How Many Sandings Can a Floor Brand Stand?

This is a question I had been asked a few times over the years (try a few thousand), but never-more than since Wickes said on their advert that their floor can be sanded up to 3 times.

Since that advert aired this has been one of the most common questions people ask when buying wood flooring products. How many sandings can it take? How many times can that species be sanded? Etc etc etc.

The truth is that there is no answer to this question, and that is why Wickes carefully chose to use the consumer-dreaded up-to in their promotions. How many times a floor can be sanded depends upon so many variables:

The type and/or quality of the sander, the reason for sanding (are there any deep grooves that need to be fixed), who is doing the sanding (how heavy are they leaning/are they pressing too hard) and many more variables based on the species of the wood, the age of the wood and also things like the atmosphere the wood has lived in.

That is why we will never give a clear answer, not even an up-to answer, because it just gives people false expectations.

What we can say is that Wickes real wood floor is 18mm thick. With the exception of our Caledonian, Tuscan and a few other species/brand combos, our flooring is between 20+22mm thick, those mentioned above are 18mm + 19mm thick, and our Junkers range, comes with a 14mm thick option, or a 22mm thick option.

I Need a Tough Wood Floor, Should I Choose Handscraped or Sanded

I have just been asked something that I get asked frequently, but today I was inspired to answer it in a blog. I was asked this on another blog that I run called Woodfloorguru, in a post about Kahrs Oak Sienna:

"Hi, I have a question about another oak, white oak. We're trying to decide if we should go with hand scraped or sanded due to concerns about heel dents, etc. Solid HW, not engineered. It's a darker, "antiquish" stain but we don't know if we would like to make it even more antique/rustic looking with the hand scraped. We don't want to be overly stressed when we entertain is our primary issue."

The answer to that question is: Read full entry

Floor Sanding & Finishing: 3 Reasons You Should Hire Professionals

It is a common misconception that hiring professional floor sanders is so expensive that we are better to have a go at it ourselves. This couldn't be further from the truth. Here are just 3 of the top reasons why hiring professional floor sanders is the best way to go:

1: Peace of Mind

Depending on whether you buy new, reclaimed or even engineered wood flooring will affect the price, but nevertheless, flooring a house or even a room in wood is not a cheap thing to do. Don’t get me wrong it is definitely worth it, to take people’s breath away when they enter your house or room alone.

The last thing you want to do is damage it, or do a sub-standard job. Bringing in the professionals is worth it if only for the peace of mind of knowing that they will leave the floor as good as when it was new.

2: Quality Guarantees

I can’t speak for all floor sanding companies, but Edinburgh Floor Sanders (AKA Mckay Flooring) offer full guarantees upon the quality of our work, and as we have an exemplary reputation after 37 years operation our guarantees really mean something – we want to maintain our reputation for first-rate work.

We don’t sub-contract to any outside contractors, all our work is done by our in-house team of professional, experienced floor sanders, fitters and finishers, and using nothing buy the latest dustless floor sanding machinery.

3: Value for Money

This really encapsulates the two points made above. Value for money comes from the fact that the cost, which isn’t as much as you may think, is well worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that your floor is guaranteed to look as good as new when the work is completed. This also means fully sealed and once-again resistant to water and damage.

Floor Sanding, Finishing and Sealing: A Step by Step Guide

It is a fact that hardwood flooring will last a lifetime if properly maintained. In our last post we covered how to protect floors from damage, and how to keep floors looking beautiful with regular light cleaning, and occasional deep cleaning when necessary.

But what if its too late for that? What if the floor is damaged or simply loses its shine?

below we will cover how a floor can be sanded and refinished to make it look as good as new. Call it a DIY guide if you like, but more importantly it will give you the knowledge necessary to make an educated judgement about quotations, and whether or not it is worth attempting yourself.

Read More...

When Does My Wood Floor Need Sanding?

This is a very difficult question to answer, because there is no set duration in which you should have your floor sanded. A floor’s life is determined by how many times it is sanded; when it has been sanded down till the point where one more sanding will expose take it past the grooves of the locking mechanism which holds the floor together, a new floor is needed. Therefore minimising the amount of times your floor is sanded is the best policy to prolong the life of a floor.

That being said one of the main reasons for buying wood flooring is because of its lustre and shine, which is ultimately gorgeous by anyone’s standards. So, when that shine starts to fade obviously it needs to be sanded and refinished. Another common reason that sanding will become necessary is when a floor gets badly scraped or scratched.

Floor sanding is not the big scary; to professional floor sanders it is a quick and easy job, which means inexpensive to floor owners. However, to ensure that floor sanding is kept to a minimum here are some steps you can take in caring for your floor, so as to maximise its life:

Protecting Your Hardwood Floors

Place mats at all entrances:

These are to trap dirt and dust which scrape and damage hardwood flooring.

Mop Up Water and Spillages Immediately

Any spillage on hardwood floors must be cleaned up immediately. On carpets spillages of water are not such a big deal, but on hardwood water can cause warping and damage to the finish.

Felt Contacts Under Furniture Legs

This one is fairly self explanatory: stick little felt mats underneath furniture legs so that they don't scratch your floor when being moved.

Sheer Drapes and Protection from Direct Sunlight

Direct sunlight is one of hardwood flooring's biggest enemies; one summer of direct sunlight beating down on a wood floor can discolour it badly enough that sanding becomes essential. Obviously this can be avoided by closing blinds and curtains, but if you want to let the light in, and keep your floors beautiful then sheer drapes are your best bet.

Cleaning Your Hardwood Floors (Regular Care):

Brushing:

Use a soft brush, preferably one with exploded-end bristles.

Vacuuming:

We recommend using bare floor attachments with brushes to avoid damaging the floor. Vacuuming in the traditional sense is very rarely a good idea on hardwood floors and can in itself make sanding neccesary.

Dust Mopping:

Dust mopping is a specialist way of cleaning hardwood floors. We recommend a large dust mop with a head of around 12-18 inches. This should be used with a specialist dust-mopping solution, which is applied to the mop 12-24 hours before mopping is carried out.

Cleaning Hardwood Floors (Deep Cleaning):

Damp Mopping:

Though some people will tell you that hardwood floors should never be mopped wet or damp, it is the easiest and most efficient way to deep clean hardwood floors. Damp mopping should only be done if the floors are properly and completely sealed; put another way it should not be done if there is any doubt about or damage to the floors finish.

Then you should use a ph neutral wood cleaning product, diluted with water as per the guidelines. The mop should be dipped in the solution and then wrung out so that it is half dry before mopping. I was in two minds as to whether to put this in the regular care section, because some households will need to damp-mop their floors up to once a week, which is perfectly fine, as I said, provided the floor is completely sealed.

Heavy Duty Mopping:

Again this sounds a disastrously bad idea, but again if the floors are properly sealed, the little extra water and solution will do them absolutely no harm. Done properly heavy duty mopping can really bring back the shine.

Waxing:

Also known as a maintenance coat, waxing is a sure-fire, quick and easy way to make damaged or worn floors beautiful once again, and it is something that a layman can do. A coat of wax provides a layer of protection on the wood, and it is the wax that you will be cleaning from then forward, it can also be reapplied as and when needed, keeping floors beautiful.

However, if you are having your floor professionally refinished, waxing should be avoided as a stop-gap measure, as it can lead to problems with adhesion and can limit your refinishing options.

Floor Sanding: Why Can't I Sand My Own Floors?

In my time working in the flooring and floor sanding industry, I have come across many people who say: oh, it’s okay, I’ll hire a floor sanding machine and do it myself, and some who say: why can’t I sand my own floors?

The answer is simple...

Read more...

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