Floor Sanding – what is involved?

We have to go through several steps to renovate your floor, starting with:

1. Assess the condition of your floor, and prepare it for sanding. Any loose boards will be glued or nailed down, and any broken or splintered boards will be replaced with a similar timber. Any protruding nail heads will be punched below the surface.

2. (Optional) Any unusually large gaps in the floor can be filled at this stage by fitting fillets of similar timber. These are wedge-shaped in section and are driven into the gaps with glue to completely fill them. Any protruding fillet is then trimmed off flush with the floor.

3. The floor is then sanded with a coarse grit (how coarse depends on the condition of the floor, we will always try to remove as little wood as possible when sanding to prolong the life of the floor).

4. When all the original finish has been removed and the floor is level, we will sand it again with a medium grit. If we have had to use a very coarse grit for the first sand, we may have to use a semi-coarse grit in between as skipping grades in the sanding can result in an inferior finish.

5. We can then mix the sawdust from the medium grit sanding with a special clear resin to make a filling paste which we use to fill all remaining gaps,this dries quickley to a close colour match.

6. We then sand the floor with a fine grit to remove any scratches left by the previous sanding and to ensure no filler is left on the surface.

7. We then buff the floor with a rotary sander to give a very fine finish suitable for applying the finish of your choice.

8. (Optional) We then apply stain by hand, with the grain, and wipe off excess.

9. When the stain (if any) has dried, we can apply the first coat of finish.

10. If we are using water-based lacquer, the first coat will need ‘cutting back’ (extremely fine sanding to remove grain-raising) when it is properly dry.

11. Further coats of finish will be applied as required (minimum 3 coats water-based lacquer or 2 coats hardwaxoil).

12. Your floor will require 2-3 days for the finish to harden enough for normal use.

Congratulations! You now have a beautiful, craftsman-finished wooden floor!