Dawson Hardwood Floors was approached by homeowner Yong Kim about working on a restoration of the original antique Heart Pine floors of their 1900s era home, to it’s original state. This house had been vacant since the devastating hurricane Katrina.
This residence was located in a historical down town neighborhood on Howard Ave. I was immediately inspired by the historical significance and was excited to meet the challenges presented by a project like this. Yong’s vision spared no expense in the huge endeavor to bring this project to life. The first obstacle was to find wood of that same time period that we could make the repairs with in order to blend the two perfectly. Most of the repairs were vents that were not going to be used anymore due to a new HVAC system. All of the repairs needed new subfloor and to be laced into a 100 year old hardwood floor.
We also put in a new hallway that needed to match as well which we found through my good friend and mentor Buddy Jumonville. After carefully removing all of the shoe moulding and numbering it all, we were ready to start the sanding process. This was challenging as the wood was so sappy it ate our sandpaper like nothing.
After much time and effort we were able to meet the high expectations of Mr. Kim. He continued to work for another year or so and his dream eventually became a reality. Much to Mr Kim’s surprise, all the hard work poured into this project was awarded the Restoration of the Year, 2013 by the then Mayor, A.J. Holloway. Dawson Hardwood Floors took pride in the fact that all of our hard work was recognized by the city. As a direct result of our efforts, we have been chosen to do multiple antique restorations and we continue to specialize in historical preservation with the city of Biloxi. Currently we are working on another complete restoration in Pass Christian MS.
