20+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE INFloor Sanding
Does my floor need sanding, though?
The experienced team at Favourite Flooring can help you answer this question.
Wooden floors wear out and might get damaged overtime. Luckily, we can refurbish them without replacing the whole floor. This unique feature saves a lot of time and expenses. If you ask how often you should do it – there is not one-size-fits-all answer. Usually, the sanding needs to be done on old uneven floorboards. Things like foot traffic and pets determine if the floor needs refurbishing sooner. Furthermore, some areas of the house might wear out quicker than others like hallways for example.
LET US START FROM THE BEGINNINGWhich wooden floors can be sanded?
There are two types of wooden floors that can be restored through sanding – solid hardwood and engineered wood.
Solid hardwood sanding
Solid wooden floors are extremely durable. We can refurbish them many times throughout the years. If you are after a clean look, hardwood should be sanded every 10 -15 years. This is only a guide. Depending on your lifestyle and the number of people that live in the space, of course, the wear and tear of the floorboards would vary. The type of wood also plays a key part. Some softer woods like pine or cherry might need treating more often. The harder woods like oak may need less frequent sanding. The average hardwood floor is usually 20mm. It can undergo approximately 10 refinishes. Depending on the wear and tear we recommend at least one refinish every 10 years for optimal look and quality. If you take good care of your wooden floor it could last for up to 100 years before becoming too thin.
Engineered wood sanding
Engineered wooden floors are real wood floors manufactured by layering different wood veneers. The top wooden layer is between 3 and 6 millimetres thick. It is best for us to check it before it comes to sanding it to ensure there is enough thickness left. This type of floor on the other hand is great for sanding. However, it is a very precise and skilled job due to the thickness of the wood layer. Some of them can be as thin as 1 mm and sanding could be destructive. It needs to be handled properly. The wooden layer would be thinner if it has been sanded before. You need to keep that in mind before undertaking any refinishing process. For example, an engineered floor with a 4mm veneer or thicker can be refinished approximately 3 to 5 times over the lifetime of the floor. If the damage to the floor is not consistent throughout the whole house, it might be better to replace the damaged floorboards instead of sanding the whole floor.
SIGNS OF WEAR AND TEARSome of the signs indicating that your floors need refinishing include:
If you have many scratches, especially when it is not in an area that you can cover up, it is time to refinish your floors. A few scratches here and there are nothing to worry about, but they are more obvious if the wood is darker.
When the varnish or oil wears off, the wood absorbs water. So even normal maintenance and cleaning can do further damage to the floorboards. A common issue is that the wood oxidizes and turns grey when it absorbs water. Eventually, if you do not repair your floors, the wood will turn darker until eventually it changes its colour to black. Do not let that happen because you will need to replace the whole floor and sanding will not help. If there is water damage you will see boards separating as well.
Usually caused by the sun, you can usually see big difference by the windows. Sanding will generally take care of this as it removes the top layer and then you can apply a new stain.
Unfortunately, all hardwood scratches sooner or later. To prevent that you could place rugs around the home that can be easily cleaned or replaced, use felt tips on the legs of furniture.
Tips and TricksHere are a few quick tips to make your wooden floors last longer:
- To prevent dust and dirt from building up it is best to keep the floor clean. You should quickly wipe any liquids spilled and pick up anything dropped on it such as food and other particles. Otherwise, the accumulation of dirt could with time wear away the finish.
- Surface clean two or three times per week using a vacuum or micro cloth. We recommend not using chemical products to avoid damaging the wood.
- Professionally deep clean once per year.
- Renew the finish before the wood itself is exposed. You can test this by putting a little water on the floor in a heavy traffic area. If it beads up, the finish is still sealed, but if it soaks in, it is probably time to have it refinished.
If you think of doing it yourself you should know that sanding is hard work, requires due care and skill, very messy if done incorrectly and the tools required are expensive. There are a lot of details to consider so it is better to hire a professional.
We also sand and restore stairs. We offer a secret drawer as an extra option. Contact us today to get a quote.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU?Contact us by submitting a contact form or by calling us directly about any queries regarding the state of your wooden floor or if you want to set up an appointment for a site visit.
PROTECTIVE LAYERSFinishing Touches
We sand your floors with special machines and also add a finishing protective layer. This layer additionally can be waxed or polished. On customer’s request, the finishing layer can be Matte, Semi-Matte or Glossy.
Varnishing and waxing adds yet another protective layer to the already existing parquet to provide extra durability. Because the wood is natural and solid it is possible to renovate it time and time again through scraping. Consequently, it makes it very cost efficient in the long run.
