Where the sandable floors are in Burwell
Terraced houses make up nearly 16% of Burwell's homes, about 437 in the 2021 Census, and older terraces are typical candidates for sanding. In a later house the floor may be chipboard, engineered board or laminate. Engineered board takes only limited sanding and laminate none, so Chris, our wooden floor specialist, checks the floor before anything is quoted.
In a village where most homes are post-war, floor sanding is a smaller part of the work than painting. Where a later house does have solid timber, such as a hardwood floor laid by a previous owner, it can be sanded and refinished in the same way.
Sanding, filling and oiling the boards
The open floor is done with a belt sander and the margins with an edging sander, and Chris packs the gaps with a filler made from the boards' own sawdust and Induro Morrells Mix & Fill. His final smoothing pass uses a Mirka dust-free sander. Osmo Polyx oil goes on last, either clear or tinted, and the gold-oiled floor we restored in Haddenham shows a tinted one.
The room needs to be empty for sanding and oiling. When walls are being painted as well, sanding happens before the decorating, and any scuffed skirtings are touched in at the end.
Burwell at a glance
- 13 milesby road from our Landbeach base, about 22 minutesOSRM routing
- 12%of properties were built before 1919VOA Council Tax stock
- 6%date from 1919 to 1939VOA Council Tax stock
- 16%are terracedCensus 2021
- 59listed buildingsHistoric England
- 2,766householdsCensus 2021
How we approach floor sanding
We'd lift a corner of carpet at the visit to see the boards, then on the day secure any loose ones and punch nails below the surface. Chris works from coarse to fine abrasives, fills the gaps and applies thin coats of Osmo with drying time between. Doors to the rest of the house are sealed while he works. The full method, products and FAQs are on our floor sanding page.