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Light Floor Sanding & Heavy Duty Sanding

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Wood Floor Replacement & Full Repairs

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Commercial & Domestic Floor Sanding

Hardwax Oils, Wood Stains, Lacquers

Owning a beautiful wood floor comes with a lot of advantages. A well maintained wood floor will give your home a special feeling of coziness. A well maintained wood floor will also insulate your home, it will facilitate easy maintenance and it will enhance the look of your property. You should expect to have your wooden floor restored or refinished once every 5-15 years depending on the traffic and the maintenance. Unfortunately there are no permanent finishes on the market yet but the finishes currently available can last for up to 15 years if the wood floor is cleaned and maintained with proper wood floor cleaners, if the spills are removed fast, if the furniture is fitted with protective pads, if pet nails are cut regularly and if the floor is refreshed once in a while. But the most essential factor for durability is knowing how to properly maintain your wooden floors.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Oiled Floors

Most wood floor manufacturers use hardwax oils and floor oils. While a wooden floor fully sealed with any type of oil will look great and it will waterproof and stain proof the wood, the oil finishes are not as durable as the water based or solvent based floor lacquers. These types of floors require much more delicate cleaning and regular refreshments. Ignoring the regular maintenance (re-oiling) will dry up the finish and it will leave the wood fiber unprotected. Any liquid or spill will be absorbed by the wood and in some cases the damage could be permanent. If an oiled floor was not refreshed for years while being the subject of daily intense traffic, it might be damaged for good or the results after a deep clean and re-oiling might not be as good as expected. The only option left is dustless floor sanding and recoating. A professional floor sanding company will lightly sand the top coat of your floor with fine grit sanding paper and then they will either re-oil the floor or varnish the floor with a matt, semi gloss or highly glossy floor lacquer.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Varnished Wood Floors

Since its invention in the early 1800s, floor varnish was a hit with most residential and commercial floor owners. A varnished floor is durable, protected and capable of taking all kinds of traffic. But even the most durable floor varnishes have a limited life expectancy. The traffic, its maintenance & its exposure to harsh chemicals will increase or decrease its life expectancy. Most types of old solvent based floor varnishes were glazing the wood to create a protective coat over the top of the floor. The new water based floor varnishes or lacquers are much more durable, much more eco-friendly, much faster drying and most are non yellowing. But as we have said, over a long period of time, even the most durable of all floor varnishes will wear off. While a refresher will restore some of the lost sheen, if the floor has water damage or if the scratches on it are very deep, a quick refreshing with a wood floor polish will not be enough. Using the services of a professional floor sanding company is the only option to restore it to a new condition. Your local floor sanding company will remove the top coat of your floor with aggressive sanding paper to remove all the imperfections and to prepare the surface for recoating. The wood surface can be kept natural (clear) or it can be stained (colour change) and then recoated with a water based floor lacquer or in some cases with a solvent based floor lacquer. If the wood floor is hardwood, the results are guaranteed but in the case of a semi solid wood floor there are a number of factors, like the floor thickness, that could help you or stop you from achieving top results.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Type Of Wood Floors

A “wood floor” is a very broad word. When most people are thinking of refinishing or sanding their wooden floors, they are looking for a price for wood floor sanding and refinishing. But more information is required so the contractor can price the job. Your wood floor can be engineered (semi solid) or hardwood (solid). Below, we will explain the difference and how the price can be affected by this small detail.

Engineered Wood Floors | An engineered wood floor is an artificial type of wood floor where a sheet of real wood is applied over a plywood plank. The thickness of the top layer can vary from floor to floor and usually the ones that have a thicker top layer are the ones that are the most expensive. The top layer can be anywhere between 2 mm to about 15 mm but most engineered wood floors are about 7-10 mm thick. The thinner the top layer of real wood, the less times it can be refinished. Some engineered wood floors cannot be sanded at all while some can be sanded a number of times. A professional floor sanding company will have to assess the thickness of the engineered wood floor before a quotation will be issued. When a professional floor sanding company sands a wooden floor, they will remove all the pre-existing finishes and a bit of the floor as well. When the floor thickness is only 2 mm, only 1 refinishing job will be possible before the wood top wears off in full.

Hardwood Floors | A hardwood floor is a piece of real wood cut from a proper wood plank. The hardwood floors can come in all shapes and sizes and can have a number of different designs and locking in systems. A real wood floor can be refinished many times over without running the risk of thinning up the wood to dangerous levels. In Ireland especially, most hardwood floors are made from pine, oak, maple, beech wood, walnut, cherrywood & other less popular types of wood types. While most types of hardwood floors can be sanded, stained & lacquered, some might look better kept natural. The maple floor looks a bit silly when stained due to its unusual fiber pattern. A hard wood can be pretty pricey but due to its thickness, it will be worth it in the long run. All local floor sanding contractors are happy to quote for hardwood floor refinishing. Like all other types of floors, there are no permanent finishes invented yet so all hardwood floors will require refinishing sooner or later, traffic dependent.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | What Is Floor Sanding?

Most wood floors, not all, are sealed. An unsealed wood floor will stain easily and it will get damaged very fast. Just because your wood floor looks like it has nothing on it, it does not mean that the wood has no protection. Some water based floor lacquers and some floor oils can seal the surface with an invisible protective coating or an impregnating protector. While all lacquers | oils | polishes will provide superb protection for a limited period of time, after a few years of use and abuse, that protective coat has to be removed and a new one applied. Removing that protective coat is the floor sanding process.

Your local floor sanding company will use a heavy duty belt floor sander, an edger and a number of small corner sanding machines to remove all the old sealers, the imperfections & all the dull patches. The first sanding will be the rough one where aggressive sanding paper will be used to sand the wood, then gradually the floor will be sanded with less and less aggressive sanding paper until the surface is smooth, sealant free and ready to absorb the new coat of sealer. While floor sanding can be done by DIY users, it is highly recommended to use the services of a professional floor sanding contractor if you want to end up with good results. More than half of the DIY floor sanding projects end up unfinished or with the wood floor damaged.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Dustless Floor Sanding

Dustless floor sanding or dust free floor sanding does not mean 100% dustless. Most professional floor sanding contractors use top quality belt sanders capable of extracting over 98% of the dust generated in the process of floor sanding. Only a few years back there was 0 dust collection and most floor sanding projects were a big mess. Having a 98% dust collection is excellent to say the least. Very few floor sanding companies still use the old non dustless floor sanders. Same level of “dustless” should apply to commercial floor sanding projects. A tiny amount of dust is usually generated in the process of edging or corner sanding.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Stairs Sanding

Many local floor sanding companies avoid stair sanding. Sanding stairs is very labor intensive. Most floor sanding contractors prefer dealing with large wood floors than to do stairs. A stair sanding project is not priced per square meter but instead is priced per step. The amount of paint on it, the type of finish on it and the job complexity will dictate the final price.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | What Finishes Are Possible?

The final look will depend on the type of wood and the condition of the wood. Some very expensive wood types like walnut and cherry wood should be refinished with natural matt finishes while the cheaper types of wood floors like the pine floors, should be stained in a more elegant finish to transform it from a cheap looking floor into a beautiful looking floor. Up to a few years back, there were only two options, for a more natural looking finish the wood floor had to be oiled while for a highly durable but artificial looking finish, the wood floor had to be varnished with an oil based hard wearing floor varnish. Nowadays, things have changed, and some water based floor lacquers look more natural than a floor oil while some hardwax floor oils look like the old solvent finishes.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Wood Repairs | It would be unwise to varnish an imperfect wood surface. So receiving an estimate for a floor repair or floorboard replacement should be considered in the case of damaged floors. All professional floor sanding contractors provide some type of wood floor repairs. Blending in old and new floors is not easy at all and in some cases reclaimed wood has to be used to replace damaged floor boards.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Gap Filling | If the gaps between your floorboards are annoying you, or if it collects dirt or if it creates draught, then the gaps can be filled. Dust from the floor itself, after the last fine sanding, will be used. It will be mixed up with a special water based or solved based gap filler. The composition created will be used to fill up the gaps. While most average size gaps can be filled, the smaller the gap the better the results. All professional floor sanding contractors use different types or brands of gap fillers, but the end result is the same. Chimiver gap fillers are much better than other brands and the flexibility of the product is just outstanding. The gap filler should not alter the look of your wooden floor, it can be stained, oiled or varnished as the floor itself. No one can guarantee how long the gap filler will last, but the skill of the applicator, floor flexibility, the type of traffic & the maintenance can increase or decrease the gap filler's durability.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Hardwax Oils | The floor oils are as popular as ever. Not only has the industry improved its quality but more types of floor oils, in many colors and suitable for heavy duty commercial traffic were invented. There are two types of floor oils commonly used, floor oil and hardwax oil. The floor oils penetrate the wood in full without creating an artificial glazing. Basically it maintains the wood as natural as possible. The hardwax oil is a bit thicker and it slightly glazes the floor to give the user the benefits and the look of a lacquered floor while allowing the wood to breathe naturally. Another great benefit of floor oils is the fact that particular areas can be refreshed individually. If some area gets more traffic than another area, the area with higher traffic can be refreshed (re-oiled) more often so it maintains the protection intact. Applying a floor oil is not that hard but using professional floor buffers and special pads will surely increase the floor oils coverage area and it will also help with the drying times. While most floor sanding companies provide floor oiling and floor waxing, some are trying to avoid it because of the durability issue. But a well maintained, well refreshed and properly cleaned oiled floor will provide years of protection. Check out the amazing Chimiver Lios Bioil Aloe Vera. Outstanding oiled floor cleaner and oiled floor maintainer.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Wood Stains | The wood stain industry is in full time speed. Every year new and more realistic wood stains are invented. A wood stain is a colour that is applied on the bare wood before lacquering. The wood stain will penetrate the wood in full, it will change the colour into whatever colour the floor owner is looking for and then it has to be varnished | lacquered over. A wood stain has no protective qualities and it cannot be left unsealed. While there are many different types of professional wood stains, not all look natural and not all are easy to apply. Chimiver Wood Stains, Tover Wood Stains and Bona Craft Oil 2K are the most widely used and most appreciated wood stains within the floor sanding and wood floor refinishing industry. Some wood stains are water based while others are oil based. The oil based ones look much more realistic and are much more popular within the floor sanding industry.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Floor Lacquers | Here it is getting very interesting. Many people are inclined to always select the most affordable estimate in the hope of doing more with less. But in reality, a floor sanding or floor refinishing contractor that uses a cheap lacquer will create a number of issues in the future. 5 L of water based floor lacquer can cost 25 euro or 180 euro. The price difference is made by the level of solids contained in that particular lacquer. A 25 euro floor lacquer contains 10-15% solid content while a proper one that costs over 120 euro has over 25% solid content. In other words, the durability of a professional floor lacquer is guaranteed by the levels of acrylic polymers contained. Higher the levels of acrylic polymers, better resistance to scratching, high heels and chemicals. Our company works with a number of professional floor sanding contractors that over many years have used all floor lacquers available. Here is a short list of the most durable and the most beautiful products:

Chimiver Range:

Chimiver Ecostar Floor Lacquer | 32% solid content

Chimiver Ecostar 2K Floor Lacquer | 35.9% solid content

Chimiver Ecotraffic Floor Lacquer | 37% Solid Content

Bona Range:

Bona Domo Floor Lacquer | 28% solid content

Bona Mega Floor Lacquer | 32% solid content

Bona Traffic HD Floor Lacquer | 32% solid content

Tover Range:

Tover Home Maxi Floor Lacquer | 32.7% solid content

Tover Idrolak DR 97 Floor Lacquer | 35.2% solid content

Tover Uniqua SQ Floor Lacquer | 31.2% solid content

If the floor lacquer used to seal your newly varnished or lacquered wooden floors has below 15%-20% acrylic content, it will not last. The difference between 10-15% and 30-37% is 10 years of extra use. A commercial floor or even a residential wooden floor sealed with Chimiver Ecostar 2K Floor Lacquer has to provide at least 10 years of protection against traffic. Of course, other factors like unusually high traffic, high PH cleaning products, heavy items being dragged on the floor, super hyper pets, floods, fire, etc can increase or decrease the durability or life expectancy of that particular floor. This is the main reason that a floor sanding project should be done right, with proper floor lacquers and a fair price paid. Especially when dealing with engineered or semi solid wood floors where limited amounts of sandings can be done.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Maintenance

A newly refinished wooden floor can stay the way it is for up to 10 years or it can dull up in a matter of days. As we have mentioned above, while the water based floor lacquer is very durable and very eco-friendly, it does not compare to the old solvent based floor lacquers that were bullet proof. A newly restored wooden floor has to be cleaned and maintained with as little water as possible, flat mops and of course, proper wood floor cleaners. If you just had your wood floor oiled, then an oiled floor cleaner should be used while if you just had your wooden floors varnished then a varnished | lacquered wood floor cleaner should be used. It is always recommended to use a flat mopping system to prevent over wetting the wood floor. Here Is a list of the best wood floor cleaners:

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Oiled Floors

Chimiver Panda Floor Cleaner | A professional oiled floor cleaner with a pleasant lemon perfume. Highly recommended for pet owners. The estimated dilution rate is 1 to 100. This product is very green and PH neutral. Also suitable for cleaning commercial oiled floors in conjunction with a scrubber drier.

Bona Oiled Floor Cleaner | A ready to use formula compatible with all oiled and waxed wooden floors. It maintains the natural look of the floor without leaving a residue behind it. Safe, effective on all types of impregnated dirt and no dilution required. It leaves the surface streak free.

Tover Deteroil Floor Cleaner | A low cost but highly effective and highly concentrated oiled floor cleaner and oiled floor maintainer. A low PH oiled floor cleaner compatible with all oiled and waxed wooden floors. It can be used on all floors sealed with a Tover floor oil or any type of other floor oils | hardwax oils.

Chimiver Lios Kronos OIled Floor Cleaner | A nanoparticle based wood floor cleaner and oiled floor maintainer from Chimiver. The product is really good for heavy duty oiled floor cleaning projects and oiled floor degreasing before re-oiling. It will help dissolve impregnated dirt and it will leave the surface spotless.

Bona Cleaner | A highly concentrated and highly effective oiled floor cleaner suitable for heavy duty commercial and residential use. Recommended for deep cleaning and maintaining pub | restaurant wood floors that were sealed with floor oil. Effective, active & very cost effective.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Varnished Floors

Chimiver Velurex Cleaner Star | One of the very few lacquered wood floor cleaners that cleans, polishes and restores varnished floors. The products contain a mixture of nanoparticles that will help extract deep penetrating dirt and it will prevent dirt from building up again. A fine quality, highly concentrated wood floor cleaner suitable for commercial and residential lacquered wood floors. Perfume free, harsh chemicals free and pH neutral.

Tover Pulito Wood Floor Cleaner | A gentle and safe wood floor cleaner compatible with all varnished and lacquered wood floors. The product is highly concentrated and very effective. It can be used in conjunction with all wood floor cleaning systems. Suitable for day to day wood floor cleaning and maintenance.

Bona Wood Floor Cleaner | One of the world's most popular wood floor cleaners. This particular product creates a unique high sheen and it leaves the surface streak free. It is a ready to use formula that requires no dilution. Highly popular with all beauty salons, small shops, offices, residential use, etc.

Chimiver also has a spray mop that can be used with all Chimiver wood floor cleaners to clean and maintain finished wood floors. Alfred Spray Mop is Chimiver`s best wood floor spray mop. Bona also sells two spray mops, one for varnished wood floors and another for oiled floors. Use the amazing Bona Wood Floor Spray Mop to deep clean and maintain lacquered & varnished wood floors. Use the amazing Bona Oiled Floor Spray Mop to clean and maintain oiled floors.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | How Floor Sanding Pricing Works

While most professional floor sanding companies would have a standard rate per square meter for specific types of floor sanding and floor refinishing, the final price will vary depending on the type of wood floor, the condition of it, the finish required, any extra services required, the location, the access and the size of the floor. The standard rate for floor sanding will cover 1 sq meter of floor, in average condition, without any repairs & finished with a clear lacquer. Any extra service added, will increase the final price per square meter:

Type Of Wood | There are very hard types of wood and there are softer types of wood floors. More work required to remove the old sealer means more time consumed and a lot of sanding paper. So the price will increase

The Condition Of The Floor | Floors with deep scratches and many coats of floor lacquer that will require many sandings to level up, will increase the final cost. Old floors sealed with hard polyurethane based oil lacquers will cost more to sand.

Extra Services | Including wood floor repairs, gap filling, wood stains or extra coats of floor lacquer will increase the price. Any extra service requires additional materials, extra hours of work and much more effort.

The Finish Required | Basic floor sanding and floor varnishing will qualify for the flat rate per square meter. Asking for more specific finishes like anti-slip sealers or fire safe lacquers, will increase the final price

Location | The standard rate for floor sanding and floor refinishing only qualifies for the floor sander area + 20 km. If the floor sanding specialist has to drive over 20 km, the price is likely to go up. Time is money.

Access | Upper floor properties with no lift or carpark, will be charged extra. Carrying a 80 KG machine on the stairs is not easy at all. Extra help is required. Also, having a lot of furniture will increase the time required to finish the job hence extra fees

The Size Of The Floor | All professional floor sanding contractors have a minimum charge. From 1 to 10 square meters the minimum charge applies. If you hire a floor sanding company to sand your floors, but you only have 3 sq meters, it will cost you the minimum daily charge. On the other hand, the larger the floor sanding project, the price per square meter will drop.

Floor Sanding Ashtown | Preparing For Floor Sanding | You should try to empty as much as you can from the space. Most floor sanding contractors are not happy to deal with peoples' furniture because of possible breakage and other issues. A floor sanding contractor will prefer an empty room. Walking on the floor while the floor sanding contractor works is not recommended. Take a day off or go to work. Agree on all the colours and the level of sheen beforehand. Do not walk on the wet floors and agree to the final price before the starting date. All floor sanding contractors will expect payment on completion. Everything related to the floor sanding industry is expensive so at the end of the day the contractor has to recover its costs. Stain samples should be done on your own floors before making up your mind. A sample done on a sample board might not look like the same product used on your own floors.