Roswell Wood Flooring has handled wood-flooring in Cumming for more than 20 years, and we plan a townhome job differently from a detached house. Attached homes stack their living space vertically, so a floor project usually means stairs, a landing and two or three levels that should read as one continuous surface. Getting that continuity right is most of the work.

Before we quote, we walk every level with a moisture meter, look at how the existing boards meet the stair nosing, and check whether the treads are solid wood or a cap over something else. Refinishing a stair and replacing its treads are two different jobs, and we price them tread by tread so you can see which one you are paying for.

Whether you are moving into a new attached home or selling one you have owned for years, the goal is the same: floors that match from the entry to the top landing. We lay stain samples on your own boards, in your own light, so the color is settled before a single room is sanded.

Cumming’s New Townhome Communities

Worker laying new oak plank flooring on the main level of a Cumming townhome.

A Rezoning on Veterans Memorial Boulevard

In September 2023 the City of Cumming received Rezoning Application #2023216 from InLine Communities. It asked to rezone 31.416 acres at 608 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, land owned by Forsyth County and described as wooded and undeveloped, from HB and M-1 to R-3 for 188 townhomes. The letter of intent put the proposed density at 5.98 units per acre.

In February 2024 Forsyth News reported that the City Council approved approximately 180 townhomes on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, even though the Planning Board had recommended denial. The application’s 188 and the reported 180 are both on the record, and we do not treat either as a final count. What matters for flooring is the product type: attached townhomes, which usually means stairs and more than one level.

Wyngate Next Door

The letter of intent pointed to the Wyngate townhome community directly south of the site as a comparable R-3 neighbor, built at 7.8 units per acre. That puts an established set of attached homes right beside the planned one, and owners in both face the same floor questions about stairs, landings and rooms stacked over rooms.

Wyngate owners are usually refinishing or replacing what is already there, while a buyer in a newer community is often deciding whether to keep the floors the home came with. We handle both, and we start either job by measuring moisture and checking how the boards were fastened. Older attached homes can also show board gapping in winter and slight cupping in summer, which usually points to humidity rather than a failed floor.

Attached Homes Cumming Owners Already Live In

Townhomes are not new to Cumming owners. Census estimates count 221 of the city’s 1,301 owner households living in one-unit attached homes, roughly 17 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 137. The city holds 484 one-unit attached units in all.

That existing stock is where attached-home work usually starts: a stair that has worn through its finish at the nosing, a landing with traffic lanes, or carpet on the upper level that an owner wants replaced with hardwood to match the main floor. Each of those is a different job, and we quote them separately.

Looking for wood-flooring closer to Buford? See Wood-Flooring in Buford.

Floors for Downsizers, Young Professionals and First Owners

Who the Application Had in Mind

InLine’s letter of intent described attached residences meant to appeal to couples without children, empty nesters, some young families and young professionals, and it expected the homes to attract older couples looking to downsize. Those are different buyers with different floor priorities, and we plan around the household rather than the address. A young professional may want hickory or a wide plank look, while a young family may care more about Janka hardness against dropped toys and dog claws.

Cumming already has an older owner base. Census estimates put 332 of the city’s 1,301 owner households at age 75 or older, a figure with a wide margin. For owners at that stage, a floor that is easy to clean and safe underfoot often matters more than a showpiece species.

Downsizing Into a Townhome

Buyers moving down in size tend to ask for a lower sheen level, a finish that hides dust and paw prints, and a stair that feels secure under a sock. A satin or matte waterborne polyurethane over red oak or white oak handles the first two, and a stair nosing with a clean, eased edge handles the third.

Many downsizers also bring furniture and rugs from a bigger house. We talk through felt pads, rug pads that will not discolor the finish, and where sun fade from a sliding door is likely to show, so the new floor is set up for the way you actually live.

Young Professionals and First-Time Owners

A first owner may be living with whatever floors the home came with, often including carpet on the bedroom level. The common request is to swap the upstairs carpet for hardwood that matches the main level, which means pulling the carpet pad and tack strip, checking the subfloor for soft spots, and choosing boards the existing floor can meet.

If the floor you have is solid, site-finished oak, a sand and refinish may give you the look you want for less than new boards. We check how much wood remains above the tongue before recommending it, and a screen and recoat is an option when the finish is only dull.

Stairs, Landings and Stacked Levels

Where Stairs Wear First

Townhome stairs take more wear than any other surface in the house, because every trip between levels crosses them. Worn finish usually shows first at the nosing and in a lane down the center of each tread, while the edges still look close to new. Carpeted stairs raise a different question: once the carpet and tack strip come up, the treads underneath may or may not be finish-grade wood.

Refinishing sands those treads back and recoats them, which works when the wood is solid and thick enough. When treads are cracked, cupped or capped with a thin veneer, new solid treads with matching nosing are the better answer, and we show you which applies before you commit.

Landings Where Levels Meet

The landing is where two floors have to agree. Board direction, height and color all change at the top of a stair unless someone plans for them, and a mismatched landing is the first thing a visitor notices walking up.

We set the landing first and work outward, using stair nosing and a reducer only where a height change is unavoidable. On two-story landings open to the room below, we sand and finish in a sequence that keeps dust off the lower level and the railing.

Matching Stacked Levels

In a townhome, the main floor, the bedroom level and sometimes a lower level may have been finished at different times or with different products. Getting them to read as one home means matching species, width and stain color, and sometimes refinishing an existing level so it meets the new one.

Upper levels in a Georgia summer can run warmer than the main floor. We take moisture meter readings on each level before any install, and allow acclimation for new boards, because a floor that goes in too wet can cup once the humidity climbs.

Shared Walls and Resale Townhomes Near Veterans Memorial Boulevard

Working Beside Your Neighbors

Shared walls change how we run a job. Drum sanders and edgers are loud, so we schedule the heaviest sanding for reasonable daytime hours and let you give the neighbors notice. Dustless sanding keeps fine dust inside your unit and out of any shared entry.

Footstep noise between units comes up often when hard floors replace carpet upstairs. We talk through underlayment choices and area rugs, and we make no promises about what a neighbor will or will not hear. Any flooring rule that applies to your unit comes from your own community’s declaration, so we confirm the association’s written approval before work starts.

Selling a Townhome Near Veterans Memorial Boulevard

Resale townhomes around Veterans Memorial Boulevard, including Wyngate and newer attached communities as they change hands, compete on first impressions. Worn stair treads, pet urine stains near a patio door or gray water stains by a dishwasher all read badly in listing photos, and many can be fixed with board replacement and a refinish.

If an inspection or a termite letter turns up damaged flooring before closing, we work to the closing date. Boards damaged by subterranean termites are cut out and woven in with matching stock after the pest control company has treated, never filled or covered over.

Buying a Resale Unit

Buyers of an existing townhome inherit whatever the last owner chose. Soft or spongy spots near a bathroom or laundry closet deserve a look before any refinish. We open them up and trace them to the subfloor or the moisture behind them, rather than screwing the boards down and hiding the cause.

Water from a washer, dishwasher or supply line on an upper level can travel down into the level below. When that happens we trace it, dry it and take moisture readings before any board is replaced, and we document each room for the adjuster.

For a resale buyer, the sensible order is inspection, moisture readings, any board replacement, then a sand and refinish of the connected rooms so repairs disappear into one finish. Weaving new boards into old ones blends best when one finish goes over both.