Hardwood Floor & Stair Refinishing in North Center Chicago

FLOORecki transformed traditional red oak hardwood floors with an outdated yellow-orange tone into a more modern, rich look using a dark walnut stain and a Bona Traffic HD extra matte finish. This combination creates a clean, contemporary appearance while maintaining long-term durability and low VOC performance.

The staircase was fully updated to match the new flooring. We removed the existing stair runner and all staples, then sanded and refinished each tread. The staircase was upgraded with new square newel posts, modern square handrails, and black plain iron spindles to create a cohesive, updated design.

In addition to flooring and stairs, this project included selective demolition and layout improvements requested by the homeowner. We coordinated the removal of an existing fireplace, partial kitchen cabinet demolition, and structural wall adjustments, followed by rebuilding to improve the overall flow of the space.

All work was completed in a North Center Chicago townhome, near Roscoe Village and Wrigleyville. Projects like this require careful planning, protection, and coordination to ensure consistent results across multiple trades.
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Modernizing Red Oak Floors — From Yellow to Dark Walnut

Many older Chicago homes have red oak floors with strong yellow or orange tones. Through proper sanding, stain selection, and controlled application, we’re able to shift the look toward a deeper, more modern color without replacing the flooring.

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Stair Refinishing & Modern Staircase Upgrade

Updating stairs is one of the most impactful changes in a home. By removing carpet runners and upgrading to oak treads, square posts, and iron spindles, the entire space feels more open and contemporary.

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Coordinated Interior Work — Floors, Stairs, and Layout Changes

This project required coordination beyond flooring.
We worked closely with trusted contractors to manage demolition, wall adjustments, and rebuilding — keeping the process organized and efficient for the homeowner.

Customer requested to keep the original structure and save as much original parts as possible, as a result we had to remove old pine treads, support old stringboards and risers, we then installed new oak treads + cove moldings, stained it with duraseal special walnut and finished with Bona Amber seal + upper coats of Bona Traffic HD commercial grade water based finish.

Refinishing red oak floors, stain Coffee Brown Duraseal + Masterline commercial grade polyurethane satin sheen

Refinishing of red oak floor, stained Espresso Duraseal and finished with 2 coats of commercial grade polyurethane Masterline satin

Project required replacing 3 bedrooms floor old carpet with new red oak,  diagonal installation in main. living room area,  lastly we refinished existing and newly installed hardwood stained with provincial duraseal stain and finished with Bona Traffic Hd Satin