We're proud to do good work.

The story of a deliberately small hardwood shop in Oakland — the same two pairs of hands on your floor for nearly four decades.

We're proud to do good work.

The story of a deliberately small hardwood shop in Oakland — the same two pairs of hands on your floor for nearly four decades.

Yvan Igbinedion learned hardwood flooring working beside a friend in the trade. There was no school for it — just time on the floor, learning how wood moves, how a board fits, how a finish cures. In 1986 he branched off on his own.

For many years he ran a large crew. Bigger jobs, more volume, more bodies on the floor. And somewhere in there he made a decision: the work he wanted his name on couldn't happen at that scale. So he got deliberately small.

Today it's Yvan and Oscar — his lead craftsman of 27 years. Oscar is the other half of this shop. Customers name him in their reviews because he's the one on their floor alongside Yvan, every job. The same two pairs of hands from the first board to the last. No rotating subs, no nameless crew that changes between the estimate and the install.

He is a craftsman and cares deeply about his work.

What does "a job hard to match" actually mean in hardwood? It means a lace-in repair where the new boards are woven into the old so the seam disappears. It means a 150-year-old Victorian floor, gray and worn, sanded back to a warm, solid surface that outlasts anything you could buy new. It means a staircase where the nosing is crisp and the treads don't squeak in five years. It means the grit sequence done properly, the dust contained, the cure time respected — not rushed because the schedule is tight.

These are the jobs other installers turn down. The difficult, fiddly, unusual ones. They're the work we like.

The business has run nearly four decades on referrals and repeat contractor relationships — essentially no advertising. That's not a marketing line; it's just what happens when the same two people do good work for long enough. We're proud of that.

Quality service is my standard. — Yvan

1986

Serving Oakland since

39

Years of hardwood craft

27

Years with lead craftsman Oscar

5.0

Customer rating

Oscar has worked alongside Yvan for 27 years. He's not a hired hand — he's the other half of this shop, and the reason the work stays consistent job after job. When customers leave reviews, they name Oscar by name. That tells you who's actually on the floor.

A two-person shop isn't a limitation. It's the point. It's what lets Yvan put his name on every floor without exception.

Credentials

Licensed & Insured

Let's talk about your floors.

Yvan works every job personally. Call or request a free in-home estimate.