Blog Archive | January 2010

How floor sanding is worthwhile

To restore the beauty of your wooden flooring it is necessary to keep it natural. This could be achieved with the help of floor sanding. To provide your home with a beautiful floor, you require having the detailed process of sanders and renovation techniques.

Wooden floors are well-known due to their many health benefits. No one wishes to have germs, dust mites and insects living in their surroundings. The germs and dirt are clogged inside the carpet or flooring in your home. It is a very difficult job to get rid of these dust mites and allergens. More importantly, you must know that if the pad under the carpets or floors is not cleaned for a long time, it can encourage bacteria breeding. The floor sanding process helps you to remove these germs and dust mites effectively. Your floor will seem shiny and elegant with respect to the home decor.

This method of floor sanding is sustainable to the environment. It allows you to make use of the stuff in your home and refurbish it for use in the future. You do not need to replace the flooring while cleaning it.

Wooden floors can last for a really long time if maintained and looked after with care. To achieve this durability, you need to put floor sanding into use.

Choosing an unfinished hardwood flooring

You need to reflect upon a lot of aspects before considering the best hardwood flooring for your home. The most popular types of flooring that people opt for is unfinished and finished wooden flooring.

Prior to purchasing the right kind of hardwood flooring, you will have to mark some notable differences amongst the types of unfinished hardwood flooring. Installing engineered hardwood flooring gives you the advantage of keeping humidity from the floor. It can work a bit better than the solid floor at times, but solid wood flooring also has the potential to last for a really long time.

Apart from choosing unfinished hardwood flooring, you need to decide upon the type of wood. Some of the very famous woods used for flooring purposes are ash, beech, birch, cherry, maple, oak, merbau, walnut, jarrah and rosewood. It is important to pick the right kind of wood because you need to know how long the wooden flooring will last. This will give you a good idea of when the wood would need to be replaced.

The best benefit of hardwood flooring is that it allows you to style your home according to your personality and taste. With unfinished wood comes the responsibility to maintaining it well. The necessary equipment you will need is vacuum cleaners, sanding blocks, a broom and bristle brush. Avoid using commercial products on unfinished floors, as they are meant for finished floors only.

Tips to clean and maintain wood flooring

Wood flooring is a part of your home that speaks for itself. You have to keep it clean in order to make the floor last for a long time. Listed below are a few tips on cleaning and maintaining wood flooring.

1. Sweeping: The most basic and simple way to keep your wood flooring clean is to sweep it on a regular basis. It is recommended that you make use of a soft bristled broom when you sweep.

2. Vacuuming: An important cleaning tip is vacuuming. Vacuuming may be carried out on a weekly basis. Use a soft brush attachment in order to minimise scratching.

3. Wiping: It is recommended that you take spillages seriously. Water left on wood flooring can warp the finish. You can use dry soft towels and vacuuming the floor to get rid of spillage.

4. Swabbing: When you swab wood flooring, it is recommended that you use a very dry mop. If you have polyurethane wood flooring this is an even more important consideration. Excessive water can seep into the seams and ruin your wood flooring.

5. Prevention: You can also prevent any damage from being done to wood flooring with the help of carpet runners. Carpet runners are a good choice in zones that receive heavy traffic. In addition to carpet runners, you can also use doormats. Place a door mat to trap all sand and dirt at every entrance.

Use these quick and simple tips for keeping your wood flooring clean.

How to care for hardwood flooring

Hardwood flooring is a precious investment. You should take every precaution you possibly can to protect it. Listed below are a few tips on caring for hardwood flooring.

• Cleaning: Hardwood flooring is among those flooring choices which are easy to clean and maintain. You can protect its warmth and character with simple cleaning techniques.

• Prevention: It is important to prevent your hardwood flooring from a few things to keep it safe. Some of them are as follows.

a) Dirt and grit: Dirt and grit can have the effect of sandpaper on your hardwood flooring. This causes dents, dulling and scratches to your hardwood flooring.

b) Water and other liquids: If water remains on your hardwood flooring for too long, it can warp its finish and spoil it. You should wipe spills as soon as they happen.

c) Cleaners: Avoid the use of oil cleaners on your hardwood flooring. Do not use oil soaps. Oil soaps create problems when it is time for maintenance. Instead, use neutral pH cleaners suitable for use on hardwood flooring.

d) Furniture: If you have furniture, you should keep it clean of dirt. Do not drag furniture on hardwood flooring as you should lift when you want to move it.

e) Sunlight: Keep direct sunlight at bay using blinds and window screens. Any form of direct or harsh light can cause discoloration.

Keep these tips in mind in order to care for your hardwood flooring.

Hardwood flooring - best alternative to laminating and carpeting

When it comes to flooring, many different options are available to choose from. Hardwood flooring is however one of the best available options compared to carpets or laminates. Many people choose hardwood flooring due to the many advantages that it offers.

Some major advantages of hardwood flooring are as follows:

Longevity:

Hardwood flooring today, comes with durable finishing that makes it more robust and easier to maintain. These floors can last for more than a hundred years. Hardwood flooring is one of the few types of residential flooring that has been around for centuries Over the years, wood has always been a durable and traditional flooring option.

Warmth and cosiness:

Hardwood flooring is not only pleasant to walk on compared to laminate, but it is also naturally warmer. Wood is an excellent insulator, all thanks to thousands of small air chambers present per cubic inch, which naturally work to hold in the heat.

Hardwood is hypoallergenic:

If anyone from your home suffers from allergies, hardwood flooring is a good solution. Carpets serve to be a breeding ground for mildew, dust mites and mould. Wood flooring on the other hand, does not give animal dander, mould, pollen etc. any place for hiding. Thus, hardwood flooring proves to be an excellent alternative to avoid environmental allergies.

Easy to Clean:

Hardwood floors look attractive for a long time with occasional mopping and sweeping. Even families with kids and pets realise that mopping a hardwood floor is easier compared to the washing, spraying and scrubbing of carpets.

So, with the above advantages that hardwood flooring offers, they are the best alternatives over carpets and laminate floors.

Hardwood flooring greatly enhance your home décor

If you are looking to remodel your home, there are many things you need to consider in order to get the most from the renovation project. You need to take care of the interiors, furnishings and window coverings. While most people ignore them, floors are also one of the important things to consider when remodelling your home.

In the UK, most people have vinyl flooring, ceramic or stone tiles or, more commonly, carpets. So, in order to add a touch of distinction to your home, you can opt for wood flooring. This type of flooring is generally made from the timber of hardwoods such as black walnut or oak, or from hard pine or spruce. Wood flooring can be installed by doing it yourself or with the help of professionals.

Hardwood flooring is generally manufactured in two basic ways. Some hardwood floors come unfinished, and once they are installed, they can then be sanded to give the final finishing touches. Finished hardwood floors are the other type of hardwood floorings that come pre-finished from the factory. They are generally finished with polyurethane and aluminium oxide. With these after care features included it increases the wear that hardwood can handle.

To create finished floors beforehand, they are stacked with layers of veneers one above the other so that the grain of wood in every layer faces perpendicular to each other. After obtaining the desired thickness, they can then be cut into correct board width. These hardwood floors then have a stain added for the finish, thus making them less vulnerable to the effects of temperature change and moisture.

Factors to consider when choosing hardwood flooring

A well designed home will be full of complementing colours, from the walls, to the floors and furniture. For this reason, it is important to choose the type of flooring in your home carefully. Don’t go for a glossed deep mahogany if you are likely to drip paint. Likewise, maybe a pale matt pine is unsuitable in high traffic areas, particularly if you have dogs or many children.

Hardwood flooring is becoming increasingly popular as people are choosing more natural materials for their home, and real wood flooring is warmer and sturdier than most laminates.

Wood colour and variety

Hardwood flooring is available in different colours and varieties, from the deepest rosewood to the palest ash, there is bound to be a shade that suits you. Think about the colours in your home, particularly the rooms in which you’re new flooring will be. Would a rich reddy colour suit, or a paler, sandier beech? Each wood has its own distinguishing features, like the gold flecked effect of Merbau, or the hard durability of Rosewood, so there is plenty to choose from

Budget

Knowing your budget before your start can be a big help, as there are so many varieties is can start to narrow down your search. There are types of wood flooring for everyone, no matter how much you can spend.

Finish

Another variation is the finishing of your chosen wood. You can have the wood glossed, stained, sanded or left unfinished, depending on your preference.

Keeping these factors in mind will make your wooden flooring selection process much easier and more enjoyable.

Why floor sanding is necessary to maintain your wooden flooring

Wood flooring is known to give homes a warm, rustic appearance. It is also proven to be very durable, hard-wearing and can last for decades with the right care. One of the best ways to care for your wood flooring is to sand it. There are many reasons for sanding your wooden flooring; here are some of the most important:

Reinforces the floor- Over a period of time, wood floors can become worn. This includes nails coming out, planks loosening and edges becoming rougher. These should be taken care of from time to time and wood sanding ensures that these setbacks can be dealt with regularly, before they become a real problem.

For re-staining the floor- Daily wear and tear of wood flooring can result in the floor losing its original stain. It can also be caused due to cleaning the floor or dragging furniture. Sanding the wood will allow you to re-stain your floor, making it look like it did when new.

Preserves the floor- The main reason for wood sanding is to preserve the floor. This is because sanding usually includes the application of oil or lacquer, which helps to seal the wood from dust and water. This will prolong the life of the flooring and keep it looking younger.

What you should know about different types of hardwood flooring

With the benefits of hardwood flooring becoming widely known, more and more people are opting for this type of flooring in homes and offices. If you are looking for hardwood flooring, Surrey has a number of options. Not only can you find different types of hardwood flooring to meet your décor requirements, but you can also find a type that will suit your budget. The following are some of the popular types of hardwood flooring you can find in Surrey.

Solid hardwood flooring- This kind of flooring consists of a solid whole piece of actual hardwood. There are many varieties of solid hardwood flooring that come in many sets of stains. This ensures that you get the ideal colour flooring in your home.

Engineered flooring- This type of flooring looks a lot like solid hardwood flooring, but it is made up of stranded pieces of hardwood rather than a whole piece. As engineered flooring is made from different layers, there is added protection against humidity and the cold. Engineered wood flooring can be easily installed with glue, staples or nails. This kind of flooring can give great strength to hardwood flooring.

Both types of hardwood flooring can be found in Surrey and at great prices. These are ideal for making homes look aesthetically appealing. Hardwood flooring is so versatile that it can be used in traditional as well as contemporary décor.