaced all the hand rail, and remodeled our wood fire place. Mr Nam from Hardwood Floor Master is very profesional. He would give us lots of good advice for floor care. We are very very happy with our floor. we have recommend this company to all our friend and relative. the company number is 510-429-9388. I hope you would want to try them too..you will satisfy. Tina

We just remodeled our house and used Amber Flooring (who had been recommended by friends) in Oakland for 2 rooms that needed hardwood floors and had a very unpleasant experience. When we scheduled an initial appointment with them to see samples and have them come do measurements the employee who showed up came with no samples and really was unhelpful and was not clear on why he was there. We had to go down to their office and get our own samples (which was not convenient). When they put in the flooring they damaged our walls in the kitchen and the bathrooms and left off pieces of baseboard.

When we called them to get this fixed they were unhelpful and borderline rude. They never told us the best way to clean the floors after installation and when I inquired they said "read our website." For the amount we spent with them the service was less than satisfactory. I just wanted to warn other consumers if they are to use them for hardwood floors. Wendy

I just hired Juan Reyes and his Uncle, Carlos, to install new wood floors in downstairs of my house in the Oakland Hills. I checked their references which were glowing. They have tons of experience having worked for a larger company but recently started their own business. They were terrific; friendly, fast, and gave me a great price. The floors look perfect. Juan Reyes can be contacted at (510) 932-4876. Natasha

After using a Xmas tree preservative, our hardwood floor was badly damaged from the drippings.A pro. told us we"d have to refinish. Fortunately discovered a true"Miracle Worker"specializing in blending flaws and small finish repairs.She prideful and passionate about her work and generous with her time.She even educated me with some tricks of the trade. She's starting her own business,after working with a partner for 14 yrs.& is extremely reasonable. She's a delightful person along with her patience and skills. My floor looks brand new and totally repaired. I VERY HEARTILY recommend her. Her name: CAROLYN DOUGLAS at (510)847-1994.

We recently refinished our hardwood floors and got three bids. We hesitantly turned down the Ho Family and went with Lam (Above Grade Wood Flooring) 510 882-2561 and haven't been happier. The workers were amazing (Lam only comes to make the bid) and worked 150%. We're incredibly frugal people and gave each worker a tip. I can't recommend them highly enough. Work done September 2004 Kathy

I've removed carpeting that's been down for 10 years and am pleased that the hardwood floors underneath look like they can be saved. Does anyone have any current recommendations or warnings about refinishers in the Berkeley area?

We just bought a home in Orinda, and need to refinish the hardwood floors. There are so many choices in the phone book. I don't even know where to start. Who do you recommend (and NOT recommend?)? Thanks! Ynez

We're getting ready to move into a new house with hardwood floors in need of refinishing. About 1600-1800 square feet. We live in the Walnut Creek area (East Bay) and need someone who is inexpensive and can come out at the end of April. I'd appreciate any advice others could pass along. Thanks, Shannon

To Steve, who needed flooring installer recommendations: James Sarmiento does an excellent job of installing both wood and laminate floors. We got our t.v. room done in a weekend (Pergo) last year, and we are so happy with it. We decided on Pergo rather than wood because of our three dogs and our baby boy.

BTW - James does everything. he's done a bit of electrical wiring for us and also built a wall for us to separate one huge room into two bedrooms. He is efficient, works diligently, is conscious of your budget, and is honest, above all. We are hoping/planning on having him ''remodel'' our garage into an office space.

James Sarmiento: 877.334.6763, pager; (650) 589-2391, home Good Luck.

We recently hired Above Grade (owner Lam Ng) to repair and refinish a very damaged old wood floor in our kitchen, refinish the hall floor, and install a new hardwood floor in an addition. They did a beautiful job for a very reasonable price. They even offered to come back and do another sanding & coat for free after our cat got out and walked across the floor before it was dry after the last coat. We get a lot of compliments about the old kitchen floor - it looks incredible. We will definitely use them again.

Above Grade Wood Flooring
510 882-2561
abovegrade AT aol.com

I am seeking recommendations for someone to install new hardwood floors and refinish existing hardwood floors. Cost is a big consideration. Thank you. Amy

NBA hardwood floors - anna/alex bui 971.0534
Minh (reborn hardwood floors) - 510.531.4261
Home Depot -
Amber floors - miguel 486 1750
ashby - bayarea floors
Berkeley Design Center 510.652.6064
and the Ho family, found on the Parents Network.

Everybody has recommended the Carpet and Linoleum Center in Alamo to have Wilsonart installed. I found AMC Hardwood Floors dialling for dollars. Their quote was a third less than the Alamo shop, a savings of $2,400! Have any of you worked with them? Anybody else you know to do this job? Thanks Linda

Dale Swirsding is great. He's a one man shop, very good, very professional. I've had him refinish, patch and also clean, buff and polish dingy floors. I can't find his number right now, but it is Swirsding Floors and I know it is in the white pages kristi

Lee's Hardwood Floor has the best price and does a wonderful work with new or refinish. They put in a new hardwood floor in our kitchen and refinished the existing floor with some water damages beautifully last year. They are fast and very reliable and were least expensive of three companies I received quotes from. Jenny Lee is very reliable and will come to your home right away to give you a quote. I looked for their # but couldn't find it. They should be listed in the yellow pages in the 510 area. Chong

Are you thinking of installing a new hardwood floor or refinishing an existing floor? Recently I had a new hardwood floor installed by Reborn Hardwood Floors. The company is recommended in the Parents Network archives for doing good work refinishing hardwood floors. I'm sorry to say they did mediocre work installing a new floor. For example, even though there was lots of flooring material left at the end of the job, they used a couple of floorboards that should have been rejected due to color variance and/or quality. It was like they didn't notice. And they never came back to finish the job, as they promised they would. After that experience, I wouldn't hire them again even though they were pleasant to work with. fan of quality work

Call Christian Paul Hardwood Floors at 1-800-679-5800. You will receive expert advice, quality work, and most wonderful of all - reliability. For example, a 10:00am appointment really begins at 10:00am. Lisa

We just used the Ho family (see past recommendations) to refinish our entire downstairs. They did a great job, were very fast, very neat and VERY cheap! Amy

We used Dale Swirsding of Swirsding's Floor Service (548-7766) to sand and refinish our hardwood floors before we moved into our new house this year. He did a fantastic job. He does all the work himself and cares deeply about the result. He was extremely flexible in meeting our timetable and coordinating with other people that were working on the house around the same time. The result of his work is beautiful. Michael

Maintaining waxed floors

Help! I have never had this much trouble caring for my hardwoods. We recently bought a house and the floors must be waxed because nothing will work on them-just leaves a streaky residue and they look worse. Any suggestions??

Replacing oak floors with cherry

My husband and I were lucky enough to get a tax return this year and decided that we'd finally get a hardwood floor so we'll never need to look at that hideous linoleum again, Our ENTIRE house is in your standard white oak, which is why we decided to go with a wider plank br. cherry. However, I am starting to wonder if after a few months we're going to think it's too dark. Has anyone else gotten this kind of wood floor, or similar? Just right? Ultimately too dark? Any other suggestions for "darker than white oak" that ALSO isn't awfully expensive. And please, no posts about sustainability, what about bamboo (I find it ugly), and being more eco - I live a fairly eco-friendly existence across the board. Unfortunately, in this case eco means way more $$$, and after much soul searching we decided that we can try to make up for this one trangression in other ways. Of course, if you have a less expensive eco-friendly tip, I am very open. They key is a wood floor darker than white oak. Much thanks, catherine

Cleaning Hardwood Floors

Looking for advice on the best way to self clean hardwood floors. I am completely clueless in this regard. Someone mentioned a Swifer Mop. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks! marjorie

We're getting ready to sell our house and would like to clean (not refinish) the hardwood floors throughout. Has anyone had this done by professional cleaners that they can recommend? How much did it cost? We have a small two bedroom, one bath house--approximately 1200 square feet. The floors look like they have some ground-in dirt in heavily used areas and we're not sure it's worth the expense to have them completely refinished. I'd try scrubbing them myself but I'm about 6 months pregnant and have lots of other work to do, like packing. I checked the recommendations list, but didn't see any referrals for floor cleaning, just installation and refinishing, so I'd appreciate any advice others could pass along. Alison

DUSTLESS wood floor refinishing

Dustless is the new way to get wood floors re-done with less fine dust left around the house. Has anyone had experience with this type of refinishing, and a referral? The archives offer little on dustless. (Partial dustless doesn't seem dustless enough.) Any good ideas on how and where to store our furnishings during this work? Hopeful re floors

Where to buy hardwood flooring

Anyone have any suggestions as to where to buy white oak hardwood flooring. We've been to lumber liquidators, and might go with them, but a friend had some issues with her order from there so I'd like to research other options. Truitt and White only carries red oak. LK

Hardwood on Slab?

Hi, We just bought a house with slab foundation. It has carpeting through-out....including the dining area. With two small kids, I find this very gross and want to put hardwood floors down, but I've never lived on slab before. Does anyone have experience with slab foundations and how hardwood floors on slab are? Is it particularly cold in winter? I know that hardwood on non-slab foundations have give....is hardwood on slab too "hard" of a walk? any other idiosyncrasies of slab? does anyone have recommendations on hardwood floor sellers/installers?

Hardwood Floors in the Kitchen?

I am interested in recommendations for wood flooring for a kitchen. I have reviewed the archives, however, there are so many new products available and the 'existing' products seem to have evolved also. My understand is that bamboo, although desirable is not the right product for a kitchen. Some of the laminate products do seem a good choice, especially the ones that have several 'layers' so there is a possibility of sanding them in the future. However, the choices are overwhelming. So, what do people recommend? Which brand, which grade within the brand, and where is the best place to purchase? Many thanks. waiting to get rid of that old linoleum!

I have owned homes with every kind of kitchen floor available, and I much prefer hardwood. It is softer on the feet and hides dirt better than anything else, even tile or lineoleum chosen to disguise dirt. Pair it with washable rugs, and you can then wash most of your floor by putting it in the washing machine! You use Bona, a special hardwood cleaner that is biodegradable etc., on polyurethane-finished floors. I don't know about laminates but I wouldn't use a soft wood because kitchen floors take so much wear and tear. It will eventually need refinishing, but this is easy enough with hardwood. Mary Ann

We are thinking about tearing up the linoleum in our kitchen and refinishing the wood underneath rather than replacing it with tile. Is there any down/up side to wood floors that we should consider before making our decision to go ahead? Any suggestions? Thanks! Jeanne

There are pros and cons of oak flooring in the kitchen. Pros include a uniform look throughout the house and ease of cleaning (I damp mop every two weeks, but it never shows dirt). The downside, however, is that the wood is *hard*, and thus tougher on the body and the ears (the room feels more acoustically ''live''). Good luck! anne