Custom inlays and borders in Toronto and the GTA
Feature strips, medallions and borders — cut and fitted to a floor that still has to move with the seasons.
Bespoke feature strips, medallions and borders routed and fitted by hand for a signature look.
Get a fixed written price
A senior estimator measures, then writes one price. It does not move afterwards.
Before you book
When this is the wrong service
A service page that only says yes is not much use. These are the situations where this is not the right call, and what is.
- The floor is being refinished only and no new material is going in.
- Use instead: Hardwood Floor Refinishing.
Published price
Quoted per project
- Band
- No per-square-foot band is published for this service; it is quoted per project after the free in-home measure. The three published bands are on the pricing page.
- How it is set
- Fixed price in writing. It never moves after the free in-home estimate.
The standard
How this work is judged
These are the Well-Installed Framework pillars this service is scored against. The framework is published, versioned and free to cite — use it on our quote, and on everyone else’s.
Product specification
The correct product is the one that will still look and perform correctly in twenty years. This pillar establishes that the house specified the floor, not the budget.
Expansion and movement
The question is never whether a floor will move. This pillar establishes that room for the movement was designed in rather than discovered later.
The method
What the technique actually is
Nothing on this page asserts a technique that is not set out in full in a published paper. These are the sections that establish it.
Before you decide
The questions this service turns on
Each answer is the recommendation of a published decision guide, not a paragraph written for this page. Follow the link for the criteria behind it.
- What is the correct machine sequence for refinishing a hardwood floor?
- All four machines, in sequence, with intercoat screening. Equipment is not the difference between companies — the sequence and the discipline to complete it are. Read the guide.
- Should I install herringbone, chevron or parquet in my Toronto home or condo?
- Choose the pattern for the room, then confirm the substrate method. Budget a real labour and waste premium. In condos, resolve slab moisture, acoustics and elevator logistics before ordering patterned material. Read the guide.
Vocabulary
Terms used on this page
- Expansion gap
- Deliberate clearance left at walls and at every fixed object so the floor has somewhere to go when it expands.
- Acclimation
- The period during which flooring material equalises to the conditions of the room it will be installed in — a minimum of 72 hours, in the actual conditioned space.
The open questions behind this service
What to settle first
What is the correct machine sequence for refinishing a hardwood floor? · Should I install herringbone, chevron or parquet in my Toronto home or condo?
Each is published in full with the reasoning rather than a recommendation, free to apply to any contractor’s quote — see also all decision guides and the standard they are judged against.
Proof, with the numbers
Jobs where this was the work
Published in full, with the readings taken before anything started. Not every job below is this exact service — they are the ones where this service decided the outcome.
Distillery District, over concrete
Over a concrete slab, where the moisture test decided the assembly before a species was chosen.
Yorkville loft, below grade
Below grade at a critical moisture reading, and the mitigation that made the floor possible.
Rosedale estate, stairs over radiant heat
Stairs and a main floor over radiant heat, finished to one colour across two assemblies.
Every case study publishes what was measured, not only what was achieved — all of them are here, and each one names the substrate, the species, the readings and the protocol it followed.
Coverage
Where this service is delivered
Downtown Toronto · North York · Etobicoke · Scarborough · East York · York · Vaughan · Markham · Richmond Hill · Mississauga · Oakville · Brampton · Aurora · Newmarket · Pickering · Ajax · Whitby · Oshawa · Clarington · Kawartha Lakes · Halton Hills · Caledon · Innisfil · Guelph · Cambridge · Kitchener · Port Colborne · Milton · Burlington · Hamilton · Grimsby · St. Catharines · Niagara-on-the-Lake · Niagara Falls · Barrie · King · Lincoln · Welland · Thorold · Fort Erie · Buffalo · Amherst · Clarence · Cheektowaga · Lancaster · West Seneca · Tonawanda · Grand Island · Orchard Park · Hamburg · East Aurora · Niagara Falls, NY · Lewiston · Wheatfield · North Tonawanda · Lockport · Rochester, NY · Brighton · Pittsford · Fairport · Victor · Webster · Irondequoit · Greece · Rosedale · Forest Hill · Yorkville · Leaside · The Annex · High Park · Riverdale · Leslieville · The Beaches · Lawrence Park · Cabbagetown · Swansea · Davisville Village · Midtown Toronto · King West · Liberty Village · The Kingsway · Ancaster · Dundas · Stoney Creek · Waterdown · Beamsville · King City · Nobleton · Kleinburg · Woodbridge · Angus Glen · Bayview Glen · Cachet · Port Credit · Lorne Park · Mineola · Clarkson · Sheridan · Williamsville · Kenmore
Every area above has its own page: the housing stock, the neighbourhoods and the constraint that is specific to it. See all service areas.