One query I’ve been requested repeatedly over time working within the wooden flooring trade is; can my previous fitted wood flooring be sanded and refurbished? Many individuals have a wood flooring of their home that has been down for 6-10 years that’s trying drained, boring, has scratches or stains in and has positively seen higher days. Most individuals know that parquet flooring or authentic flooring boards may be sanded again to make a beautiful completed flooring, however what to do with a fitted wood flooring is a little more complicated. Nicely hopefully this little information can shed some gentle on the issue.

Firstly it’s worthwhile to decide what kind of flooring you might have, and most significantly that it’s wooden. In case your flooring is a wooden impact laminate then I am afraid the one possibility is to switch it. Laminate flooring is available in various diploma of high quality, however more often than not it’s primarily a wooden impact print caught to both an MDF or plywood board with a lacquer on high, sanding it could solely sand off the print and destroy the ground. Additionally make sure that your flooring just isn’t a wooden impact vinyl, they’ve develop into extremely popular in recent times due to their seemingly low upkeep qualities, they’re very simple to wash however as soon as they’re trying previous and boring or scratched, sadly the one possibility is to switch.

There are two forms of fitted wood floors; engineered and strong Solid wood flooring and the excellent news is, each may be sanded and refurbished to look as new because the day they had been fitted. Engineered wood floors can typically be mistaken for laminate because it has an identical development. Engineered wooden flooring has a skinny layer of actual wooden, often between 3-5 mm bonded to a base of both MDF or ply board, due to its development and that it’s fitted along with a tongue and groove, it additionally stays very flat. This implies if sanded accurately you must solely should sand off lower than a millimeter, so the ground can often be sanded as much as 3 occasions. In case your flooring is strong wooden flooring it is going to have a really related look to engineered on the floor, however it is going to be constructed completely of 1 piece of wooden from the floor to the bottom. Strong wooden flooring is dearer to make and can inevitably price extra to purchase, however for my part it isn’t pretty much as good a product as engineered as it’s extra vulnerable to warping. By no means the much less and most significantly it may be sanded and refurbished many occasions, relying within the development there’s often between 7-10 mm above the tongue and groove and so long as you do not sand all the way down to this the ground can be fantastic.

Engineered and strong wooden flooring may be fitted in quite a few methods often decided by the kind of sub-floor. If the flooring is fitted straight onto the ground joists, then it is going to in all probability be secret nailed. A flooring nailer is used to drive a nail simply above the tongue and into the joist, this creates a really strong flooring and can really feel like authentic flooring boards. This methodology can also be typically used on a chipboard subfloor. If the flooring is to be fitted to a concrete or screeded sub-base then the ground could also be glued down, once more this creates a really strong and acoustically sound flooring as there is no such thing as a void between the wooden and base. Lastly and extra generally these days due to ease and pace, you can have a floating flooring, an underlay is laid down and the boards are joined collectively on the tongue and groove both by a click on system much like laminate or by glue. The burden of the ground and the truth that it’s fitted from wall to wall means it can’t transfer wherever. If in case you have a floating flooring you’ll possible have the ability to discover a really slight spring within the flooring when walked on. Fortunately in all conditions the ground may be sanded the identical.

Listed below are some pointers that can assist you work out what kind of flooring you might have. Firstly examine for those who had any of the boards left over when the ground was fitted, very often the fitter will advise to maintain a number of the left over flooring within the loft in case it’s worthwhile to restore a piece. Or you can discover an space of the ground the place you possibly can see the sting, probably pulling up a door threshold, air vent or a small piece of scotia or skirting board. By doing this you must have the ability to inform from the development what kind of flooring it’s.

So hopefully this can enable you to determine in case your flooring may be sanded and refurbished or if it’s time to exchange it. In case you are nonetheless uncertain then any skilled wooden flooring contractor ought to give you the option that can assist you.