Restoring wooden floors is really satisfying as these ‘Before’ and ‘After’ photos show! Recently, we had the pleasure of giving a new lease of life to a 20-year old Junckers wood floor in a house in Old Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The client had considered replacing it before they found Cornwell Services. The transformation is stunning. So what sort of wood floor is a Junckers floor? And how did Saul Cornwell get this solid wood floor restored in Stevenage to look like new?
Junckers wood floors in homes and businesses
Junckers is the brand name of Danish crafted wooden floors. The company is a leading European manufacturer of solid wood flooring. It’s sold in around 45 countries and used for domestic wood floors in private homes, as well as for commercial wood floors for sports halls and public spaces. UK businesses that have Junckers wood floors in place include The Sage auditorium in Gateshead and the University of Hertfordshire’s Prince Edward Hall. It is designed so that it can be overlaid on an existing floor or it can be structural.
Hertfordshire home – beech wood floor needing restoration
In this family home the room has been laid with a solid beech two-stave Junckers floor. Two staggered rows of short staves of wood form each solid wood floorboard. The flooring is often less costly than wide uniform single boards and beautifully shows the natural patterns of the wood. Despite its great product credentials, the wooden floor in this Hertfordshire home in Old Stevenage had become dented, scratched and no longer looked attractive.
How we sanded and refinished the old wooden floor
Saul was able to restore the wooden floor and bringing back its original beauty. Here’s how he did it:
Step 1 – Initial sand to bare wood
Saul sanded the floor back to bare wood including the wood thresholds. This was done to remove all traces of the previous finish, dents and scratches. Our sanding process is 99.9% dust-free.
Step 2 – Sand till smooth and fill
Once the wooden floor was flat and blemish free it was sanded with progressively finer grit paper. Next, any gaps were filled with a special filler mixed with some of the sawdust created from the sanding.
Step 3 – Fine sand and vacuum
Once the beech floor was dry Saul used the final grit paper, thoroughly checking the entire area to make sure nothing was missed. Then the floor was painstakingly vacuumed in readiness for the next stage.
Step 4 – Water popping
Saul sprayed water over the entire floor to make the cut fibres of the wood stand up. This is known as water popping and its done to allow the finish to penetrate the wood.
Step 5 – Primer & first lacquer
Once dry, the primer was applied to the floor and an hour later, the first coat of lacquer was applied and left to dry overnight.
Step 6 – Denib & final protective lacquer
The very next day the floor was denibbed to make it smooth. Two further coats of lacquer were applied to complete the refinishing process and protect the wood so that it can be enjoyed for many years to come.
Need to restore your hard floor?
The beech wood floor in this home was brought back to a very high standard. Worn and damaged commercial wooden floors in leisure and business settings are also restored by Cornwell Services in a similar way. The result is a soft, warm floor to walk on, that also provides outstanding acoustic properties and durability.
Cornwell Services are a Hertfordshire-based business and we cover Hertfordshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and north London. We clean and restore tiled stone floors and sand and refinish wooden floors for homeowners and businesses. Please contact Saul on 07738 022813.