Floor sanding in Cambridge by our wooden floor specialist
Under worn varnish, old stain and years of scuffs, most wooden floors are still perfectly good timber. Floor sanding takes the surface back to clean wood so it can be repaired and refinished, and the change in a room is often bigger than a coat of paint on the walls.
Our floor work is carried out by Chris, a wooden floor specialist we work with regularly. You can see him introduce himself in our team videos. Because he works alongside our decorators, you get one visit from Graham, one written quotation and one person, Belinda, keeping you informed, even when the job includes both floors and walls.
Is your floor right for sanding?
Original pine floorboards in Victorian and Edwardian houses are the classic candidates. They are often hidden under carpet for decades, and lifting a corner is the easiest way to find out what's there. Solid hardwood floors can also be sanded and refinished.
Engineered boards are a different matter. They have a thin top layer of real wood over a core of other material, and that layer can only be sanded a limited number of times, if at all. Laminate and vinyl that look like wood can't be sanded. Chris will check what you have before anything is quoted, and he'll tell you honestly if sanding isn't the right answer.
Old floors sometimes have patches of later boards, past repairs or stains from rugs and furniture. Most of these blend in once the floor is sanded and oiled, and some add character. Anything that won't, such as a badly split board, is pointed out at the visit so you know what to expect.
A gold-oiled floor in Haddenham, step by step
One of our favourite floor jobs was in a house in Haddenham, near Ely. We had already decorated part of the house in Farrow & Ball. For phase two, Chris was called in to restore the dining and living room floors.
He sanded the floors right back with a belt sander and an edging sander, repaired minor imperfections and filled the small gaps between boards with a mix of sawdust and Induro Morrells Mix & Fill. After smoothing everything again with a Mirka dust-free sander, he finished the floors in Osmo Polyx tint oil in Gold, which contains flecks of 24-carat gold. The photos on the Haddenham floor restoration show the job from start to finish.
How we restore a wooden floor
Every floor is a little different, but the stages are much the same.
Checking the boards
Before sanding, the floor is checked for loose boards and for nails or screws standing proud, which would tear the sanding paper and mark the timber. These are secured or knocked below the surface.
Heavy sanding
A belt sander does the main area of the floor, working through grades of paper from coarse to fine to take off old finishes and level the boards. An edging sander reaches the strip next to the skirtings and into corners, where the big machine can't go.
Repairs and gap filling
Small gaps between boards are filled with a mix of the floor's own sawdust and Induro Morrells Mix & Fill, so the filler is close in colour to the surrounding wood. Minor dents and damage are repaired at the same stage.
Final smoothing
A Mirka dust-free sander gives the final finish. It extracts dust at the pad, which leaves a cleaner surface for the oil and less dust in the house.
Oiling
The floor is then finished in your chosen oil, applied in thin coats and left to dry between them. Thin coats matter: oil that is flooded on too heavily stays tacky and wears unevenly. Once the last coat has dried, the room is checked with you before furniture goes back.
Choosing an oil finish for your floorboards
We finish floors with Osmo oils. Polyx is a hardwax oil: it soaks into the timber and hardens, bringing out the grain rather than sitting on top as a plastic-looking film. A worn area can usually be cleaned and re-oiled on its own, without sanding the whole room again.
Tinted versions change the colour of the wood as well as protecting it. The Gold tint used in Haddenham gives a warm glow with tiny flecks of 24-carat gold that catch the light. If you'd prefer the natural colour of the boards, a clear oil keeps the timber looking much as it does freshly sanded. Chris can show you how the options look on your own boards before you decide.
Looking after an oiled floor is straightforward. Sweep or vacuum regularly so grit doesn't scratch it, use felt pads under chair and table legs, and wipe up spills rather than leaving them to soak in. Chris will give you advice for your particular finish when the job is done.
Sanding floors as part of a decorating job
In Haddenham the decorating came first and the floors followed. Where a project includes both, we plan the order with you so sanding dust never lands on freshly painted walls and the skirtings can be finished once the floor is done.
Edging sanders work right up to the skirting, so the bottom edge of the paintwork can pick up the odd scuff. Booking floors and decorating together means our decorators can touch those in after Chris has finished, rather than you finding marks on new paint and having to call someone back.
Stairs and other natural timber are covered on our page about staining and varnishing woodwork, and walls, ceilings and woodwork are part of our wider interior decorating service.
Before the floor sanding starts
The room needs to be completely empty while the floor is sanded and oiled, so we'll agree at the visit who moves what and where it will go. Floor sanding machines are powerful, and the heavy sanding does make some dust, so doorways are sealed off and the Mirka dust-free sander is used for the finishing passes.
We're based in Landbeach, so we cover a good spread of villages as well as the city. Haddenham sits just outside our Ely and surrounding villages area, and homes in Waterbeach and Milton are only a couple of miles from our base.