Flooring installers in Lettered Streets.

Locals call them the Lettered Streets. That's the alphabetical grid from A Street to J Street, one of Bellingham's most walkable neighborhoods. You can grab coffee at Lettered Streets Coffeehouse or walk your kids to Whatcom Middle School without touching the car. The homes go back to the 1890s: Victorians with fish-scale shingles, Craftsman Four-Squares with wide front porches, Colonial Revivals with ornate trim. The flooring underneath is just as old, and usually worth keeping.

Flooring across Lettered Streets

Home styles we work on: Victorian Queen Annes, Craftsman Four-Squares with wide porches, Colonial Revivals, early American bungalows, some converted multi-family.

Most floors in the Lettered Streets are original and worth saving. The 1890s-1910s homes here have narrow-plank tongue-and-groove pine in the service rooms (kitchens, halls, back stairs) and quarter-sawn oak in the formal rooms (parlor, dining, master bedroom). Both refinish well if there's enough wood left above the tongue. There usually is.

We sand these floors with a softer-grit progression, the same way we do in Fairhaven. Old pine sands easily. Too easily if you start at 36 grit, and we don't want to take off a millimeter of irreplaceable wood when 60 grit does the job. The quarter-sawn oak in the formal rooms can handle a bit more, but the goal doesn't change: leave as much original wood as we can.

Updated kitchens here often go to modern porcelain or large-format tile over the original pine. When we do that, we lay a crack-isolation membrane first so movement in the old substrate can't telegraph up through the new tile.

Climate considerations for Lettered Streets

Single-pane windows and thin insulation mean more condensation inside these older homes, and that pushes hardwood toward cupping in the spring and fall swing seasons. When we refinish, we usually suggest pairing it with whole-room humidity control.

Common Lettered Streets flooring projects

Period pine and fir refinishing. Board-by-board repair using reclaimed stock. Narrow-plank quarter-sawn oak restoration. Modern tile in updated kitchens.

Why Lettered Streets homeowners choose us

People buy in the Lettered Streets partly for the original character, so our default is to keep it. We refinish what's there and source reclaimed boards when a repair calls for it. Finishes match the era too: oil-modified poly for the warmer color tone, matte sheens instead of gloss. If a floor is original and salvageable, we'll tell you before anyone talks about tearing it out.

Flooring services in Lettered Streets

Nearby neighborhoods we serve

Recent Lettered Streets jobs

Ask and we'll share addresses of recent Lettered Streets jobs so you can drive past and look for yourself. Photos available by email.

Pricing for Lettered Streets

Same rates as the rest of our Whatcom County work. Hardwood install $8.80 to $15.40 per square foot. Refinishing $3.85 to $6.60. LVP $4.40 to $11. Tile $11 to $27.50. Carpet $3.85 to $8.80. No travel premium or fuel surcharge for Lettered Streets, even when a project sits at the edge of our service area.

How to start in Lettered Streets

Use the form on our homepage or call us at (360) 873-5667. During business hours most people hear back within 15 minutes, and the in-home estimate usually lands within 2 to 5 business days. We take subfloor moisture readings while we're there and leave you a written quote. No obligation.