Does Tack Clothing a wood floor make any difference??

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog post.

In Today's post I'll be touching on a subject that even alot of professional firms don't include in their wood floor preparations, today's question....and its from me to be honest with you,
 is..."Does tack Clothing a Wood Floor make any difference ?"  

The short answer is "Yes" it does make a difference.....a big, big difference.... now let me explain why.

Tack Clothing a floor is the absolute final part of the floor sanding process before the Seal/Oil/Lacquer is applied to the freshly prepared wood floor.

The cleaner the floor is before the seals are applied the better the finished product, the happier the clients.....quite a simple equation really. When we hoover our floors for the final time, and believe me when I say our Vacuums/Hoovers are very powerful, they pick up virtually all the dust left over from the final sanding process.

You can run your hand over the floor prior to tack clothing and it will feel lovely and smooth and you will be hard pressed to find any dust or debris with your hand.The Tack Clothing process cleans away the very fine dust that you can't see but is there, it really does make a difference folks...

if you are a professional  reading this and are thinking...Ppaaahhhh I don't need to do that...check out the pictures below...As someone said a long long time ago...a picture speaks a thousand words...

The pictures were taken directly before and after tack clothing a small [10m2] Study which had Teak Parquet Block Flooring. Let me know what you think.

A 20 Pence Tack Cloth 'Before'

And 'After' ...It does make a difference

Thanks for reading.

   

Gouges in my Oak Floor...Will they Sand Out ??

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.


Today's topic isn't something I get asked alot to be quite honest, usually 4-5 times a year at most, but if it happens to you then its good to perhaps have some solid answers.

The question is "I've got gouges in my Oak Floor, Will they Sand out ??"

I did a Floor Sanding job a few days ago for some clients who had an issue with their oak strip floor, a company had delivered a large 'American Style' fridge freezer, but when it was in transit along the Hallway it unfortunately fell off the trolley and put several bad gouges/scratches into a small area.

The gouges in the wood floor were approx 1mm deep and although it took some time to detail sand out the marks, the finished floor looked excellent, and when we called the client back into the area to see what we had done to the gouges...she couldn't find the area, we had to point out where they were, there was one very small mark which didn't sand out but it really was minuscule and the client couldn't find that either, so all in all it was a good result.


The pictures underneath detail the gradual disappearance of the marks during the sanding process, and the last picture is a wider shot of the Hallway after the last coat of Lacquer Had been applied.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try, some marks just will not sand out of wooden floors. In our case the floor we sanded was Solid Oak which hadn't been Sanded before, so we knew we had alot of wear layer to play with, and that the damage was a fairly recent event, so the odds were in our favour.

If you have a similar issue/problem with your floor I would strongly advise to consult a professional as to the best course of action for you, also don't be fobbed off by your insurance company, our clients had been offered a derisory amount to settle, but as the floor ran into another room they were well within their right to ask for both areas to be put right...Answer to the question...yes in this case the marks sanded out....sometimes they do, sometimes they don't...but it won't be for the lack of trying.

Hope this helps you in some way...Thanks for reading.

You can plainly see the gouges and scratches....

After a few passes with the Bona 10" Sander the marks are diminishing....

The marks are gone....the floor is now prepared and ready for lacquer

All done and completely finished....with a very happy client...

Bona Novia...Is it any Good ??

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.

This post is about an enquiry I received a few weeks ago, the person was wondering because this product was at the cheaper end of the flooring lacquer scale that it may not be up to much.

The direct enquiry was "Bona Novia...Is it any good ??" 

The quick answer to this question is YES, it is a good product, in my humble opinion a VERY good product.

Bona Novia is positioned at the 'Budget Sensitive' end of the market, or in easy to understand language the cheaper end, just because the product is relatively cheap by comparison doesn't mean it isn't any good, quite the opposite really.

Novia is from the mighty Bona stable, a Swedish company renowned for it's high quality products for several decades.

I can speak with a little authority on this because in October 2008 I was invited, along with around 25 other Wood Flooring professionals from the UK on a 2 day visit to the Bona HQ in Sweden...

At this time Bona Novia was just about to come to the market, and we were lucky enough to be given a tour of the Bona laboratory where all the formulations are made. It gave us all a fantastic insight into the thoroughness and incredible amount of work that goes into producing a wood flooring lacquer like Bona Novia.

Now I might just be a little biased when it comes to Bona Novia, but after seeing first hand what goes into that product that's hardly surprising news...

I personally have used Bona Novia on many many projects and have nothing but high praise for the product, from a professional perspective its very easy to apply to wooden floors, looks fantastic and has good wear characteristics and given its relatively low price point its good news for the end user of this product.

I have written a more comprehensive product review of Bona Novia which is available for viewing at the Woodfloor-Renovations Website

Hope this helps - Thanks for reading

    

Wood Floor Withering ??

Hello and Welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.


Firstly i'd like to apologise to our regular readers for our lack of blogs over the last couple of weeks, we genuinely been very busy on two quite large scale [and difficult] projects for one of our regular corporate clients.

These are now finished so there will be more regular updates.

A few weeks ago a Mr TM Cleverley posted a question which I have yet to answer, so here goes....."My Wooden floor gets withered with time, I am considering to repair it but don't have any idea what and how much it takes"

In my experience when a wood floor starts to look/feel withered this is usually associated with very dry and warm site conditions...EG. Central Heating turned on too high over long periods of time combined with low humidity levels, or more commonly the Sun shining in through windows/large double doors with no vertical blinds, directly onto the surface of the wood floor, literally cooking it...Also when underfloor heating is turned up too high over long time-frames, this can have the same same detrimental withering effect on solid wood flooring.

Repairing a floor which has withered can be a difficult process and normally involves increasing the humidity levels in the effected area, this is a process which is best left to experienced professionals to undertake, this is not an area of my specific expertise so I will not be going into any more detail on this.

Mr Cleverley didn't mention what part of the world he lives in, so its difficult to quantify costs, but I would recommend contacting a reputable tradesman or Company in your specific area to properly ascertain any issues you have with your wood floor, the likelihood is even if the tradesman is not 100% sure what your issues are he will know someone in the trade who will.

Hope this helps...Thanks for reading. 

Will the black marks on my parquet floor sand out ?

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.

Today the question asked is one which we come across quite alot, and can affect many different types of wood floors in many different ways.

The question is "Will the black marks i've got on my parquet floor sand out ??"

In this particular case the black marks are made by a cat litter tray...the floor in question is a Rustic Oak Parquet block floor, and you've guessed it ... the marks are pretty bad.

In this case the black marks on the parquet blocks didn't sand out, we did try very hard and used quite harsh abrasives [24 grit] to try and remove the said marks, unfortunately in this case circumstances dictated that the marks could not be removed...i'll explain why.

The Rustic Oak floor in this case had an Oiled finish, which had been in place for at least four years and wasn't applied particularly well in the first place, the cat litter tray for whatever reason had small holes in the bottom [like a plant tray] and let out the combination of cat urine and the litter mixture gradually over a long period of time.

When a mixture like this settles and permeates into an Oiled floor there is only going to be one result and that is a nasty black mark that just cannot be sanded out, the only other option would be to take out and replace [with new blocks] the effected area.

 In our scenario the clients understood the issues and as the area was out of the main living space they decided to live with it and buy a better cat litter tray...

Hope that helps - thanks for reading.

What Do I Use To apply Hardwax Oil to my Sanded Wood Floor?

  Hello and Welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.   Today I'll be briefly chatting about a subject many Diy-ers often get badly wrong, often leaving their finished project not looking as good as they had hoped. Todays question is  "What Do I Use To Apply Hardwax Oil To my Sanded Wood Floor? "   There are various methods for the application of a Hardwax Oil to a Wood Floor, wide paint brush [specialist from supplier] short pile roller [5mm pile length] or the professionals favourite the 'Double Blade Scraper' which is our preferred method of Hardwax Oil application. With the Double Blade Scraper method you literally spread the Oil around your floor using this type of scraper, you are best trying out the method on a small area before committing yourself to a large room or area.   When you start applying the HWO [Hardwax Oil] I find it is best doing across the width of the room and out about 1 metre, so you can either use a buffing machine with a lint free Oil cloth to buff off, or wipe off the excess HWO you have just applied, [make sure you can reach and use a lint free cloth] Once you have done this once or twice you will pretty much get the hang of it, the trick with applying just about every type of Wood Flooring Oil is to apply it VERY thinly indeed and then wipe off all the excess straight away. Some of the thinner Oils such as Junckers Rustic Oil are very good for the Oil to be applied with a short pile roller, again remember that Oil does go a long way, and to wipe off any excess product, drips etc, as Oil has no self levelling properties so whats left on the floor will stay on the floor......just something to keep in mind.   The thicker formulations of Oil such as Osmo or Saicos hardwax oils, are not as easy to be using a short pile roller on, these products are generally better suited to be applied using a Double Bladed Scraper. This is why the application rates for Oil are much greater than for Lacquer, with a generic HWO, for examples sake Osmo, with the Double Blade Scraper method you should easily get a coverage rate of 25m2 per litre of product, another benefit of this application method is the drying time, you should be able to apply the second and last coat of HWO  approx 2 hours after the first application.  We recently refurbished a Oak floor for one of our regular clients, and she supplies the HWO product for us to apply, in this case Saicos, the finished floor is in the video we recorded of this finished job which you can view near the top of this page.  Hope this Helps...Thanks for reading.... *NB* If a Mr T Cleverly is reading this then accept my apologies for not replying sooner to your question you recently posted, we have been very busy on the first part of a large 300m2 + Sand and Refinishing project for a local Council....I will reply to your question in my next post. Regards Gary         

When Can I Walk on my Newly Sealed Hardwood Floor

Hello and welcome to another WFR Blog Post.


Today's offering will be fairly short but for you Diy-ers out there its something you should know and act upon.

The question [sent in via email] is "When can I walk on my Newly Sealed Hardwood Floor ? "

If you have applied a good quality flooring lacquer, such as Junckers Strong or Bona Mega, and you have for examples sake finished applying the coats of lacquer in the late afternoon, I would recommend waiting a minimum of 3-4 hours before walking on the newly overcoated floor.

The general rule of thumb is that the longer you leave the floor to dry/cure the better, if you do finish properly applying the lacquers late in the afternoon then I would heartily recommend leaving the area until the following day before you go back into the room to inspect your handiwork, the room will then almost certainly be perfectly dry and ready for light foot traffic.

I realize that this isn't always possible, if for example the area you are renovating is an Entrance Hallway that leads through to other area's of your property where you need access, if this is the case then you really do need to leave the floor for 3-4 hrs to dry properly before re-using the area, but I will say only lightly use the area, and then as little as possible, the last thing you want is an unsightly footprint in the middle of your newly sealed floor.....because if the lacquer is still tacky then a foot-mark WILL show up when it dries.....

Although the lacquer may be dry to the touch it won't be fully cured for between 48-72 hours after the product has been applied, sometimes longer depending on the site drying conditions. Some manufacturers products have even longer curing times than 72hrs, but which ever product you are using do your homework and read through the instructions on both application and drying/curing times for your product......Knowledge is power....

This example is for a Lacquered finish on a Red Oak floor, if the seal you have applied to your floor is an Oil then the drying times are likely to be longer, check with the product manufacturers website for the correct drying times.

Hope this helps......Thanks for reading.

Bona Traffic Review

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations Blog Post.


Today I'll briefly chat about a leviathan of the Wood Floor Lacquer world - the mighty and rather splendid...Bona Traffic


We did a comprehensive product review of this product a few months ago, which is the  Bona Traffic Product Review

We go into quite alot of detail in our product review, and if you are thinking of using a high traffic floor finish for your renovation project then you could do an awful lot worse that have a good read through and see what you get for your money [which is alot]

Bona Traffic isn't a cheap product, to be honest it's quite expensive, but as with most things in life you really do get what you pay for, and with Bona Traffic you get a superb, easy to apply hard wearing polyurethane finish that will look fantastic and last a long time.

Thanks for reading.