Getting in touch with Jim Ernest isn`t easy. The Westmont-based floor refinisher works long hours, seven days a week; he doesn`t have an office or an answering machine and his only commercial ad is a two-line listing in the Yellow Pages.
Some homeowners have tracked him down by keeping a sharp eye out for the light-beige truck that bears his name and phone number. Others have left messages for him at the Town Kitchen, the Clarendon Hills restaurant he frequents.
People are willing to go to great lengths to employ Jim Ernest because he brings care, common sense, honesty and experience to each job, viewing his occupation as ”a way to make a living, a way to pay my bills.”
But although he earns his living the old-fashioned way, through hard work, the tools of his trade are up-to-date.
”Today`s tools are beautiful-the battery-powered saw is a beautiful thing to work with,” he said. ”Power tools are relatively new in the total scheme of things. The power hand saw didn`t come into vogue until the 1940s, for example.”
Dad`s apprentice
That was just about the time Ernest started working for his father.
”My older brother went off to World War II and my father needed a new helper for the floor-refinishing business he had opened in Westmont in 1939. The kind of work I do is something you learn on the job. I started as my father`s apprentice. The work was harder then because in the early `40s we didn`t have the kind of tools we have now. Today, I use a drum sander, an edger, miter saws, a buffing machine and assorted cutting tools,” said Ernest, who employs a schoolteacher to help him with big assignments.
In a way, his occupation is like that of a juggler.
”I work two jobs at a time,” he said. ”That`s the only way to manage in this business because there`s a lot of waiting. A floor needs three or four coats of material and each one has to dry well before the next application. While I`m waiting for a floor to dry at one house, I can begin sanding the floors at another and then work back and forth. It takes planning.”
Double duty
Whenever possible, he likes to schedule jobs in adjacent suburbs to cut down on driving time. He might pair a house in Western Springs with one in La Grange, for example, or one in Hinsdale with one in Oak Brook. He prefers to start the heavy work of a refinishing job during the week, reserving Saturdays and Sundays for final touches.
”Before we begin sanding the floor of a room, we move out the furnishings and cover the openings. That way we can pretty well stop most of the dust from escaping to other parts of the house,” said Ernest. ”If the room is carpeted, we take up the carpeting and the tackless strips. Sometimes we come across something that`s been hidden by the carpet; it`s not uncommon to find a cold-air return. Then we fill holes and make any other necessary repairs.”
After the floor is sanded smooth and thoroughly dusted, new stain is applied.
Ernest likes to use Minwax`s Duraseal, which is available in neutral, white, ebony and several shades of brown, ranging from golden to Brazilian walnut. He also favors polyurethane heavy-duty floor finishes and, in cases of white or neutral stains, a non-yellowing water-base finish.
”Many new products have been developed since I started in this business almost 50 years ago,” said Ernest.
”Some have been improvements, but others contain toxins that make me uncomfortable. There are people who believe that if a product smells bad it must be good. That`s not necessarily so. I work in a lot of houses where there are infants, so I`m very careful about what I select.”
Mind over matter
Repeat customers are always amazed at how well Ernest remembers everything about previous work he has done for them.
”He hadn`t been back here for about 10 years, but the minute he walked in he was able to tell me exactly what he had done: the room, the color, the finish,” said one Hinsdale homeowner.
Ernest said he doesn`t keep written records on that sort of thing.
”Record-keeping can be a nuisance. I keep a lot of it up here,” he said, pointing to his head. ”When I go into a house my mind is on one thing-the job at hand.”
Renewed interest in patterns of the past-the beauty of hardwood floors, the elegance of Oriental rugs-has fueled floor refinishing in recent years. But there can be drawbacks to some decorating ideas presented by interior designers and magazine editors.
”Home magazines are a nemesis for contractors,” said Ernest. ”They do studio setups to give people home decorating ideas, but it isn`t always easy to duplicate a setup. Still, I`ll bend over backwards to do what my customers want. Without them, where would I be?”
