Floor Sanding Sydney

Floor Sanders Sydney wide are often concerned with the durability of the flooring material.  Of course hardwood is always one of the most durable options, but as well as the variation between different species of timber these are other factors that affect the durability of the floor.

Hardness:

The hardness of the specific type of timber is measured by the Janka Number. This is a measure of how much force (in Kilo Newtons) in needed to dent the wood. A Janka number of 6 Kilo Newtons is reasonable. 12 kilo Newtons is very good. 16 is extremely hard wood.

Colour:

The floor colour is usually chosen to suit the design décor. But lighter floors tend to hide shallow scratches a little better than dark wood. Floors that do not have a surface stain will not suffer obvious marks if that surface stain is scratched off. But a scratch on a stained floor can often be covered up by applying more of the original stain.

Finish:

A protective finish is good for protecting a floor against surface damage. Water based polyurethane is popular for this – it is water resistant, flame retardant and quite hard wearing.

Polyurethane providing a protective finish over a timber with a high Janka number is probably the most resilient type of flooring.

Sheen:

A glossy floor tends to show any imperfections, including scratches. By contrast a matt finish reflects less light, so imperfections are less obvious.

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Hard timber floors last for decades. If they suffer surface wear they can be re-sanded, effectively giving them a new appearance.

Talk to us about restoring your hardwood timber floors with re-sanding and polishing.

Floor Sanders Sydney – Protective Coatings

A good quality protective coating can help the surface of a wooden floor last many years. This can both protect the surface from scratching, and provides a fair degree of water resistance.

Polyurethanes were developed in Germany in the late 1930s, but did not become commercial available till the late 1950s. As well as being the basis for many hard plastic products and foam polyurethane proved a very resilient coatings for wooden surfaces.

Polyurethane coatings provide a hard glossy surface for wooden floors. There are two main variations for polyurethane, water-based and solvent-based.

Water Based Polyurethane

This is an absolutely clear finish. It is hard to see the difference between the coated and uncoated timber surface, but the texture changes and the coating provided protection to the wood.

Water based polyurethane is very fast drying, needing only 2 hours for a re-coat. This means a floor can be given4 coatings in a day, which is the recommended number for this type of floor finish.

Water based polyurethane is low odour and moderately priced. Brushed and equipment can be cleaned with water as long as the finish hasn’t dried.

Solvent Based Polyurethane

This has a slightly tinted, slightly amber look. Many find this tint looks very appealing on timber floors. Over the space of several years the coating will darken slightly, especially in strong light. This will not affect the strength of the finish.

Solvent based polyurethane is slower drying than water based equivalents. It takes about 5 hours before the floor can be recoated. But floors generally only need 2 or 3 coats.

Equipment used with Solvent based polyurethane must be cleaned with turps / spirits.

Wooden floors last for decades, but their surfaces are prone to scratching and superficial damage. Protective finishes on the floor surface can significantly reduce the amount of damage sustained and allow preserve the appearance for many years.

Floor Sanding Sydney

If your timber floors do show signs of surface damage they can be bought to virtually new appearance with floor sanding. Other wooden damage can also be repaired.

To make sure you are getting the most out of a service you should know the right questions to ask.

What sort of environmentally friendly coatings do you use?

One great advantage of hardwood (or Bamboo) is the reduced impact on the environment. As long as we are growing more wood (as trees) we are pulling some CO2 out of the atmosphere.

But chemicals used to treat the wood, or to provide protective coatings, is another matter. These stains and protective coatings may contain volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs), and these can either be bad for the environment or bad for our health.

Ask for VOC free products.

Computer Modeling the Finished Result

There can be a difference between the expectation and the actual finished product. Accurate computer modelling can give a good impression of what to expect, and you might want to make a few adjustments in light of this information.

Soundproofing

Do you live on the second floor? Are the people downstairs going to be bothered whenever you walk on the wooden floor?

Consider a subfloor and floating floor.

Pets and Claws

Pets can scratch floors because of their hard claws. Trimming the claws is one solution. Else, floors can be given a protective coating. Laminate floors can be rated AC4 or AC5 for harder protective finishes.

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If you need floor sanding Sydney wide then talk to us. Restore your hardwood floors, and look at protective coatings, wood stains and finishes. Ask us for advice. 

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Homeowners may decide to renovate their house and property at some point. This can entail many alterations. Wall painting is probably the most common task, but furniture, kick-knacks, carpeting and many other elements of a home may also be changed.

Wooden floors can be re-sanded as part of home renovations. Re-sanding of the floor basically returns it to a new appearance. Only a thin layer of surface wood is removed. The resulting floor is bare timber than can be re-stained and re-finished in many different manners. The floor can have the original look restored, or be coloured in a completely different way.

After Floor Sanding Sydney

Many clients will include a repainting of the trim (skirting boards) when the floor is re-sanded. Some instruction on this can proves useful.

1. Use blue painters tape to mask of the edges of the wall where they join to the trim
2. Put plastic and / or cloth groundsheets on the floor, to avoid any dripping paint.
3. Use painters tape along the floor where the floor meets the trim, to avoid any paint getting on the floor.
4. Stir the paint thoroughly
5. Use a 2 inch ANGLED paint brush to apply paint to the trim
6. Only dip the paint brush to one third of its bristle length into the paint
7. Remove excess paint from the brush, and Tap the brush on the inside of the can
8. Hold a paint guard against the wall above the area where you will paint the trim
9. Paint with your dominant hand (usually right) and hold the guard with the other hand
10. Apply paint lightly with strokes in one direction.
11. Start painting a dry area and work towards an area already painted.
12. Keep painted areas in a zig zag or random pattern; straight lines are too easy to see.
13. A short, stubby brush might help in tight areas like corners.
14. If the paint is too thin in any an area, wait till it has dried, sand lightly, clean, and repaint

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Good hardwood can last for over a century. Hardwood timber floors can re-sanded to restore their ‘just installed’ look.

If you are renovating, or if you just want the hardwood floors to look like new, consider having the floors re-sanded.

Floor Sanding Sydney – After floods.

Water damage is one of the few legitimate threats to hardwood floors. All the worse because flooding is often not covered by most insurance policies.

Wooden floors suffering some small scale water damage can often be repaired, though it depends on the extent of the damage and the type of water.

Clean Water

Though clean water flooding is very inconvenient the floor can often be recovered. Wood will quickly soak up water when flooded, and this water is slow and difficult to remove. If the surface water is quickly drained away the remaining water, which has soaked into the timber surface, can be removed with absorbent material and air circulating fans.

If the water that is soaked into the wooden floor is left to long there will be problems with mould, mildew and fungus. Once this has set in the floor is irreparably damaged, and the room will probably cause health problems.

If the floor can be dried in time, so that there is no mould or mildew, it can be restored. But the water will probably have caused swelling and buckling in the floor surface, making the whole floor uneven.

Re-sanding can restore a wooden floor to virtually new condition, removing the uneven surface left by clean flood water.

Grey Water Flooding

Grey water is liquid from sinks, dishwashers, bathtubs, washing machines, fish tanks and other similar sources. It tends to by unhygienic, and any damage from these is a possible health hazard. Wooden floors that have been flooded with grey water will probably need to be replaced. All carpeting and furnishing infected with grey water will need to be disposed of.

Grey water can be used to water gardens, but has no other use.

Black Water Flooding

This is water from sewage, or water for large scale floods that has contacted the ground outside. It is an extreme health hazard. Any floors in contact with black water will need to be replaced or decontaminated. This requires expert advice and treatment.

Black water must be avoided. It has no practical use.

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Hardwood floors affected by clean flooding can often be restored with re-sanding.

Floor Sanding Sydney

The great advantage of solid wooden floors is their durability. They resist wear and tear and will last for decades. And when they do show signs of superficial surface wear they can be re-sanded to make them look as good as new. It is not uncommon to have floors re-sanded after about 10 years of use.

Hardness of Floor Timber

The wood produced by different species of trees will vary in strength, hardness and appearance. These factors can also vary with processing and staining.

The hardness of wood is determined with the Janka test. This measures the pressure required to press a 0.444 inch steel ball half way into a wooden surface (a depth of 0.222 inches). The result gives the Janka number. In Australia the Janka number is given in kilo Newtons kN.

Timber suitable for flooring will require a Janka hardness of about 6kN or greater. Woods with Janka numbers of up to 12kN are not uncommon. A few timbers rate up to 16kN.

Past a certain point the Janka number is not really important. Most timbers sold for flooring are hardwoods of sufficient durability, and under normal conditions they will last for decades, with occasional surface re-sanding. 

Floor timber can be chosen mainly for colour, pattern and appearance rather than durability, because almost all timber flooring is sufficiently durable.

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Talk to us if you have any questions about having your floors re-sanded, or for advice on re-staining or lime wash.

There have always been questions about how cutting down forests will affect the environment. Loss of trees and the expending of energy that produces carbon dioxide are legitimate concerns. But it is possible to use quality timber and still have minimal impact on the environment.

Hardwoods and Environment

Trees absorb carbon dioxide gas and produce oxygen. The absorption of carbon dioxide is good for the environment.

Growing trees absorb a significant amount of carbon dioxide. But once the tree is fully mature the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed is much lower. And once the tree dies and starts to decompose the carbon dioxide is re-released back into the atmosphere. A forest of trees, with growing and dying trees, will absorb and release about the same amount of carbon dioxide, making the total production basically zero.

The best way to use trees for reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to constantly grow new trees. These trees can then be cut down and used as building material. The new trees will absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, and most of this carbon dioxide will remain stored in the timber which is then used for building. The carbon dioxide is only re-released if the wood rots or is burnt.

Hardwood is natural, and the use of hardwood timber for building material is a fairly good option for the environmentally conscious. Timber from trees requires only a moderate amount of energy in order to become suitable building material. And the growing of more replacement trees is very beneficial for the environment.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a grass rather than a wood, but many bamboo products can be used as building materials that replace traditional timber. Bamboo flooring is one modern example. It is much faster growing that timber, taking about 7 years to mature instead of several decades, so new building material is reasonably quick to produce.

Bamboo building materials look to be quite beneficial for the environment.

 Floor Sanding Sydney

Good hardwood floors will last for decades, if not more than a century. This makes then a sound investment for any home. The timber is a renewable resource, and because the flooring lasts so long these is minimal impact on the environment.

Floor sanding can remove the top layer or wood from a timber floor, effectively making the floor as good as new. With regular wear it is not uncommon to re-sand floors ever 10 years. The restored floor can then be re-stained or redecorated to suit a new décor, or returned to its previous finish.

After Floor Sanding Sydney

If you have had your wooden floors re-sanded, or if you want your unfinished new floors to have a certain austere look, consider lime wash.

More than Floor Sanding Northern Beaches

Lime wash developed as a means of protecting wood, an inexpensive alternative to paint. But people liked the light colour of lime wash and the way it enhanced the grain. So lime wash became popular for some types of décor.

Lime wash is a mixture of calcium hydroxide and chalk. When applied to an open grain floor this given a smooth yet powdery appearance, rather like the chalk that is part of the wash. Lime washed floors can really brighten up the look of a room.

An unexpected benefit of lime wash is that it doesn’t show the dust. Floors will look pale and clean as long as they are free from footprints.

The look of lime wash and be combined with a protective polyurethane coating.

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A floor cannot be lime washed if it still has a vanished or painted surface. If you want the look of lime wash than have the floors sanded first. And consider a protective coat with the Lime stain.

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