Wooden floors are durable and have a natural warmth which suits today’s interiors. Periodically, it’s necessary to sand and refinish wooden floors to ensure they retain their strong aesthetic appeal. Our recent project to sand and oil an oak floor at a property in Wadesmill, by the River Rib in Hertfordshire, demonstrates how you can renew a wooden floor so that it looks in perfect condition.
As well as its charming historic properties, the hamlet of Wadesmill is significant as the site of England’s first turnpike. Created by an Act of Parliament in 1663 the toll was designed to enable repairs to the Old North Road damaged by heavily laden barley wagons supplying the nearby brewers in Ware, Hertfordshire. The focus on renewal makes this an apt location to restore a traditional oak floor.
Typical issues with wooden floors – Oak floor sanding
With regular sweeping and damp mopping, wood floors will stay in good shape. But over time wooden floors can look less than their best due to these typical issues:
- Scratches as grit is walked into the surface over time
- Colour variation from constant exposure to sunlight
- Marks where chairs and furniture are dragged over the floor
- Gaps between the floorboards and dips due to knots which catch the dirt
- Stains where the finish is worn and spills penetrate the wood
With this Wadesmill property, the homeowner’s beautiful oak floor had become scratched and worn by furniture. In addition, sunlight had led to the finish becoming yellowed so that the floor looked tired and in need of refinishing.
First stage: meticulous wood oak floor sanding
The first step was to sand the wooden floor until the surface was flat in order to remove the current finish. Saul at Cornwell Services used a belt sander, edging sander and rotary planetary sander to be able to sand the main floor and edges successfully. By using specialist sanding gear, the process is 99.9% dust free.
Second stage: careful repairs to the oak floorboards
Once the floor was flat with the current finish removed, it was necessary to repair gaps in the wooden floorboards. Finer sawdust reserved from the first sanding stage was mixed with a specially developed filler. Saul then trowelled this bespoke compound across the entire floor to fill all gaps and knot holes. The reason for mixing reserved fine particles of wood into the filler is because this results in a perfect, colour-matched repair.
Once the repairs had set the sanding resumed until the floor was completely smooth and ready to be water popped.
Third stage: water popping and finishing
Water popping prepares the floor for oiling. Saul applied a fine, even water spray water over the whole oak floor. This causes the cut ends of the wood fibres to stand up which allows the finishing oil to penetrate deeper into the wood.
After water-popping the floor was left overnight to dry completely dry. Then the oil was applied to the oak floorboards. Any excess oil was buffed away using a rotary machine.
The finished wooden floor
By sanding and refinishing the floor the room now looks stunning. The oil finish chosen by the property owners shows off the natural grain of the oak. It also means that the wooden floor looks like new, its protected for the future and will stay looking great for a long time to come.
For quotes or queries, just ask
Cornwell Services are a Hertfordshire-based business and we cover Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and north London. We sand and refinish wooden floors and clean and restore tiled stone floors for homeowners and businesses.
If you have a question or you’d like a quote, then please call Saul at Cornwell Services on 07738 022813.
