Useful guide to wood floor restoration | Art of Clean ~ Art of Clean - UK

The thing about old houses is that they have a patina that you're unable to recreate and you already have a basis to accentuate the old and bring in the new. All sounds really perfect, doesn't it? But one of the biggest issues in old houses is natural light.

If you have just completed on the purchase of your dream home and you cannot wait to start the renovation project.

First day on site the trade’s people lift the old carpets and you find a lovely wood floor hiding under there. What a find!

Restoring the wood floor can sometimes be a more sensible approach and by sanding and sealing the floorboards, this will help in distributing more light around the room, so before you cover it over with carpet again though here are a few things to consider:

• Be clear on your objectives and the atmosphere you would like to create in the rooms. Ensure you are clear on your colour schemes.

• You could sand your own floor, however this can be a difficult, messy and laborious task. Connect with a floor sanding company that have a good track record in restoring wood floors. Make sure your floor sanding company offer several finishing options on your wood floor. Watch out – some floor sanding companies will only offer sand and lacquer service on your wood floor and do not offer the option for other finishes.

It is strongly advised you establish a relationship with your floor sanding company early on in the renovation project. This will help you plan the schedule of restoration works end ensure different trades are not in each other’s way.

Be clear on what type of wood floor you have and what is required to restore your wood floor. Here are a few pointers on what we usually find wood floors in Cambridge are made of:

• Most wood floors hiding under carpets are found in Victorian style homes are pine boards. Many of these floors are Pitch Pine and it is a fair quality. Sadly we find that over the years trades people have hacked through the boards to access what is under the wood floor. This leaves scars for the rest of the life of the wood floor. Pine floors can sometimes be very light in colour – Make sure you are clear on how this will fit in with your décor.

• Other floors in homes in the Cambridge area is parquet block floors – They are usually made of teak or oak – sometimes pine. What to watch out for here is lose blocks – If you count 100 lose blocks it is the norm to double this and assume 200 will be lose. Ensure your wood floor restorer knows how to secure these lose blocks – it will require a special type of glue.

No what about colouring your wood floor? You might want a darker floor. The key here is to know the limitations on staining your wood floor. Soft woods (Like Pine) do not always look good when stained and wears through fast. Better wood floors to stain will be hard woods like Oak and Beach.

You have 2 options when staining your wood floor – The floor can be stained using a coloured wax oil like Pallmann Magic Coloured Oil or your can have the floor stained using Pallmann Pall x Colour - http://www.parkettkomplett.com/references/details/residential-house-villingen-74/ and then apply Pallmann Lacquer over the floor.