Questions
Flooring questions, answered straight
Company
Company
How old is West Coast Floor Company?
West Coast Floor Company was founded in 1898, which makes it one of the oldest trading names in the Napa Valley flooring business. The generation running it today, led by owner Jesus Martinez, has more than forty years of experience in the work.
Who owns West Coast Floor Company?
West Coast Floor Company was founded in 1898 and is owned today by Jesus Martinez, who runs it as a family business from a showroom in Napa, California. The present generation has more than forty years of experience in the trade. The company is a member of the National Wood Flooring Association and holds California Contractors State License #891057.
Is West Coast Floor Company BBB Accredited?
No. The company holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, which is a separate thing from accreditation. A rating reflects the BBB's assessment of the business; accreditation is a paid membership. We state the rating and do not claim the accreditation.
Has the company won any awards?
West Coast Floor Company was named a Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite in 2021 and again in 2023 — an award decided by the recommendations of neighbors in the surrounding area rather than by an industry panel.
General
General
What areas does West Coast Floor Company serve?
West Coast Floor Company serves Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Marin counties in Northern California, working out of its showroom at 1558 Silverado Trail in Napa. Most residential work is in Napa, American Canyon, Vallejo, Benicia, Fairfield and Vacaville, and the crew regularly travels to Petaluma, Penngrove, Martinez, Concord, Walnut Creek and across Marin.
Is the in-home estimate really free?
Yes. In-home estimates are free anywhere in the service area, with no obligation and no deposit. We measure the space, look at the subfloor, talk through species and finish options, and leave you with a written price you can compare against anyone else's.
Are you a licensed contractor?
Yes. West Coast Floor Company holds California Contractors State License #891057. You can verify it yourself on the CSLB website — status, classification and history are all public. California requires a license for any job over $500 in combined labor and materials.
Do you do the work yourselves or subcontract it?
The work is done by our own crew. That is the point of a family shop: the person who quotes the job is connected to the people who do it, and everyone is still here if you call about something two years later.
How do I get started?
Call (707) 864-2199, request an estimate through this site, or come by the showroom and take samples home. Messages sent through the site reach the owner directly and are usually answered within two hours. Most people start with samples, because a floor that looks right under showroom lights can look completely different in a north-facing room.
Materials
Materials
Solid or engineered hardwood — which should I choose?
Choose solid hardwood over a wood subfloor in a house you plan to keep, because it can be refinished many times. Choose engineered over a concrete slab, over radiant heat, or anywhere humidity swings hard, because its cross-layered core moves far less. Both are real wood on the surface.
Water-borne or oil-borne finish?
Water-borne finishes dry clear, stay clear, have low odor and cure fast enough to walk on the same day. Oil-borne finishes amber over time, warming the wood, and take considerably longer to cure with a much stronger smell. Modern two-component water-borne finishes match oil for durability, which is why most floors now get them.
Is luxury vinyl plank a good choice for a Napa home?
For a laundry room, a bathroom, a rental or a basement, yes — LVP is fully waterproof and takes abuse well. For main living areas in a house you intend to keep, hardwood costs more up front and is worth more later, because it can be refinished and vinyl cannot.
What is a Janka rating and does it matter?
The Janka rating measures how much force it takes to dent a species of wood; red oak sits at 1,290 and is the usual reference point. It predicts dent resistance, not scratch resistance — those come from the finish. A hard species with a poor finish still scratches.
Process
Process
How much dust does sanding make?
Far less than it used to. Our sanding equipment runs on a sealed vacuum system that captures the great majority of dust at the source. It is not literally dust-free — no system is — but it is the difference between wiping down once afterwards and finding sawdust in your cupboards for a month.
Do I need to move out during the work?
Usually not, but you cannot use the rooms being worked on. Most families stay and work around it. If the whole ground floor is being done at once, or if someone in the house is sensitive to odor, staying elsewhere for two or three nights makes it much easier.
Who moves the furniture?
We can, and it is quoted as part of the job. Anything fragile, valuable or personal is better handled by you. Appliances, pianos and anything plumbed in are discussed at the estimate so there are no surprises on day one.
What about my pets during the work?
Pets and freshly finished floors do not mix — claws mark uncured finish, and the noise of a drum sander is hard on animals. Plan for pets to be elsewhere during sanding and for at least the first day of finish. We will tell you when it is safe.
How soon can you start?
It depends on the season and the size of the job. Spring and early fall are the busiest. The honest answer comes at the estimate, when we know the scope — and we would rather give you a real date than a hopeful one.
Services
Services
Can my old hardwood floor be saved, or does it need replacing?
Most of the time it can be saved. A solid hardwood floor can usually be sanded and refinished several times across its life, and floors that look ruined — deep scratches, pet stains, layers of failed finish — often come back completely. Replacement is only necessary when the wood is too thin to sand, structurally damaged, or water-rotted.
How long does refinishing take?
For a typical house, sanding and finishing takes three to five working days. Sanding is one to two days, then each coat of finish needs to dry. Water-borne finishes let you walk on socks the same evening; oil-borne finishes need longer. Move furniture back after a few days, and wait about two weeks before laying rugs.
What is the difference between refinishing and a buff and recoat?
A buff and recoat abrades only the existing finish and adds a fresh coat — one day, no dust, and no change to the wood. A full refinish sands back to bare wood, removing scratches and stains and allowing a color change. If you can see bare wood in the traffic lanes, a recoat is no longer an option.
Do you install flooring other than hardwood?
Yes. Alongside solid and engineered hardwood, the company installs luxury vinyl plank, laminate and carpet, and completes full bathroom renovations. Hardwood installation and sand-and-finish restoration are the core of the business, but a laundry room or a rental often calls for something else — and we will say so.
Do you do commercial and gymnasium flooring?
Yes. West Coast Floor Company installs maple sports floors, game-line layouts and commercial flooring for schools, gyms, offices and institutional buildings across the North Bay, with a crew of twelve. Work is phased around school calendars and business hours, and most gymnasium work happens over the summer break.
Can you match the stain on my existing floors?
Usually, yes. Custom stain matching is part of the specialty work — we mix to a sample of the existing floor and lay test panels on your actual wood before committing, because the same stain behaves differently on red oak, white oak and old-growth fir.
Showroom
Showroom
Where is the showroom and when is it open?
The showroom is at 1558 Silverado Trail, Napa, CA 94559, on the east side of town a few minutes from downtown. It is open Monday to Friday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and by appointment outside those hours. Call (707) 864-2199 to arrange a time that suits you.
Can I take samples home?
Yes, and you should. There are hundreds of take-home samples — hardwood, engineered, LVP, laminate, carpet, tile and stone. Take several and look at them in the actual room, in morning light and evening light. It is the single best thing you can do before deciding.
Do I need an appointment?
No — walk in any weekday between 10 and 4. If those hours do not suit you, call (707) 864-2199 and we will open up at a time that does. Calling ahead is also worth it if you are driving a long way, because the crew is often out on jobs.
Glossary
Flooring terms in plain English
Every trade has its own vocabulary. Here is ours, so nothing on an estimate is a mystery.
- Acclimation
- Letting wood sit in the room where it will be installed until its moisture content matches the house. Skipping it is the single most common cause of gaps in winter and cupping in summer. In Napa Valley, three to five days is typical; a house near the Delta may need longer.
- Buff and recoat
- Abrading only the finish layer with a screen, then applying a fresh coat. It refreshes a dull floor in a day without touching the wood, and it is only possible while the finish is still intact — once you can see bare wood in the traffic lanes, it is a full refinish.
- Crowning
- The opposite of cupping: board centers higher than the edges. Usually the result of sanding a cupped floor flat before it had dried out, so once the moisture equalized the shape inverted. It is why a good contractor will make you wait.
- Cupping
- When board edges sit higher than their centers, making the floor look like a row of shallow troughs. It means the underside of the wood is wetter than the top — a crawl space, a slab, a leak, or a floor installed before it acclimated.
- Dustless sanding
- Sanding with equipment connected to a sealed vacuum system that captures the great majority of the dust at the source. It is not literally dust-free, but it is the difference between wiping down once and finding sawdust in your cupboards for a month.
- Engineered hardwood
- Real wood veneer bonded over a plywood or HDF core. The cross-layered core moves far less with humidity than solid wood, which is why it goes over concrete slabs and in basements. A thick wear layer, 3 mm or more, can be refinished once or twice.
- Expansion gap
- The deliberate space left between the flooring and every wall, cabinet and threshold so the floor can grow and shrink with the seasons. Base and shoe molding hide it. Fill it in and the floor has nowhere to go but up.
- Floating floor
- A floor that locks to itself and rests on the subfloor without being nailed or glued down. Common for laminate and much LVP. It installs fast and tolerates minor subfloor movement, but it sounds hollower underfoot.
- Janka rating
- A standardized measure of how hard a wood species is, from the force needed to push a steel ball halfway into a board. Red oak sits at 1,290 and is the reference point most others are compared to. Higher is more dent-resistant, not more scratch-resistant — those are different problems.
- LVP (luxury vinyl plank)
- Rigid plank flooring with a printed wood-look layer under a clear wear layer. Fully waterproof, which is why it dominates kitchens, laundries and rentals. It is not wood and does not age like wood — it wears out rather than patinating.
- Moisture barrier
- A membrane or coating between the subfloor and the flooring that stops water vapor moving up into the wood. Essential over any concrete slab and over most crawl spaces. Without one, a slab that tests fine in September can destroy a floor by March.
- Oil-borne finish
- A polyurethane finish carried in solvent. It ambers over time, warming the color of the wood, and it is very durable — but it smells strongly and takes far longer to cure. Traditionally what was on most older Napa and Vallejo floors.
- Prefinished
- Wood that arrives already sanded and finished from the factory, usually with a micro-bevel on each edge. It is faster to install and the factory finish is extremely hard, but the color is fixed and the bevels collect grit.
- Sand and finish
- The full restoration: sanding the floor back to bare wood in successive grits, optionally staining, then building a new finish. It removes scratches, stains and old finish entirely, and can be done several times over a solid floor's life.
- Screen and recoat
- Another name for buff and recoat. The screen is the abrasive disc used to scuff the existing finish so a new coat bonds to it.
- Site-finished
- Wood installed raw and then sanded, stained and finished in place. It produces a perfectly flat surface with no bevels between boards and lets the color be matched to the room. It takes longer and the house is unusable while it happens.
- Subfloor
- The structural layer beneath the finished floor — plywood, board sheathing, or a concrete slab. Its flatness, dryness and fastening determine more about how a new floor performs than the flooring itself does.
- Underlayment
- The layer between subfloor and flooring: foam or cork for sound and minor leveling, rosin paper or felt under nailed hardwood, cement board under tile. Different jobs, often confused with each other.
- Water-borne finish
- A polyurethane finish carried in water. It dries clear and stays clear, has far lower odor and VOCs, and cures fast enough to walk on the same day. Modern two-component water-borne finishes match or beat oil for durability.
- Wear layer
- On engineered wood, the thickness of real hardwood above the core; on vinyl, the clear protective film on top. It is the number that decides whether a floor can ever be refinished, and the one manufacturers are most reluctant to put on the front of the box.
Still wondering
Ask us directly
No sales script. Tell us what the floor is doing and we will tell you what we would do about it.