How Do You Know When Your Floor Needs To Be Refinished?
Restoration projects are part and parcel of floor maintenance. For wood floors you have the benefit of giving your installation a fresh start. Here, it is sanded down to the bare wood, and then new finish coats are applied to it. The wide range of formulations that can be used enables you to end up with the final result that suits your particular needs. Let’s take a look at the top signs that will inform you that you should now have the floor refinished:
- Excessive scratching
When the floor surface is covered with lots of scratches, then the current finish coats need to be removed. This goes beyond simply being an aesthetic problem. When you have a situation with deep floor scratches, it becomes an access point for water to get into the wood itself, which increases the risks of water damage.
- Discoloured floor
Over the life of the floor, the topcoats applied on it will slowly wear off. Discolouration will be a sign that a recoating is due, with the current finish first being sanded off.
- Permanent stains
Stains are inevitable. In spite of one’s best efforts to prevent them, they are bound to occur – especially in households with kids. Some of the stains will be cleaned off, but over time there will be patches that form that will defy even those thorough scrubbing sessions. Fortunately, you can get a fresh start with the refinishing, getting rid of the patches and restoring the glamour to your floor.
- Changing your style
You may simply not be exactly pleased with the current state of the floor – from the colour to the current feel of the space. One of the perks of having hardwood floors is that you don’t need to replace them to score a different look. Simply sand down to the bare wood, and apply the wood stain with the preferred colour, then proceed to top it up with a finish that enhances the effect.
To DIY Or Hire A Professional?
It can be tempting to take on the floor sanding as a DIY job. After all, it looks to be rather straightforward: run sanding machinery over the floor to remove the old finish, and voila! You’re done. Hold on – it’s not that easy. Sure, the professionals make it look like a breeze, but the reality that many DIY enthusiasts face when they handle the floor sanding themselves is anything but “a breeze”. It’s a taxing job, one that takes a toll on the individual. Sweating for days in a dusty environment, getting frustrated by scratches that keep popping up and a surface that refuses to get properly smooth, chatter markets and swirl marks that form, the sandpaper getting clogged up – these issues can be frustrating. It gets worse when, after all the time and resources that you used, you end up with low-quality results. These can require the project to be redone, which racks up the costs further.
There’s also the frustration that comes with working with low-capacity machinery. The sanders that are rented usually pack less of a punch compared to the industrial-grade machinery used. For instance, while you’ll typically find a DIYer using a sander that’s 110V, the professionals will be working with machines that operate at over 220V. This difference will affect the turnaround time. As such, a job that can take the DIYer 5 days can be completed by a professional in a single day. The floor sanding companies have both the equipment and crew needed for the task – which goes a long way in reducing the reducing amount of time needed for the task, allowing the rest of the refinishing task to be carried out much sooner.
Benefits Of Hiring Professional Floor Sanding Services
Truth be told, you will be much calmer knowing that your property is in safe hands. With a DIY process or when hiring a rookie crew for the task, one keeps getting worried about things going awry. Rectifying the mistakes made force you to dig deeper into your wallet. Since many of the rookie firms skip out on getting insurance, there is the additional issue of liabilities that crop up in case of accidents while the tasks are being carried out. However, when dealing with a company that has been in operation for years, where the crew have undergone stringent training and are also kept up to date with the latest advancements in the floor maintenance industry, you get to go about your tasks with the peace of mind that when you come back to check up on the floor, it will have been properly taken care of.
Given that the floor sanding is the first stage of the restoration project, you don’t want lengthy delays. The longer that the task takes, the longer the floor will remain out of commission, and the greater the risk to the sections that have already been worked on. Remember that the wood is hygroscopic, and it will also readily absorb spills. When the bare wood is exposed for long, it comes under greater threat from the elements – thus the need to ensure that the restoration project gets carried out as quickly as possible. The professional floor restoration company has the resources needed for this, which in turn means that the disruption to your daily activities will be minimised.
While you don’t want to end up with hefty repair bills due to damages made by a rookie company offering cheap services, you also don’t want to overpay for the task. A professional floor sanding company will have flexible rates suited to the different situations, and will give you a detailed quotation stipulating exactly what you’re paying for. When shopping for suitable services, compare different rates from the local wood floor restoration companies in order to estimate the fair value for your project. Ensure that you deal with a firm that is forthright and clear on its costs – and get the quotation in writing.
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