Sanding of floorboards in the home is becoming more and more popular for these reasons:

. Cost effective

. Adds character

. Increase light

. Long lasting

. Easy maintenace

Considerable time, work and skill goes into floorboard sanding. A general process is shown below:

. Belt sand using p40 grade sanding sheets, edge sand using p40 grade sanding sheets

. P40 grade buff

. Belt sand using p60 grade sanding sheets, edge sand using p60 grade sanding sheets

. P60 grade buff

. Fill gaps with sanding sawdust mixed with specialist resin

. Belt sand using p80 grade sanding sheets, edge sand using p80 grade sanding sheets

. Spot fill

. Orbital sanding accross floor using p80 grade sheet . P80 grade buff

. Belt sand using p100 grade sanding sheets, edge sand using p100 sanding sheets

. Buff using p120/p150 grade sheets . Apply stain if required

. Apply Bona prime coat

. Apply Bona seal coat

. Buff using p150 grade sheets

. Apply final Bona seal coat

In the floor sanding world a sliver is a 1 metre long piece of reclaimed timber (old floorboard generally) machined 5mm - 12mm on the top then into a point on the bottom, thus shaped like an upside down Toblerone. This allows them to be dipped in PVA (glue) and tapped into the gaps between the floor boards. They are then allowed to dry and plained or chisseled off before sanding to the same level as the surrounding floor.

Slivers can only really be used in gaps 3mm or over. Gaps under 3mm can be filled with a specialist resin which is mixed with the dust from the sanding process, thus ensuring good adhesion with a colour that matches the existing floor.

Slivers and filling of floorboards is mainly used to stop draughts and keep heat in on suspended floors (floors where the floorboards are layed across joists with a gap below the joists).

When its comes to repairs it is best to keep as much of the existing floor as possible to retain the original colour and character which is influenced by age, species and country of origin.

We always aim to repair floors with reclaimed wood of the same species. Because wood continues to change in moisture content, cell structure and chemical composition as time goes by, this can significantly change the look of a board and reclaimed boards will have seen the same sort of changes that your floorboards have seen. New boards are more likely to be so different that they stick out like a sore thumb!

The best way to change the colour of a wood floor is to use stain. We use solvent based stains because the solvent gets the dye into the wood and then evaporates so it is very unusual to get any reactions in the floor .

Once your floor has been sanded, we apply examples of stains you have expressed an interest in, so that you may see the colour in your own environment. Once decided, we sand off the unwanted stains, stain the whole floor and seal with several coats of lacquer.

We believe the best way to finish a floor is with a top quality commercial grade lacquer. We apply a prime coat with two or three coats of matt, silk matt or gloss depending on what look your are wanting to achieve.

These are very hard wearing, easy to keep clean and offer your wood floor the very best protection.