Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Refinishing and sanding your hardwood floors are necessary to preserve their quality and beauty. Any refinishing is done solely to enhance the woods natural color and protect it from the elements. The best time to sand and refinish your hardwood floors is when you move into a new house or apartment — since all the furniture, rugs, etc. need to be removed from the area during the process. Proper refinishing should last about 10 years. However, high traffic rooms will need to be done more often. 

Pre-finished Hardwood Floors 

These are the new main stream products in hardwood flooring. They can be acrylic impregnated, engineered, or solid. They have a tough factory finish, which is the main reason for its popularity. They are also extremely easy to install and eliminate the need for messy sanding. Most pre-finished floors done within the last ten years are urethane finished. Test this by placing a couple drops of water on an obscure area. If the area turns white after 15 minutes, you have a waxed finish. Older floors are likely to have shellac or varnish finishes. Unfortunately, these do not work well with the newer urethane finishes and must be completely removed if you want a urethane finish. There is also likely to be some amount of aluminum oxide in the newer pre-finished floors.

Unfinished Hardwood Floors

These come in solid and engineered, and both must be job site finished. They come in varying lengths and widths. Sanding and finishing can take anywhere from a few days to a week depending on size, stain, and number of top finish coats. Generally, the finishes are oil or water based. Our first priority is to protect the beauty of your home so whether you have finished or unfinished floors, we section off other areas and furniture to prevent sanding dust from spreading throughout your home. Our expert technicians also use dust containment systems to limit the amount of dust in the air. And with refinishing, it is important to have as little air flow as possible in the area as airborne particles can become embedded into the newly applied finish. Something as simple as foot traffic or turning on the air conditioner/heating system can kick up dust. So, it is better to allow more time to dry to avoid problem areas in your floors.

Oil-based stain is strongly recommended for wood flooring, no matter oil-modified or water based finish will use on top of it. The key is the stain has to be dry.

A rich, penetrating, oil-based stain, Minwax® Wood Finish™ Stain is available in 22 wood tone colors and can be used to enhance any bare or stripped wood surface. Minwax® continues to provide consumers with the latest in color trends with two new colors, Red Chestnut and Gunstock.

The colors shown are for reference purposes only. They have been reproduced using digital production techniques. Always test stain on a hidden area of the wood to verify desired color.

Sedona Red 222	Ipswich Pine 221	English Chestnut 233
Cherry 235	Early American 230	Special Walnut 224
Natural 209	Provincial 211	Pickled Oak 260
Driftwood 2126	Golden Oak 210B	Golden Pecan 245
Jacobean 2750	Puritan Pine 218	Red Mahogany 225
Dark Walnut 2716	Colonial Maple 223	Red Oak 215
Ebony 2718	Fruitwood 241	Gunstock 231
Red Chestnut 232

LET’S GET STARTED

Refinishing Services

• Satin, semi & high gloss polyurethane
• Oil based polyurethane
• Water based polyurethane – Water based urethanes are Minwax & Dura Seal stain
• Custom designed stains
• Color matching
• Hardwood floor refinishing
• Buffing & Waxing
• Bleaching & pickling
• Quality workmanship
• Personalized service
• Moisture cure finishes
• Blonde natural finishes
• Species and Color Matching Existing Flooring
• Repairing and Restoring Old Wood Floors
• Repairing Pet Stains and Scratches

Waterborne Urethane Finishes

Water base is fast drying and nontoxic, which provides a cleaner and faster way to refinishing your hardwood floors and getting your home back in order with a minimal amount of disruption. They are non-yellowing and will not change color over time, highlighting the true beauty of the wood.

Waterborne urethanes are environmentally friendly with low VOC’s. With no toxic fumes, you don’t have to move out of the house during the refinishing. Your floor can be walked on with stocking feet in two to three hours, and furniture can be placed (not dragged) in forty-eight hours. Drying times may vary. Area rugs can be put down in one week when the finished is fully cured.

Bona Mega™

Features

Mega™ is a one-component waterborne 100% polyurethane finish for the surface treatment of wooden floors in commercial and residential areas subject to heavy wear. Mega™ has the performance of a two-component finish. It has all the advantages of a waterborne system.

MEGA™ Value: Mega is the finish we use most often, it offers premium performance at an affordable cost and features:

• Excellent Durability
• Fast Drying time—2-3 hours (depending on humidity levels)
• Exceptional build— with excellent flow and leveling
• Available in gloss, semi–gloss or satin
• High resistance to wear, scuff marks and scratches
• Very good chemical resistance
• Natural Clear finish—will not change color over time

Bona Trqffic™

Features

Bona Traffic™ is a two-component waterborne 100% polyurethane finish for the surface treatment of wooden floors in commercial premises where a very high resistance to wear is required. Traffic Satin provides a clear natural appearance giving “invisible protection” and the look of an oiled floor but, unlike oil, offers years of virtually maintenance-free protection. It provides lowest gloss level available.

Traffic Semi-Gloss has a higher sheen level but all the other qualities of the satin version.

Bona Traffic™ is designed specifically for the unique demands of commercial and heavy-traffic residential hardwood floors. Traffic’s technologically advanced waterborne formula provides the ultimate in durability, outperforming any finish in the industry—moisture cure, solvent-based.

• Unprecedented Durability—outperforms moisture cure finishes without the hazardous side effects, and
  Fast Curing Rate—minimizes downtime, allowing quicker access to the floor.
• Fast Drying—2 to 3 hours between coats (depending on humidity levels).
• Exceptional Build—with excellent flow and leveling.
• Natural Clear Finish—will not change color over time, highlighting the true color of the wood or stain.

Oil versus water?

It’s a common misconception that water-base finishes are not as durable as oil modified finishes. In Taber test results, its proven that waterborne finishes withstand the wear and tear of commercial and residential floors better that oil modified finishes — Lab Testing: The Taber Abraser Grit Feed Test, the most commonly accepted standard lab test for durability, evaluates the resistance of a material to abrasion. For hardwood floors, this equates to evaluating wear. The grit feeder method used in this independent study, conducted by SGS US Testing Co., in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the most accurate and gives the most realistic prediction of actual durability.

What to Expect

It is important to schedule well in advance of the date you want the project to start. We book up fast, especially in the summer time. Pets must be secured from walking on the floors and allowing us to complete out work. A wood floor should be viewed from a standing position, in normal lighting to identify any flaws. Not responsible for uneven tones in the finished floor due to the character of the wood, water, or pet urine stains, bruised wood fibers, stain from carpet padding, or any other stain that will not sand out. If rooms are painted before floors are refinished, they may need to be repainted or touched up by a painter at homeowner’s expense. We strongly recommend painting after floors have been refinished.

Owner is responsible for building permits if needed. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to remove all furniture from the room before we arrive to start work. Insurance policy prevents us from moving furniture. We suggest Lynx Transportation for furniture removal. Visit them at lynxtransport.com 

For new installation, the wood needs to acclimate, which will vary from a few days to a few weeks. Be prepared for some noise and disruption.

Most stains dry in a few hours (depending on humidity levels) and water-base urethanes dry in about two hours (depending on humidity levels). Light foot traffic after the first few hours if needed, furniture can be put back in the room after forty-eight hours, and area rugs about one week.

Natural Color

Your floors are sanded down to the bare wood using a course, medium, and fine sand paper. Floors are then buffed/screened, vacuumed and tacked and one coat of sealer is applied. When the sealer coat is dry, we then buff/screen, vacuum, and tack in between each additional coats of urethane to insure proper adhesion and smoothness.

Stained Color

Floors will be sanded down to the bare wood using a course, medium, and fine sand paper. Floors are then buffed/screened, vacuumed and tacked and 1 coat of stain is applied. (Several samples of stain will be applied to the floor so you may choose a color) when the stain is dry, 1 coat of sealer is applied. When the sealer coat is dry, we then buff/screen, vacuum and tack in between each additional coat of urethane to insure proper adhesion and smoothness.

Luster

• Satin finish – Has some sheen, but is the least shiny, doesn’t show as many scuff marks or scratches.  It is the most popular.
• Semi-Gloss – Has a shiny finish.
• Gloss – Is the shiniest of the finishes, shows more scuff marks, scratches, and imperfections in the

floor.

FLOOR MAINTENANCE TIPS

We recommend the following for optimum care of new floors:

• Allow 2-4 hours before walking with SOCKS ONLY on floors treated with water based polyurethane. Normal traffic can commence in 36 hrs.
• Allow 12-18 hours before walking with SOCKS ONLY on floors treated with oil based polyurethane. Normal traffic can commence in 3 days, as we want to make sure that the oil based polyurethane has had sufficient time to fully cure.
• Do not put furniture on floors newly treated with water based polyurethane for at least 3 days.
• Do not put furniture on floors newly treated with oil based polyurethane for at least 5 days.
• Place FELT padding under table legs, sofas, chairs, etc. Avoid using rubber or plastic which can leave marks in the floor.
• Do not put area rugs onto floors for at least 7 days.
• DO NOT put any type of tape, painter’s tape, colored tape directly on to floor.
• This will strip and damage newly treated floors.

Cleaning Your Newly Treated Floors

• Never use Murphy’s Oil, Pledge, Mop & Glo or similar products that contain wax and/or oils. These products can cause severe reactions to your floors, and then maintenance coats will not be possible. Most warranties from finish manufacturers and factory finished wood flooring manufacturers are voided by use of oil soap cleaners.
• Always use manufacturer’s recommended cleaning products, which will not leave a contaminating residue on the floor. If the manufacturer is not known, one of our trained specialists can recommend an appropriate product. Each floor is unique and different, and we want to make sure that years down the road, the floor will look exactly as it did when it was finished.