Building beauty, from the bottom up

Donate a book. Refinish a floor.

That's not the usual pattern of philanthropy that's experienced by the quaint Mystic & Noank Library, but then again, Charles Peterson is not your usual wood flooring guy.

For starters, Peterson wrote the book on wood flooring - literally. The Gales Ferry flooring expert and master craftsman just finished authoring "A Complete Guide to Layout, Installation & Finishing Wood Flooring" with Andy Engel.

Peterson brought his book, published by Taunton Press, to the library earlier this month as a donation. But when he saw the interior of the library's main building, and its wood floors, he was inspired. And so he made a pledge.

He would refinish the large wood flooring on the library's second floor in a week's time - gratis.

The library's officials, in the midst of an extensive renovation that has brought countless volunteers in to move books, clean walls and generally spruce things up, were grateful.

"The floor was hideous," says Peterson whose Charles Peterson Wood Floors LLC firm is located in Gales Ferry. "It nearly killed me," he says of his project to completely sand, and refurbish, the floor in the expansive upstairs room at the library. "But it's a thousand times better than it was," he says proudly as he surveys his work, expressing thanks, as well, to his professional helpers and the dedicated volunteers who also pitched in to make the one-week project successful.

The room, which was emptied of nearly all its books and shelves, is now restocked with books - mostly mysteries and biographies, say library officials - and also will feature a reading section for magazines and newspapers.

Timeless donation

The Mystic & Noank Library is an impressive structure, outside and inside.

The building was a gift from Capt. Elihu Spicer, who lived across the street from the property as well as living in Brooklyn, N.Y. The library itself was dedicated in 1894.

The main building (an addition was added in the early 1990s) is built of Roman brick. The granite hails from Leete's Island in Connecticut. The sandstone came from Longmeadow, Mass., the marble from Vermont, Tennessee and even Africa.

There are cathedral glass transoms and an impressive oak Cathedral ceiling in the room whose floor was finished by Peterson. The community library's setting is equally impressive, sitting on a hill overlooking downtown Mystic. The library, appropriately enough, is located at 40 Library St.

Lois Hiller, the library's director, says she's grateful to Peterson for restoring the wooden floor's luster, and for his extensive time and expertise committed to the project. And when the library reopens Monday at 10 a.m., his work will be there for all to see.

Peterson says he's too much of a wood-flooring perfectionist to let the library complete its renovations, financed largely through a Community Foundation of Southeastern Connecticut grant, without a restored wood floor in such a great room.

There's even a fireplace there, although it's no longer in use. Above the fireplace are the words: "Elihu Spicer gave this library to the people. Large was his bounty and his soul sincere."

Cindy Palmer, the library's director of development, says the institution is thankful for the community foundation's grant - more than $1.6 million was distributed to 13 local libraries as part of its 25th anniversary - and to others who donated to the renovation project. Both she and Hiller say the library has benefited from its dedicated volunteers, who have provided plenty of labor during the project. "All together, we moved almost 50,000 books," says Hiller.

As Hiller surveys Peterson's finished work, she says "it will be gorgeous in here (fully restored) and really add to this room."

Adds Peterson, "I just love being in this room. It's absolutely inspiring."

Engineer by training

Peterson's firm offers start-to-finish installations, restorations to bring life back to a worn-out floor, or putting finishing touches to a newly installed floor.

Peterson, who is educated as a design engineer, says he's had a passion for wood flooring for a long time.

"I have been obsessed with wood floors since 1978," he explains. He spent two decades in engineering, where he says there was always an answer at his finger tips.

Not so true for wood flooring. "Most information is difficult to obtain or contradictory," he says.

His "Wood Flooring" book, which runs 330 pages, offers a how-to guide to everything from wood basics to sanding and finishing and making inlays and curves and parquet floors.

Peterson says his new book represents more than three decades of research. His rough draft alone totaled more than 1 million words. And then there was the writing. He says the new book represents 12,382 hours of writing.

"The book," he says, "is still the most comprehensive publication ever produced on wood floors. I have tried to simplify the techniques to the level that my young sons could reproduce any wood floor in the world."

The National Wood Flooring Association was so impressed with Peterson's work that it awarded him its Wood Floor of the Year contest honors this past year in the hand-cut category. The global contest was open to association members in 55 countries.

In November, Peterson was featured on the cover of Fine Homebuilding magazine, and he wrote its cover story on wood floors that can survive anywhere. He also has provided other articles for the industry trade publication.

In his book, Peterson explains his passion. "Wood is such a beautiful medium. It comes in an unlimited palette of colors, it bends, and it can be cut and glued into any form. I worked on my first wood floor in 1978, and I've been hooked ever since."

As Peterson points out, wood was the favored choice for flooring until the 1960s, when carpeting became a common cover over floors. He says hardwood flooring production skidded from more than 1 billion square feet in 1955 to about 99 million square feet by the mid 1970s. "This huge drop in demand caused most wood flooring master craftsmen to find different work or retire," he writes. "Along with them went access to their knowledge." Peterson, however, hasn't lost that knowledge. He is a nationally degreed advanced master craftsman.

Decades later, wood is again becoming "the floor covering of choice," according to Peterson. It is, he says, both renewable and recyclable. And normal maintenance, by and large, isn't much. Some sweeping. Some vacuuming, too.

Peterson says he hopes his new book, which now sits proudly in the renovated Mystic & Noank Library, brings renewed interest in wood flooring.

And he hopes his work at the library will inspire patrons to further appreciate the library, the second-floor reading room, and, of course, the beauty of those refurbished wood floors.

"Hopefully it will bring in a lot of people, and a lot of happiness, by being here," he says.