Floor Sanding: Why Do You Need It?

by Floor Sanding

So, why do you need floor sanding? Will it really make a difference to the floorboards? These are only a few of the questions our clients frequently ask when debating whether to go ahead with floor sanding. The quickest way to answer is to take a look at your floors; It may have been quite a few years since they were last sanded, or they have not been sanded since originally being installed. Are they looking worn and tired, or covered with old marks, scuffs, scratches and stain? If so, then it’s a good time to think about getting them restored to their former glory.

There are various scenarios where the above damage can be done to your floor, to the point it needs to be sanded. One of the easiest ways to do damage would be to drop something onto it, damaging the finish and potentially marking the wood, or if a pet has an accident and stains the finish.  If the finish has worn through, or if there is damage to the finish leaving the wood underneath exposed, then the wood is liable to staining. An all too common cause of damage is dragging heavy furniture across the floor, leaving scratch marks. This can be easily avoided by using self-adhesive felt pads on the underside of your furniture feet, or by lifting furniture and placing it into its new position, rather than dragging it.

A project we undertook at Cardew House in Alresford is a perfect example of when floor sanding can be needed. The House in question is a beautiful 18th Century home, whose owners had been renovating the premises for several years. The main sitting room had a tired oak block floor, whilst the dining room boasted a pine floor with lovely wide boards. Both floors had seen better days but were clearly once impressive centrepieces and it was clear, with a bit of love and attention, could be again. We sanded both floors back and sealed the oak without a colour stain. The dining room floor was given a mid-colour stain to provide depth and structure to a room that already boasted strong colours in its decoration. The overall result for both rooms was stunning, keeping with the period in which it the house was constructed and restoring character beautifully, yet still looking brand new.

This case isn’t unusual. Often when period properties change hands, the new owners take up the old carpets with the intention of replacing them, and instead discover solid wooden floors. These hidden gems look good as new once they’ve been sanded and refinished.

Whether your floor is visibly damaged, or just looking old, worn and in need of a breath of life, sanding and refinishing can transform not only the floor, but the entire room, bringing masses of character into your home.

For any more help and advice please feel free to call us on 01962 733016 or email info@winchesterwoodfloors.co.uk and we can get your flooring project off the ground today! 

What is Floor Sanding?

by Floor SandingWood Flooring

Alresford Interiors New Wood FlooringIf you’re reading this article, it’s because you want to know what floor sanding is, and if it’s right for you. Firstly, let’s cover the basics. Floor sanding is the process of removing the top surface of a wooden floor to remove scratches and other visible signs of wear, freshening the surface up in preparation for a new finish. Whilst this sounds simple, the difference this creates for an old, worn floor can be striking, often looking like a brand new installation. Our team is frequently called into dated period properties, often still sporting their original floorboards, to freshen the rooms up when they change ownership. A freshly sanded and stained floor can give the whole room a new lease of life.

Whilst every company has its own preferences, there are typically three stages involved: preparation, sanding, and coating. Before starting, the entire floor needs to be thoroughly clean; swept, vacuumed and have all nails punched under. When restoring a hardwood floor, grit sequence is vital to get right. The first grit is the most abrasive and is meant to take off any existing finish, before using successively finer grits to smooth out the pattern of the previous, several times until the entire surface is perfectly smooth and free from marks. It’s vitally important to vacuum the floor after each sanding grit is changed to prevent unnecessary scratches, and again after the final grit to prepare the floor for a finish of your choice. Be very careful of walking on your unfinished floor at this stage as black rubber soled shoes can leave marks!

Finishing your wooden floor when it’s new or freshly sanded is hugely important, it acts as a barrier between the natural wood and everything it comes into contact with; foot traffic, pets, heavy furniture and other surface objects. It helps extend the floorboards life and helps keep your floor looking beautiful for longer. Wooden floors are generally finished off with either an Oil or Lacquer, with oil being the popular choice for lounges, dining rooms and bedrooms rooms; anywhere you’re looking to retain the natural look of the floorboards, and lacquer being better suited for busier environments that see more foot traffic, or areas that may get wet, such as kitchens, bathrooms or hallways. Traditionally, people think lacquer as having a varnished, glossy look, however modern lacquers are also available in ultra matt, matt, satin, and gloss, giving you much more choice and control over how your room will look.

If you’re worried about the suitability of your floor for sanding, don’t be! All types of wood can be sanded, from oak, pine and cork to parquet and more. Whether it’s a kitchen, bedroom, stairway, office, school hall or anything in between, sanding can breathe new life into an old, worn surface and freshen up the whole room as a result.

If you’d like to know more about floor sanding, or would like to discuss what we can do for you, feel free to contact us. Our team uses only the best equipment, able to reach all those awkward corners and angles that prove so elusive and were the first company in the UK to be trained by Lagler, so you know you’re in safe hands.

For any more help and advice please feel free to call us on 01962 733016 or email info@winchesterwoodfloors.co.uk and we can get your flooring project off the ground today! 

Everything you need to know about Floor Sanding

by Floor Sanding

For me, writing ‘everything you need to know about floor sanding’ is probably the hardest topic I’ve covered so far. It’s something that I have done for more years than I care to admit, sanding thousands of floors of all ages and wood species, and it is simply limitless as to what to write and where to begin. To keep this article from overrunning I will keep it as simple as possible, so if you would like further help or information, don’t hesitate to give me a call.

For Alresford Interiors and I there are three manufacturers of machines that we use for floor sanding works; Lagler, Festool and Fein. These machines are used by many professional floor sanding companies and either carry dust free classifications or are plugged into dust extractors, reducing the level of dust to virtually zero. The machines we use from these manufacturers are the Lagler Flip, Hummel and Trio, the Festool RO150 and RO90 and the Fein Multi master.

There are many ‘grits’ of sandpaper available, from 16 right up to 2000 (the lower the number the coarser the paper), but for sanding floors we generally use 24-120 grit. It is important to select the right grit for the floor. You need to be using a coarse enough grit to take the old finish off the floor, but too coarse and you use extra time sanding with finer papers. Equally you don’t want to use a paper that is to fine as this will clog quickly and taking longer to sand. Knowing what grit to use comes with a little common sense and a lot of experience.

We’ve completed countless sanding courses over the years and were the first company in the UK to be trained by Lagler. There are always situations where things have to be done differently, such as not using the same grit sequence. Every company has its own preferences, but generally speaking the process is the same:  Always make sure the floor is thoroughly swept and vacuumed before starting and any high nails have been punched under. It is also very important to vacuum after each sanding grit is changed, as this will keep the scratches to a minimum.

Lagler Hummel

We always start with the Lagler Hummel, working from left to right. This is a serious bit of kit and it’s important to keep it moving when the drum is down (paper is in contact with the floor) as leaving it stationary will result in gouges being left in the floor (a common mistake for amateurs). Generally speaking we start on a 40 grit paper, working along the grain as much as possible on a plank floor. On a parquet floor we will work at diagonals and never sand directly across the grain.

Lagler Flip

The next step is the edges. For this, we use the Lagler Flip (generally using the same grit paper that was used with the Hummel) working in a clockwise rotation around the room. Again it is important to keep the sander moving as it is very easy to create gouges around the edges. This is a very powerful sander and needs to be treated with respect.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 with 60 grit paper and never drop more than 2 levels of grit. For example you wouldn’t start on a 40 grit paper and use a 100, or even 80 grit paper next.

With the hardest part of the job done, it’s time to move onto the finishing sanders. Remember that you are trying to make the floor smoother and eliminate scratches, so be sure to keep a very close eye on what you are doing as marks and scratches can show up when the finish is applied.

Lagler Trio

First we use the Lagler Trio on a 60 grit, which can be used in any direction on the floor (but generally we would start at one side of the room working our way up and down each board so you know exactly where you have been). Change the grit to 100, remembering to vacuum the floor, and commence sanding.

Festool RO150

Next step is using the Festool Rotex RO150 with 100 grit paper for the edges. This step will eliminate any small scratches hard up against the skirting boards that have been left by the edging sander and couldn’t be reached with the Trio.

The floor by now should look drastically different from when you started and there are only a couple of steps to go.

 We sand the corners firstly by scraping off and dirt and grime with a small scraper or chisel. They are then sanded with a Fein Multi Master finishing on 100 grit. The whole floor should be thoroughly vacuumed and remember to make sure you go around the base of the skirting as it is amazing how much dust and grime can get under them.

Last sand is done with the Lagler Trio with a 120 grit paper this will leave a very smooth finish. A really good vacuum is then required prior to finishing and also be careful what you have on your feet, as black rubber soled shoes can leave marks!

I hope this has been helpful! If you need any help or advice please do give us a call on 01962 733016 to discuss your project – we can either do the work for you, or you can hire the machines from us.

Guide to Commercial Floor Sanding

by Floor Sanding

Wood floors remain timeless features offering an effortless touch of class, which can be a great asset in any commercial premises. We can restore old, tired floors and give them back their natural beauty and elegance. Our professional approach and attention to detail will ensure a smooth, stress free service and an expertly restored wood floor that offers practicality and easy maintenance.

Our highly skilled, fully trained and experienced team will consult with you to develop a programme of work that suits you. We will provide advice on the best options for the restoration, finishing and maintenance of your wood floor, so that it looks great all year round and keeps costs to a minimum. We use the highest quality products, such as Bona, Junkers, Osmo and Blanchon to ensure the floor is finished in the most appropriate way for your needs and is as durable as possible.

Our team has worked on many wood floor projects for schools, village halls, hotels, retail shops and other commercial properties. We understand your desire to reduce disruption to your business while any works takes place. Our team work out of hours, during evenings and weekends within the timeframe agreed, to sand and finish floors quickly and efficiently, causing as minimal mess and inconvenience as possible.

Time restraints are normally top on the list for discussion when thinking about sanding a commercial wood floor. It doesn’t matter whether it is a pub, hotel, restaurant, village hall or school that requires work people are normally concerned about time scales and the impact that that has on their business / establishment. We are hugely aware of this as an issue and offer a 24 hour a day service in order to be as flexible as possible. Due to the size of our team we can get relatively large areas fully sanded and re-finished very quickly with as minimal disruption as possible.

However, something you may need to consider when sanding at night is noise. This has been overlooked by hotels in the past and although we can work through the night, if guests are next to the room they won’t be getting a lot of sleep.

Furniture can be an issue as it is always easier and more cost effective to sand and re-finish a floor that is empty. If there is no way of storing the furniture we can assist in the storage making sure that felt pads go on furniture when it is returned which will prolong the life of the floor.

In most cases the older the floor the better it will look after sanding. We have completed numerous floors and bought them back to life. It is normally always more cost effective to sand and re-finish a floor even if there are a lot of repairs than to have a new floor. Also you can’t beat the touch of class that is achieved by sanding and re-finishing a wood floor. This will add to the desirability of the establishment and will feel cleaner which in turn will add to the number of customers and positive reviews.

If you need any help or advice on your floor sanding project, please give us a call 01962 733016 and arrange an assessment of the floor.