Refinishing the hardwood floors at the Kariton Art Gallery
Recently I had the pleasure of helping renovate the Kariton Gallery, home of the Abbotsford Art Council. To be honest I didn’t know much about the gallery or the Abbotsford Art Council beforehand, so I did some research. Established in 1971, the Abbotsford Arts Council acts as a resource for local artists while promoting the vision, creativity, and energy of the Abbotsford community through the arts. Over 70 local arts, heritage and culture organizations receive support under the umbrella of the Abbotsford Arts Council, and the talents of hundreds of local artists are showcased each year at the Kariton Art Gallery as well as programs and events that are family friendly and open to the entire community. It’s amazing the work that the Art Council does but also the artists. The talent and effort that is on display here is well worth checking out.
I like to think of myself as being the star of the show but at a place such as an art gallery, the focus should be on the walls. The hardwood floors were in such bad shape they must have been a distraction. It was nice to be a part of renewing a small piece of the community.
So the hard work started with some repairs. There was a few patches done previously which were not very seamless. So we removed what we didn’t need and installed new hardwood flooring, so the new patch would look as if it was always a part of the original hardwood flooring. One key to this is finding old hardwood flooring from a similar time so it looks original.
Then we started the sanding process. This was more work then even we anticipated. These floor have seen a lot of use over the years as an art gallery, perhaps the hardwood floors should have been refinished years earlier, so the dirt and wear was stubbornly stuck in the grain. We had to get aggressive with our sanding to remove that dirt and grime.
Overall I’m really happy with how these floor turned out, but more importantly, it was inspiring to get to know a little more about where you live and the people that live here, who are working hard to add to the culture of this beautiful place.