This customer, out in Overland Park, was absolutely amazing to work with! The project was definitely unique and challenging. This floor is an Australian cypress. Therefore, everything that flooring professionals are taught, does not apply to exotic species like this one. The sanding is different, the staining is different, the sealing is different, and so on!
Australian cypress has oils in the wood and inside each of the knot holes. So, we had to be very careful not to over sand an area. Otherwise, those oils in the wood will heat up and burnish the wood floors. We also found that this exotic wood will not take any stain colors. No mater what color sample we applied, the Australian cypress said “NOPE”!
The best thing for this species was to leave it natural. Which is what we did! The customer even said that grains in the wood were enhanced. The natural showed all of the character and beauty that Australian cypress has to offer. One of the most important task was to not buff the floor too aggressive or the final product would show swirl marks. This is the key to any exotic hardwood. Cypress is not very forgiving like oak.
We sealed this floor twice with an oil-based wood enhancer sealer. This was a great idea! Having an extra layer of sealer helped seal down the oils in the wood. After two coats of sealer, we applied two coats of Bona Traffic HD. This floor looked so good afterwards and you couldn’t even tell if it was a pre-finished hardwood or had recently been refinished. It looked like a brand new install.
If you have exotic flooring in your home, please let us work our magic! Not every hardwood flooring company knows how to handle exotic hardwoods. It’s best to hire the right company, first! You can book your free bid with us at www.rippnfinish.com/booking. We are a Kansas City family company.
Project Overview
- Move furniture & appliances
- Pull base shoe
- Sanding
- Staining
- Finishing