Floor care and restoration in Arlington County

Garden apartments change the logistics of a flooring job

Arlington built a large stock of garden apartments between the mid 1930s and the mid 1950s, housing for federal workers laid out as low-rise Colonial Revival blocks around landscaped courtyards. Many were demolished over the years, but a substantial number still stand, and much of what remains has since been converted to condominiums. Fairlington, built during the Second World War, is the best known example.

For us that means a different kind of job from a suburban house. Units are often upstairs with no elevator, the stairwell is shared, parking is assigned or metered, and the building or condo association usually has rules about working hours and how materials come in and out. Subfloors are old, and in a converted building the floor assembly between units carries sound in a way the association may have written rules about, including underlayment requirements for hard flooring.

None of that is a problem, but it is all a reason to tell us the building and the floor you are on when you book, rather than on the morning. It is the difference between a scheduled job and a wasted trip for both of us.