Blog – Oakwood Floor Sanding

Wood Floor Restoration in Bovey Tracey

cgarman — Mon, 13 May 2019 12:38:31 +0000

We recently carried out work on the wooden floors at the House of Marbles, Pottery Rd, Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot.

Hard Wood Floor Restoration

Our hard floor cleaning and restoration team worked around the House of Marbles to reduce disruption as much as possible.

After the work was finished on the wooden flooring we received a very nice complement from Christine at the House of Marbles.

She said that everyone was extremely happy with the results and she couldn’t thank us enough.

Christine also said that the technicians were efficient, lovely and very hard working.

Thank you Christine for the kind words.

If you need more information or a free no obligation quote for hard wood floor restoration or sanding then just contact us.

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Sanding and Lacquering to Pitch Pine Parquet Floor in Torquay

cgarman — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 13:02:19 +0000

Oakwood have been busy restoring a beautiful pitch pine parquet floor at a bungalow in Torquay. We sanded their kitchen/diner, hallway and bedroom.

On arrival the technicians took time to carefully inspect the wooden floor, to ensure that it was solid and that there would be no loose blocks needing repair before the sanding work could commence. During this process our technicians carry out several moisture readings to ensure that the floor is able to receive a water-based coating system. Improper moisture readings, or a failure to take them, could result in further complications, meaning that this is an important part of the procedure.

The pine floor had been sanded previously with a hired belt sander. Whilst these seem appealing to the DIY market, they are inadequate tools to correctly finish parquet flooring. This floor had heavy sanding marks and dips where it had been very badly sanded over the years.

Sanding started with 40-grit on the Pallmann Cobra belt sander. This enables the technicians to heavily sand the wood, removing all the old sanding marks and ensuring that the pine blocks are at a consistent level. When sanding pitch pine parquet it’s important to always sand against the grain. This can prove to be a challenge to some people who are not adequately trained in floor sanding, or people who take it on as a DIY task.

Equipped with the latest machinery, sanding parquet floors is a specialist area for Oakwood Specialist Services. The Pallmann Spider’s planetary head allows the operator to sand in any direction without leaving any scratch patterns from the grits used; the process is very fast and works extremely well on soft wood parquets.

The whole floor was filled and the edges were sanded with a very fine finish, to match the main field of floor. Once this was complete the floor was ready to be finished.

The customer had requested that the finish be as natural as possible, but still wanted us to use a lacquer. With this in mind, we opted to use Pallmann AllBase Primer and PallX 98 Gold for the finishing coats. These two products give a natural finish but also maintain the beautiful tones of each parquet block.

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How to restore an Oak wooden floor at a house in Torquay

cgarman — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 13:32:29 +0000

How to Restore an Oak Wooden Floor at a House in Torquay.

Recently we were asked to visit a house in Torquay to restore their Oak wooden floors. There were several rooms that required work including a large floor in a lounge/diner and the entrance hall. The wood floor restoration work was carried out over three days by two technicians and consisted of sanding, filling and applying a finish.

Oak Wood Floor Sanding

The oak wooden floor was in a poor condition. There were several areas that had badly cupped boards in parts of the rooms and several large gaps due to the floor becoming insecure. To start we recorded several moisture readings to ensure that the floor was in a stable enough condition to be able to apply any coatings. Once these measurements had been carried out the floors were sanded heavily at a diagonal cut to remove all the deep marks. This sanding method also flattens the wooden floor to a consistent level. This sanding process enables us to see the extent of the repair for the floorboards that need to be re-fixing. The re-fixing was then carried out with a nail gun, using very small nails so that they didn’t leave any noticeable holes in the floor.

Once the floor had been sanded to a consistent level, it was filled 2-3 times by the technician. This was until he was satisfied that the filling was constant across the floor and that all gaps had been fully sealed. Once the filler was dry, the sanding continued until the whole floor was smooth and all previous sanding marks had been removed.

Oak Floor Finishing at Torquay Home

To finish the oak floor we applied two test patches of primer to an area of the floor. This was to allow the customer to choose which tone they preferred. We then used a water-based primer and an alcohol-based primer, both of which gave different finishes to the oak.

Alcohol primer was chosen and then applied in one even coat to the whole floor. Once the primer had dried, we applied two coats of Pallx 98 Gold Matt to the rooms. After it had dried, the floor was left with a rich tone that brought out all of the oak’s grain and left a beautiful finish.

You don’t have to live in Torbay area to get a great finish on your wooden floors. Contact us for a free no obligation quote.

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Refinishing and sanding to pine wooden floor boards in St Mary Church Torquay

cgarman — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 09:24:05 +0000

Refinishing and sanding to pine wooden floor boards in St Mary Church, Torquay.

We were asked to try to repair and restore several of the pine floors in a traditional cottage in the centre of Torquay. Our main task was to replace several of the pine wooden floor boards. We also found several of the joists were rotten and so we repaired theses as well. All the work had to be carried out without disturbing the original pine wooden floor. The work to repair, sand and refinish the seven wooden floors was carried out over three days by two of our fully trained and experienced tradesmen. The seven floors were in three bathrooms, two bedrooms and a lounge/diner .

Pine Wooden Floor Repairs

There were several large gaps and broken boards in the pine wooden floors throughout the property. Upstairs there was also the odd floor board that had completely collapsed in to the ceiling space below.

Our first job was to move and adjust a vast number of the wooden floor boards. This was to close up any of the gaps down the length of the wooden boards. Some of the boards were completely replaced and in doing so we discovered several rotten joists. After reporting the issue to the owner we were instructed to strengthen these joists with additional supports to prevent further damage to the house.

Sanding Pine Floor

The sanding was carried out with state of the art Pallman machinery. These included the Pallmann Cobra Belt Sander, the Pallmann Spider Sanding Machine and two Pallmann Gecko Edgers.

One floor was completely covered in bitumen and was badly cupped. This floor was sanded on a 45’ angle to remove the bitumen as fast and as efficiently as possible. This method also reduced the floors to a consistent level. All the floors were revived with the first sand using the Cobra to remove all old finishes and flatten the floors. Once the main areas where flat we continued sanding with the Pallmann spider. This machine gave an unbelievably smooth finish to the wood. All the edges and corners where all sanded flush once the main field had been finished.

Finishing Wooden Floor

The customer requested as natural and matt finish that we could achieve on a the pine floor. To achieve these results we opted to use a water based system. This would leave the floor as close to natural finish as possible whilst still giving the floor ultimate protection from every day use.

Before any finish was applied we took humidity readings and moisture readings of the wooden floor. This was to make sure they are stable enough to take a water based finish. This is also important for the lacquers to be able to adhere to the floors correctly. It also helps towards the proper curing of the finishes.

Finally the restored wooden floors were revived with one coat of a Pallmann primer and two coats of Palls 96 Matt lacquer. This achieved the desired finish. Our customer was overwhelmed with the workmanship and the finished results to the pine floors.

If you would like to know how Oakwood can help restore your pine or any other type of wooden floor or help repair your hard floors then just contact us.

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Repairs to Herringbone Parquet wood flooring in Kingskerswell

cgarman — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 12:36:15 +0000

This repair work was carried out to the Herringbone Parquet wooden floors at a home in KingskerswelI.

This house in Aller, Kingskerswell had recently had building work carried out to merge the lounge and dining room. The Herringbone Parquet wooden floors were worn and damaged throughout the ground floor. We had to carry out complex carpentry repairs to the Parquet wood flooring along with a complete wood floor sanding and then this was finished with two coats of oil.

The Damaged Herringbone Parquet Wooden Floors

You can see how the floors looked before the work was started. The customer had recently removed the wall that was between the lounge and dining room and also taken the fireplace out.

These images below show some of the repair work. This included leveling off the area between the lounge and dining room and where the fireplace had been removed. This repair work to the floor was carried out using blocks, sand and cement.

Carpentry Repairs to Herringbone Parquet Wooden Floor

These images show the results of the carpentry repairs to the Herringbone floor. The wooden blocks were applied with polyurethane glue, making sure we followed the original pattern of the floor which is in a Herringbone style.

This is the wood floor sanding process we carry out after the repairs. Once the wood floors have been sanded we then applied the two coats of oil.

Here is the Herringbone wooden floor after the two coats of oil.

The customer was so happy with the results of the repairs to the Herringbone Parquet wooden floor that we will be returning to Kingskerswell to restore the wooden floors in the three upstairs bedrooms.

If you need any wooden floor repairs just contact us or for any other building work contact Oakwood Contracting.

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Repair and restoration of solid oak floor in Exeter home

cgarman — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 14:22:20 +0000

We were asked to restore the solid oak floors in a house in Christow, which is just outside of Exeter. The floors in the hall, toilet, lounge, kitchen diner, landing, bedroom and two bathrooms all needed attention. The job itself took 4 days to complete with a team of 3 technicians.

These images show the ground-in dirt and general wear and tear on the wooden floors.

We started prepping the solid oak floors by filling in any knots with resin so that the floor has an even finish.

The solid oak floors were then sanded back to the bear wood before applying a finishing oil.

Then the finishing oil was applied to floors.

The customer was thrilled with the outcome of the natural look to the floors which was what they were looking to achieve.

If you need any repairs or restoration to hard wood floors then just contact us.

For any other building, extensions or contracting work please contact Oakwood Contracting.

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The options for filling gaps in Pine floorboards

cgarman — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 11:19:04 +0000

Generally with all pine floor boards and softwood there will always be gaps due to expansion and contraction movement in the wood throughout the year. This is due to changes in moisture content and temperature, from both outside and indoor heating. Expansion and contraction will always occur in wood, but particularly in softwood.

When we apply our Magic oil, it is important to fill the space with one of the three options below so that when the oil is applied it doesn’t rise to the surface before it is fully cured. If it rises to the surface before it is fully cured then it will affect the resultant floor finish.

Three Ways To Fill Gaps

Dust & Resin Mix. Fine dust generated during the floor sanding process is mixed with a clear resin to form a paste, which is then worked into the gaps, typically less than 5mm (similar to grouting tiles). This method is the most common way of gap filling used on wooden floors. This method of gap filling has the advantage of providing a smooth and colour-matched end result that dries quickly. Its downside is that the mixture can fall through gaps where the floor is laid directly over joists and it often becomes fragile with significant floor movement.
Acrylic Mastic Filler. A colour matched acrylic mastic filler is inserted into gaps, can be used on any flooring and is quite cost effective (similar to a silicone mastic application). However, it comes in only a limited colour range, so the colour match is not guaranteed to be consistent. Where gaps are wider than 2mm, it is advisable to insert paper mache, string or rope to ensure that the filler has something to bond with.
Solid Wood Fillet Strips. Reclaimed wood strips are used, cut to size, covered with PVA glue then knocked firmly into the gaps and left overnight to dry. The excess material is then carefully chiselled away before being sanded off. This method of gap filling is a much more involved process overall, but the results are usually aesthetically better and also much more permanent as the fillets will tend to expand and contract with the timber during seasonal changes. It is better to use this process when filling gaps longer and wider than 5mm.

Overall, there is no complete solution to filling gaps in pine floor boards. Customers should expect there to be expansion and contraction and therefore the floor will never always look perfect. Gaps will change in appearance and size throughout the year. As a general guide, the gaps are likely to look wider in the winter and narrower in the summer.

If you need free advice or a free quotation, please call the Oakwood Team on 01803 444010

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