faqs

I’m concerned my wooden floor is too damaged to be sanded. Can you help?

Many old wood floors actually look worse than they are. In fact the ones that do have layers of old paint and coating on them are usually the best protected underneath. Once we have begun sanding you will see the beauty of the natural wood coming through very quickly. Any remedial work such as repairing cracks, dents or spot-sanding will be carried out once the main sanding is completed. It is very difficult to make recommendations by seeing just photographs so a physical site inspection is required.

Do your sanding machines make lots of dust?

It is inevitable that some dust will be produced, however our professional sanding machines are relatively dust free. In some instances, where we encounter a very uneven floor this may generate a slightly higher percentage of dust than would otherwise happen. We also use high–powered dust-extracting machines so please let us know if low-dust emission is a critical factor for you. 

How long does it take to sand a floor?

An average-sized room (bedroom, lounge or hallway for instance) should take a day to sand and a further day to hand finish and coating/wax or oil (we recommend allowing a full week for an entire house). However unforeseen circumstances such as repairs to the main body of the floor or the replacement of some boards may mean the job will take longer. You also need to factor in additional time to let the coating, wax or oil finish fully cure, during which time the floor should not be walked on. We will advise exactly how long as this will be, depending on the floor finish chosen.

Why should I consider a wooden floor?

Where should we start? They’re warm in winter and cool in summer, hygienic, hypoallergenic, don’t harbor parasites or odors and they are easy to clean and maintain. Oh, and they look really, really good too!

What colour will the floor be after sanding?

It all depends on what wood your floor is made from, in their natural form hardwoods like Spotted Gum, Ironbark & Jarrah tend to be darker and softwood pine can vary from a pale honey colour to a dark, golden brown. However most woods can be stained, bleached, waxed or oiled to be whatever colour you’d like them to be.

Should we use coating, wax or oil?

Each floor finish has its particular strengths and weaknesses but for a home environment with average levels of foot traffic there is little to choose between them. Wear and tear on a commercially-used wooden floor such as in a restaurant or museum is far greater and therefore much heavier-duty products will need to be used.

If you chose wax or coating finishes for your home they will require care and periodic re-coating. The protective barriers created by any floor finish will eventually wear through and a new coat will need to be applied prior to this occurring. If it does wear through to the bare wood dust and dirt will quickly be trodden in to the wood grain. To remove this dirt the whole floor will have to be sanded again as local repairs are almost impossible to carry out invisibly.

Oiled floors on the other hand, do not create a protective barrier above the wood but instead the wood absorbs the oil meaning it can repel liquid and dirt. The key benefit of an oiled floor is that local repairs can be carried out to damaged areas as they will readily blend into the rest of the floor. Re-oiling needs to be carried out far more frequently than coating; on average about every 18 to 36 months.

Should we use a stain?

Staining can bring more character to your flooring without having to invest in a new floor. Staining also works wonders if you are renovating. and removing carpet, vinyl or tiles and would like to hide unwanted stains found underneath. There are many colours available with our BONA 2k Oil or Dry Fast stains- to see what is available we can bring out a sample board to view. You can read more about the BONA products here.

Should I decorate before or after the sanding?

Definitely before! It’s easier to wipe a small amount of dust off new wallpaper than it is to remove gloss paint from a newly-varnished floor. We would suggest that the only thing you leave until after the sanding is completed is a final coat of paint on your skirting boards. This is in the event our sanding machines slightly scuff the paintwork. Of course you should mask the floor carefully to avoid any paint spots.

How can I get hold of you?

You can contact us via phone or email or click the call-back button on our website and we’ll phone you. We’ll have a brief chat about what you’re hoping to achieve with your floor and if we can help we can arrange an appointment for a site visit.