Why Are There Scratches And Dents On My Floor?
As a result of the day-to-day abuse that the floor handles, it gradually gets deteriorated. Some of the most common occurrences are the scratches and dents that ruin the finish coats that had been applied. Here is a look at how they come about.
Causes Of Damage To Hardwood Floors
Wood floors are one of the most durable flooring choices. When properly cared for, they will last for decades. The key is ensuring that adequate measures are put in place to preserve the structural integrity of the installation. Common causes of wear on the wood floors include:
- Heavy furniture
Moving furniture by dragging it across the surface of the floor, failing to put padding under the legs of the large pieces of furniture- these will cause scratches or even grooves on the floor. Those colossal sofa sets and bookshelves can easily dent the floor.
- Soiled shoes
This is one of the common causes of scratches forming on the floor. The gritty particles that are at the bottom of people’s shoes as they walk around the premises abrade the surface. The effect is are minuscule at first, but as the traffic level increases, the scratches become more prominent, and concentrated on the sections of the floor that are heavily walked on.
- Young kids
As your little ones play with their toys, some of the items used can cause scratches these range from the toy cars to the rail tracks that are set up on the floor. Basically as the kids use the wood floor as a road for their toys- even when light in weight, there will be a risk posed to it. Then there are those cases where the kids decide to draw on the surface, making marks all over. These unsightly spots stick out from the floor in stark contrast to the rest of the colouration, a blemish that you no doubt want to be got rid of.
Bring In The Professionals To Sand Your Floor
When it’s time to give your flooring a fresh start, call in the personnel with the skills and machinery needed to deliver quality results within a short time. Specifically with the floor sanding, this is an intensive job, since it involves grinding down layers of tough finish that are on the surface. These are coats of products that have harden and cured, and have been particularly developed to protect the underlying structure from wear. As such, the machinery needed to grind through to the bare wood needs to be powerful. Sanders come in different designs and capacities. The state-of-the-art units that the professionals use are in a different league compared to the sanders that can be rented from dealership stores. The latter operate at lower power and capacities, due to the design that’s meant to make them lighter and more portable for the DIYer. This negatively affects the efficiency of the process, causing the DIYer to end up spending much more time and resources on the task. Remember that the longer the floor sanding takes, the more the rest of the project is delayed, since this is the first stage of the floor restoration. You don’t want the activities in your home or business premises being ground to a halt for days on end, simply due to a slow floor sanding process. Get it done in a fraction of the time using expert services.
What of the risks involved? They are plenty. Firstly, sanders pack a punch, and any slight mishap can wreak havoc on your installation. This can be at any point in the process. Drum marks, divots, swirl marks on the surface of the floor, a wavy result because of improper sanding- these will all affect the quality of the finish. Issues like moving the sander too fast, where it doesn’t sufficiently remove the old layers of finish, will hamper the effectiveness of the restoration project. This is because those patches that contain the old finish will prevent the new one from properly binding with the bare wood, and you also won’t have a uniform result. On the other hand, moving the sander too slowly means that the grinding will be excessive, eating away too much of the flooring, reducing the wear layer. This reduces the number of times that the floor can be successfully sanded and refinished in future. It also puts the structural integrity of the installation at risk. Oversights such as nail heads that are sticking out of the floor boards not being properly driven into the wood can ruin the belt sanders. Speaking of which, any damage to the rented equipment will need to be repaired by you, adding to the costs. You don’t have to take on all these risks. Leaving the floor sanding to the professionals will take the load off our back, and give you peace of mind.
Avoid the messy process
Loads of dust are generated during the floor sanding. This is inevitable. Focus shifts to how the dust is handled. Enter dustless floor sanding systems. Here, the sanders are connected to high-powered vacuum systems, which suction up the dust particles the moment they are ground off the floor surface. They are then directed off the property to containment units through a series of pipes, after which our personnel safely dispose them. This avoids the health and fire risks that are associated with the dust.
It can also be frustrating when those tiny particles wind up all over the property, covering your countertops, cabinets, the electrical appliances, getting into the sink and air conditioning events, clogging up the drains, covering your window sills and upholstery- this brings about the need for a monstrous cleaning chore. You don’t want to be left in such a scenario. What’s more, given that the floor sanding is the initial stage of the restoration process, excessive dust will need to more time being taken for the cleaning, which further delays the entire restoration project. With a dustless floor sanding process, the burden is reduced, enabling the task to be completed more expeditiously.
