Timber Floor Refinishing Specifications

Wood Species We Can Refinish

a. Species: There are many species of wood throughout the world. Mr. Sandless has refinished real wood in ten countries and can refinish any type species.

Flooring Types and Refinishing Suitability

b. Types of products: There are four main types of flooring products sold.

• i. Solid Wood Flooring: Hardwood floors are made from solid, natural wood. The entire plank is made from wood. Modern hardwood floors are typically a tongue and groove system. There is a limited amount of times a hardwood floor can be sanded as each time it is sanded some of the wood is removed this does not grow back most wooden floors can withstand 3 to 4 full sand outs in their lifespan floors can. We have all walked on wooden floors that have a spring or flex in them this is most commonly due to the boards having been sanded once too often and there is a real danger that these boards can snap when something heavy is placed on them. Real wooden floors require regular maintenance to keep them looking great.

• ii. Engineered Flooring: Varies in thickness, commonly between 1mil and 8mil when first laid. Floor sanders in general will not sand anything less than 5mil unless it is at owners risk due to the odds of the sander going through the wood to the plywood base of the floor. So some engineered floors can never be sanded some can survive 1 light sand and the more expensive and thicker engineered floor can survive 2 or 3 light sand outs maximum There are some engineered flooring out there which is nothing but plywood with a 1mil veneer top coat.

• iii. Laminate Flooring: Laminate wood flooring is man made from all or a mixture of composite wood, resin, glue and on occasions formaldehyde pressed together at high temperatures. Then a photo or image of hardwood is placed on top and one or two layers of lacquer or similar coating are applied. Laminate can never be sanded as there is no real wood. When the top coating is damaged this leaves the board exposed to moisture and dirt and unless resealed will result in the boards or floor having to be replaced as once they get moisture into them they have a similar effect as when you pour water onto Wheatbix.

• iv. Bamboo Flooring: There are three basic styles, each with its own distinctive look:
  
  • Engineered bamboo flooring—Also known as horizontal cut, engineered bamboo flooring, like engineered hardwood floors, consists of a solid layer of bamboo glued over a substrate. This is the most recognizable bamboo flooring on the market: it’s the one in which the bamboo stem looks like it’s been flattened out and it’s patterned by bamboo’s distinctive horizontal ring markings.• Solid bamboo flooring—Made up of solid pieces of bamboo that have been glued together, solid bamboo flooring, also known as vertical cut, is typically stronger than the engineered version. This type of flooring has a thinner overall stripy look created by all the bamboo strips compressed together.

  • Strand-woven bamboo flooring—by most accounts, strand woven bamboo flooring, in which the bamboo is shredded and then compressed with adhesives, is the most durable of the three. It looks the least like traditional bamboo because the manufacturers can blend colours and lengths to create many different styles.

  Like hardwood floors, bamboo floors come in many finishes, from polyurethane to oils, as well as different sheens, including satin, semi-gloss, and high gloss. While bamboo may be comparable to hardwood floors in terms of durability, They can be difficult to sand they have a finish that’s difficult to remove—and if successful, you run the risk of releasing formaldehyde into the air and what’s more, sanding the floor will likely shred the grassy strands of the bamboo. Which is why most floor sanders will only sand bamboo at owners risk and accept no liability if the floor starts to shred. If this occurs then replacement is the only option and with the majority of bamboo floors glued down this becomes an extremely expensive exercise.