Marblehead asks more of a flooring company than almost anywhere else on the North Shore. The homes here span from the 1700s to the present day, and in many of them the floor is the oldest surviving element in the room. Saulnier Floors has restored, repaired and installed floors throughout Marblehead for decades, from Old Town to Clifton to the properties overlooking Devereux Beach.
Historic floors require restraint as much as skill. In an Old Town home with a documented place in Marblehead’s Revolutionary history, where General John Glover and George Washington are recorded to have met, we restored 200 square feet of 10 to 12 inch wide pine through careful plug repairs and resetting of the original nails, followed by a sanding and finish light enough to preserve the floor’s age and character.
When we reset cut nails in a historic floor, we set them in the pattern they were originally laid in. It is a detail most will never notice, and precisely the kind of detail that defines the work. For that home we applied our DUNE system, a white tint carried in a water based finish, giving a centuries old floor a bright, contemporary presence.
A 1930 colonial near Ocean Avenue featured 2 inch rift and quartered white oak laid in a patterned section with an intricate border, and portions of it were beginning to fail. Rather than sand across the whole floor, we replaced individual boards that would not survive another sanding, then refinished the floor and moved the color away from the amber tone the homeowner had lived with for years. Stair treads and landings were refinished to match. We returned in 2026 to recoat the kitchen before further wear could take hold.
On Front Street, between the Landing and the Barnacle, an 1850 Victorian called for a new floor. The homeowners selected 4 inch rift and quartered white oak in character grade, chosen for its knots, mineral streaking and natural variation, a deliberate match for the age of the house. We installed a vapor barrier, laid the floor and finished it in our Oxford system for a warm amber tone.
In a 1938 colonial in Clifton we took the opposite approach: select grade 4 inch rift and quartered white oak across 1,800 square feet, herringbone in the entry, new stair treads and a multi-step stain process. Part of that installation sits over radiant heat, requiring precise awareness of every pipe beneath the surface. Before staining, we conditioned the floor, raising and opening the grain so the color absorbed evenly across every board.
Proximity to the water affects how wood moves and how finishes perform. In a cape at Peach Highlands we applied our Oxford Enhanced system, a deep amber oil with a water based topcoat, preserving the honey tone the homeowners loved while significantly reducing drying time so the family and their dog could return to the room sooner.
Sometimes the solution is sourcing rather than technique. For a game room near Devereux Beach we specially ordered 5 inch first grade maple in 6 to 12 foot lengths so new boards could be woven into the existing floor without a visible join.
We work regularly with builders, designers and architects in Marblehead, supplying and installing engineered white oak and finishing stair treads to match. Involving us early in a build or renovation gives you far more flexibility in species, grade and layout.
Our team uses industry standard dust containment systems on every sanding project, which matters especially in older homes where dust travels further than anyone expects.
Our NWFA-certified professionals understand that an older floor is not simply an older version of a new one. It asks for different tools, different judgment and a willingness to do less where less is correct. Family owned for over 70 years and voted Northshore Magazine’s Readers’ Choice for Best Flooring on the North Shore, we have likely worked in a home like yours, and quite possibly on your street.
Contact Saulnier Floors at 781-595-7232, or visit our showroom at 119 Foster Street, Building #13, Peabody, MA. We are open seven days a week.
