Wood floor restoration is a vital part of keeping your solid wood floor looking fantastic for many years. Solid wood flooring can be a huge asset to your home or business premises, so it is important to keep it looking great through regular wood floor restoration and maintenance.
Wood floor restoration will keep a wood floor in the best possible condition so you can enjoy the look of it for many years to come. Solid wood floors often experience a lot of wear and tear from every day use so it’s important to protect them. Keeping your solid wood correctly looked after with wood floor restoration means that visitors to your home get a good first impression and you benefit from truly beautiful surroundings.
As well as enhancing the look of your home, solid wood floors can increase it’s value too so making sure you keep up to date with any wood floor restoration is well worth doing. If you are thinking of selling your house then doing any wood floor restoration before hand can only increase your chances of selling.
In this guide we will introduce what the main aspects of wood floor restoration are including replacing damaged areas, removing dents and scratches, removing stained areas, filling gaps, sanding and finishing.
Wood Floor Restoration - click here for full information on our wood floor refurbishment service.
Our Wood Floor Restoration Process
Step 1: Floor Repairs
There are three main types of common floor repairs that need to be undertaken when you are thinking about wood floor restoration.
Replace Damaged Floorboards
Most types of floorboard or floor block can be replaced, solving a wide range of problems. It does however depend on the type of flooring you have and this is why we always carry out a survey before any work is under taken. We offer a free no obligation survey to inspect your floor and give you our recommendations.
Because we are specialists in reclaimed wood we have access to a large range of floorboards, wood blocks and strip floors and these can all be cut to the correct size. It is not completely possible to ensure an exact match to your original flooring but by using reclaimed wood we try and find as close a match as we can.
Scratches
Any scratches on your solid wood floor can be taken away using fine to medium sandpaper depending on the depth of the scratch. Light scratches can be sanded down and the wood refinished to look as good as new. More serious scratches will need prolonged sanding to expose the bare wood. Only then can the surface be refinished.
The finish on your wood floor will determine whether the scratched and repaired area can be refinished in isolation, or if this patch will stand out too much. If the latter is the case, then for a consistent finish the entire floor will need to be sanded and have the chosen finish re-applied.
Dents
Dents are a problem with solid wood floors and it’s advisable to ask people to remove their shoes before walking on them, particularly high heels. There are two ways to tackle dents in your wood, they can be filled with a wax which will set and go hard or if the floor is being sanded the dent can be filled with a resin mixed with some of the sawdust the sanding has created.
Step 2: Filling Gaps
Gaps between floorboards will naturally occur but some customers prefer for these to be filled. Small items could get wedged or lost between the boards and draughts will come up through the gaps.
Solid wood floors are all susceptible to the seasons and affected by heat and cold. Wood expands during the hot summer months but then contracts during winter when it is colder. This expansion and shrinkage may cause any filler used to try and fill the gaps to split and disappear.
There are three effective ways to fill gaps between floorboards.
The Stopgap method involves placing strips of plastic in between each floorboard. This helps prevent draughts passing through.
For pine floorboards then Pine Fillets can be used. These are wedges of pine that are placed between the floorboards and glued into place.
If your wood floor has been sanded then the resulting sawdust can me mixed with a resin called Lecol 7500 to fill in all the gaps.
Step 3: Wood Floor Sanding
Sanding is not a complicated process but it is a lengthy one, which requires patience, skill, care and attention to detail. How you sand, the grade of sandpaper used and the machinery employed for the task will all affect the finish of your wood floor.
We can sand all the wood floors we offer including parquet flooring, distressed flooring, end grain floors, engineered floors, strip floors and mosaic floors.
Hardwood floors are beautiful and need to stay that way to give you years of lasting pleasure so how they are sanded down when being restored is vitally important. We only use professional equipment and fully trained staff with a passion and knowledge for restoring the natural qualities of your wood flooring.
Step 4: Staining
Once your floor has been sanded down the next part of the wood floor restoration process is to stain or finish it with an oil or lacquer. Naturally Wood Floors offer all these services once your floor has been sanded down and can advise you on the best choice.
Staining can make a bold statement as the finish for your restored flooring. Stains can either darken or enhance the natural colours of the wood and with wood dyes you can change the colour of the wood altogether.
Our stains come in a variety of colours such as antique pine, ebony, walnut, light and dark teak, brown or red mahogany and light, medium and dark oak. If you have a particular colour you wish to match then we have a fully trained French Polisher who can assist you.
The stain must be evenly applied in order to penetrate the wood completely and then any excess wiped away. It is worth remembering that stains only colour the wood they do not give any added protection and for this you would need to apply a finish.
Step 5: Finishing
There are two main types of finish for a restored wood floor to choose from, oil or lacquer. These can be applied straight to a sanded finish or on top of a stain.
The plus side of an oiled finish is that when any repairs are undertaken then specific areas can be treated without the need to re-finish the entire floor. As with all wood flooring regular cleaning is a must and then a fresh coat of oil every 1 to 2 years will keep your wood floor looking beautiful. If you try and minimize the risk of heavy scratches then there should be no need to have the flooring re-sanded again. The oil we use, Osmo hard wax oil, is long lasting and hard wearing.
With a lacquered finish again we recommend regular cleaning and a new coat every 1 or 2 years to refresh the surface. Unfortunately with lacquer it is difficult to carry out repair work on single areas so the whole floor will need sanding again if patches of wear and tear are too visible and spoil the look of the floor. The two lacquers we use are a Swedish brand called Bona Mega and Bona Traffic and they are tough and durable so little maintenance is needed.
Additional Products and Services
In addition to restoring your floor we can also supply you with any relevant floor care products. These will help you to prolong the life of your wooden floor.
We can also carry out Concrete Hearth Removal and Restitch. This is when an existing concrete fire heath needs to be removed by chasing it out. Next we remove any surrounding flooring and then replace the area with reclaimed floorboards that match your existing wood floor.
Wood Floor Restoration - click here for full information on our wood floor refurbishment service.
