Phil Valenti, owner of Valenti Flooring in Ronkonkoma, New York, has been in the flooring business for nearly 20 years. His wife, Julia, joined Valenti Flooring as the manager five years ago. Last year, Phil and Julia joined NWFA and Phil earned his NWFA Install and Sand & Finish Certifications. “I run the business side of things, and Phil does the field work,” explains Julia.
About 17 years ago, Valenti Flooring did the floors for the Beach Bar in Hampton Bays, New York. “This year, the Beach Bar is celebrating its 25th anniversary, so the owner contacted us and decided it was time for the floors to get a facelift,” says Julia.
FLOOR FOCUS
Being in a restaurant environment, the floors had been exposed to lots of wear and tear. “In addition to the high traffic the floors receive, there was also about 40 square feet of severely water-damaged flooring in the middle of the bar that needed to be ripped out and replaced,” says Julia. “The floors have been redone so many times that our crew had to put in a lot of hours sanding down the new boards before they could be installed.”
The species installed was a 2-1/4 inch oak. “Being May and being that we let our wood previously acclimate to a similar environment already, there wasn’t a need to acclimate this particular wood on the job site,” says Julia.
PROCESS DETAILS
After installing the boards that had been sanded down, the entire floor was sanded and ready for finish. “This will definitely be the last layer for the life of this floor, so we finished with three coats of an oil-based finish to help provide a thicker top layer,” says Julia.
MAINTENANCE
“Being in a commercial environment, we recommend regular maintenance coats to help extend the life of the floor,” adds Julia. Valenti Flooring primarily works on residential jobs, but either way, they always provide their customers with a recommended maintenance schedule and a suggestion of cleaning products that are safe for the floor.
“It’s important that the cleaning crews understand not to use chemicals on the floor,” says Julia. “We do what we can to try and prolong the life of the floor by providing our customers with care tips. The Beach Bar was a fun job. Every day is different, and that’s why we love what we do!”