May

Who has perfectly rectangular rooms? No one.

May 31, 2019

When we decided to get hands-on with the recent installation at Bake Shop Bakes in Tyrone, PA, it was because we knew there would be installation “quirks” that we wanted to be able to explain to our customers.

New technologies always have these, and the best way to make installation a smooth experience for enthusiastic DIY-ers is to be able to relate to and communicate effectively with them.

This blog post details one of these quirks, which you would really encounter with any flooring installation. What to do around corners, weird spaces, and in crooked rooms.

In the bakery, the entry is segmented into two main portions as shown in the photo to the left. This made a significant impact on where we decided to start assembling the flooring in the room. To go about this process strategically, we laid the first row down bridging the two segments, right in front of the entryway.

If we had started the floor along the window, it was highly likely that we would have had to cut an “L” shape out of a board once we reached the the doorway. This decision would have meant that replacing the boards in the higher wear area (i.e. the area near the door) would be difficult because the “L”cut would be a factor in single board replacement. Instead, we laid full boards in the entryway with a transition strip, and cut the boards lengthwise under the breakfast bar area where replacements would be less likely to occur.

Now, we can replace any board in the doorway in less than 5 minutes with no need to shut down the restaurant for repairs. The best news is that we haven’t needed to repair any planks yet, because in the last two months the hard maple floor and the HD polyurethane has held up quite well (even through Easter and early summer)!

The take-away…

In your home, you know best where to expect wear damage and where it is less likely to occur, so this type of decision will be up to you! But anytime you reach a weird spot, a saw (usually a table saw) can be used to cut your Steller board into the shape and size you need in that location. Don’t forget to seal it with the provided sealant on the cut edge, then you can pop it down just like the rest of your floor!