Acton business refurbished hardwood floors inside the Vice-President’s residence

ACTON, Mass. — Jay Bourgeois has walked into a lot of homes in his 32 years in the flooring business, but there’s one recent project that had him awestruck.

“It’s kind of surreal. It sounds exciting and is exciting and then when you get there you start to get a little nervous,” he said.

In February, Bourgeois, who owns JJ Hardwood Floors in Acton, was part of a team that restored the hardwood floors at Number One Observatory Circle in Washington, D.C., better known as the vice-president’s home.

“If you look at images of the dignitaries and famous people that have done deals and had dinner there and you’re standing on the same staircase and you’re working in the same rooms, it’s pretty cool,” he said.

The mansion is undergoing major renovations right now. Bourgeois also worked inside the home the last time it underwent renovations, 14 years ago, when Dick Cheney was vice-president.

“You could see their personal items and Mrs. Chaney’s handwriting all over the place and notes,” Bourgeois said.

Thanks to a friend in the flooring business in Washington, D.C., Sprigg Lynn, whom Bourgeois met at an industry convention 20 years ago, he has also been able to redo floors in the Treaty Room at the U.S. State Department.

In April, Bourgeois will be part of an all-star flooring team from around the country that will work inside the White House. There’s a separate Oval Office contract that hasn’t been awarded yet, but Bourgeois is hoping his team will be picked for the job.

“That would be a chance of a lifetime. I mean I started sanding floors when I was 15-years-old and to reach that, that would be, I don’t know where I could go from there. That would be something,” he said.

Cox Media Group