When we arrived at the address, we found an engineered floor with a slightly worn finish. Parts of that finish were completely gone, revealing the bare, exposed wood below. The reasons for this could be many. For example, bad cleaning regime, moving of furniture, attempts to remove persistent stains and so on.
Sometimes people call us and ask, “Can you just sand this area and leave the rest of the floor untouched because it is not damaged?” The answer, unfortunately, is “No.” You see, if we only sand the damaged parts, this will lead to a colour disparity between the new finish we apply on the damaged areas and the old one. For this very reason, if you sand your floor, you strip all of it or none at all!
In the end, we had to sand the surface of an engineered floor which only needed a quick face lifting in order to reveal its beauty. It had not suffered any notable kind of damage … yet. The client was wise to call us before any real harm could occur. This is how you save money and prevent trouble in the future – you take care of the problem before it becomes a real threat.
Restoration Of The Floor
The biggest disadvantage of engineered floors lies in the fact that they can only be refinished a limited number of times. The reason is the thin real wood veneer sitting on top. Once this top layer is stripped to a certain point, there is no way to sand without revealing the plywood below. Fortunately, there was absolutely no problem restoring the surface of the floor. The veneer was in relatively good condition and we could proceed with the restoration without any worry.
Now, staining a floor can be difficult because different types of wood can react differently. There are those species which simply have a hard time absorbing the product because of their cell structure (birch and maple). Other types of wood have a natural colour which alters the shade achieved with the stain (red oak). The best way to see how the stain will look is by seeing it on your floor. That's why we provide free samples on the finishing products. Of course, the stain samples will be sanded away later on.
Then there is also the choice of finish. An oil or hardwax won’t work with lighter stains because they tend to turn yellow as they age. This means, that you need a lacquer, a water-based varnish which will keep the colours consistent. While darker stains don’t suffer as much from this, they are also affected. Some customers enjoy those effects, others do not and that is why it is important to hire someone who listens to what you want to do with the floor. Someone like us.
We easily sanded the surface with a fine sandpaper, filled the gaps and buffed everything one final time in preparation for the staining. The stain application itself must be performed fast and if you put too much of the product you risk the so-called “bleedback” when the excess material simply wicks back to the surface and destroys the uniform appearance of the floor. Naturally, we had no such problems. All that was left to do was apply multiple coats of Junckers HP Commercial and let it dry in peace. All done!
The Results
The whole job took us three to four days to completely mostly because staining the floor obviously increased the drying time. Four coats of Junckers HP Commercial were all it took to transform this worn and distressed floor into the beautiful surface you see below on the pictures. It was not a complicated job and our team enjoyed doing it. Our company provides its clients with the same excellent results regardless of the size and importance of the project. We value all of our customers equally and we can perform the same service on your floor for a very affordable price!
Wood floors are pretty resilient and resistant to a lot of things, they are able to resist neglect for a long time and even harsh treatment. Chances are, even after years of neglect and no in-depth maintenance, your wooden floor will still be at the point where it can be restored back to its initial perfect condition and appearance. However, chances are that years of neglect will result in your floor being in need of serious repair and renovation that can cost a lot and take some time. Therefore, it is always recommended to ensure proper and regular upkeep for your favourite floorboards and rely on professional and experienced help just like our customers did with their project. Part of the proper wood flooring maintenance is wood floor sanding and refinishing. Both treatments are the reason that real wood flooring can look as flawless as it has been just installed even after years of wear and tear.
We have started this project by inspecting the condition of the floorboards first. This is a mandatory part of the service provided by every reliable and experienced wood floor service provider. In general, it is recommended to have the floor re-sanded and refinished only when it is in perfect condition and no repairs are required. We supply flooring materials from world-renowned manufacturers and provide a wide variety of design options, which means we are able to find the perfect match that will blend smoothly with the existing floor.
Next, all gaps between the floorboards are filled in for the achievement of better structural integrity and improved insulation. While resin and wood dust are enough to fill in the smaller gaps, pine slivers are used for the larger and wider ones. Once all these repair processes are performed, the project can continue with sanding the floor. Wood floor sanding strips off the old finish from the surface of the floor along with all signs of wear and all imperfections. After that, we can continue with the application of a high-quality finish. Our clients picked a lacquer finish that adds a lot of elegance and beauty to the final appearance while ensuring long-lasting protection.