Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Floor installation, Floor repair

Posts Tagged ‘floors’

Sawdust is flammable.

Filed Under : General info by admin
Mar.5,2010

The reason I’m writing this article is because a lot of homeowners don’t know how flammable the sawdust is.When the floors get sanded a lot of it is created and in most cases all of it goes into the trash bag.In many cases people want to leave it inside the house or garage, until the garbage pickup day comes and the bag will be taken care of.

What homeowners don’t realize is that this stuff can catch a fire in no time and as a result the house will be burned down.A couple of friends of mine told me some interesting stories about the sawdust.One was going to throw a trash bag in the city dump, so he put it inside his truck, but he was going to run some errands first, so left it there for a few hours. The day was pretty hot, so the dust started to burn and he didn’t realize what’s going on until he looked back.Another friend told me that the same thing happened to him, the only difference was  that the trash bag was outside in his yard.

But by just putting the sawdust outside your house you won’t solve the problem.Somebody could throw a cigarette butt at it and again it’s going to catch a fire.It is recommended that the the bag with the dust should be placed outside the house at least 4-5 feet away from any building.

Remember, the flooring contractors insurance is very high and it is mainly because a lot of houses were burned down over the years and one of the main reasons of fire is a sawdust.

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Water damage on the hardwood floors.

Filed Under : Floor refinishing by admin
Feb.28,2010

There are many floors that have a water damage and there is always a question whether that can be removed or not. Although many people are sceptical about it and there is no way to promise it, there are ways to get rid of the stains.

First and foremost: it is almost impossible to get rid of the urine stains, not if they’ve been there for years. In case these stains appeared recently(within the last 4-6 months), you can try to get rid of them with the chance of success.There are other types of stains, of course: somebody spilled something, or you had a plant on your floor and found water damage after removing it. Honestly, there is a good chance to fix these problems.

Now, how to fix the water damage? Well, there are two the most common ways. First, to sand the floor and try to go a little deeper on the spots, where the stains appear.Don’t go too crazy, because if you go too deep, you will have a gap in your floor, and the only way to fix that is by replacing the wood. If you sanded the floor and you didn’t have any luck, try to bleach the stains. Just take a regular bleach, put it on the rag and rub it into the surface. Be careful: if you will put too much bleach, you will end up with the white stains instead of black ones.There is no way to fix that one either, unless you will replace the flooring.

Like I said, if you know what are you doing, you should, if not get rid of the water damage completely, at least have much less of it, with the stains that are dramatically reduced in size.

If you didn’t have any luck removing the damage, you can always stain your floors. The best choice would be a darker stain, something like Red Oak,  Red Mahogany and Cherry: those are on the reddish side, or English Chesnut and Dark Walnut, if you want you floor to be more on the brown side.

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Moving back your furniture, after the floors are done

Filed Under : General info by admin
Feb.16,2010

People ask the question about when can they move the furniture back a lot, so here is the answer.

After your floor has been installed, if it is a prefinished type obviously, you can move back in pretty much right away: finish was applied on this wood a while ago, so it had plenty of time to cure even before you bought it.

After the floor just been refinished, the manufacturers of polyurethane normally recommend to wait a week before putting the furniture back on the floor. If it would be my floor, I would probably wait 2 days and then moved back in. The reason is simple: they say that in the first 24 hrs., polyurethane is 40% cure(it is good to walk on the next day for the oil-based and the same day for the water-based products), and then it is an additional 10% per day, so unless you have something really heavy(tables,chairs and beds are fine),you’re good to go 48 hrs after the job was done.

Just one thing to remember: do not drag, or roll your stuff across the floor(this happens a lot when the kitchen floor is getting done, normally with the fridges): you are going to leave huge gouges, which means that you’re going to re-sand your floor again, because this is the only way to get rid of them.

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Getting your house ready for the floor guys.

Filed Under : General info by admin
Jan.30,2010

A lot of homeowners ask me about what should they do to make a space ready for the floor guys, so I decided to write about it.

Well, first and foremost: move everything from the floor that will be sanded: there is no way for the floor guys to work around the furnite, not to mention that it’s going to be all dusty once they are done. If you will get the floors done in the closet, please clean it up completely: the clothes that are hanging are not going to be on the way, but more then likely you will have to wash them afterwards, since they will be very dusty.If there is no way for you to move the clothing, at least make sure that it’s covered with plastic.This also applies to the pictures on the wall and the curtains.Pay very close attention to the electronics, such as TV’s and phones: dust is a killer to them.

When the floor guys show up, make sure they seal the areas that they are not working in and put the plastic in the door frames and over the kitchen cabinets (very important when you do the kitchen).

After the job is done, you should expect some minor dust in the rooms that have been done, but everything outside the working space should remain completely dustless.Follow these easy steps and you will save yourself a lot of time cleaning the house after the floors are done.

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Polyurethane

Filed Under : General info by admin
Jan.18,2010

As we all know, there are two types of polyurethane: water-based and oil-based.Both have their own pro’s and con’s.Let’s take a little closer look at both of them.

1.Oil-based polyurethane.The most popular so far( of course, with the new law that makes it more expensive and harder to get, things are going to change quickly).Durable, two coats of it on top of a coat of sealer, is normally more than enough.Gives an impression of thick buildup(it’s just an impression, though.In reality it’s much thinner than you think, which doesn’t make it bad in any way), and that deep amber look that everybody love.Most of the floor companies and the homeowners prefer to use this type of poly, because it is also very easy to apply.

Now here is something every homeowner should know.There are two types of oil-based poly: high VOC(Volatile Organic Compounds), which is affected by the new law and the low VOC, which is not affected.All the information above is about high VOC poly, which you, dear homeowner, cannot get anymore in 1 or 5 gallon containers.The only way to buy high VOC poly is to get it in quarts.So next time you’re going to the hardware store, make sure, you are buying your poly that way, unless you want all sorts of trouble, that low VOC poly gives you: heavy brush marks, very fast drying time on the surface, while you’re applying it, but very slow actual drying time(sometimes it’s still like a gum even after two days of wait)- all the good stuff.

Ok, where were we? Oh, yes, oil-based poly.Here are some minuses: dries much longer than water-based, smells a lot(and I mean it) and not safe for the environment, which, I know very important for more and more people day by day.

2.Now let’s talk water. This is very durable polyurethane.With 1 coat of sealer and three coats of water-based poly your floor is going to be much harder, than with oil-based.Dries very quickly: in half an hour after you applied the first coat, you can go ahead and put another one.You can literary finish the whole flooring project in one day, where if you would use the oil-based, it could take you 2-3 days.

By applying it without using a sealer, your floor is going to look milky, although, over the years it will yellow up a little.I would recommend to use a sealer first(Lenmar quick-dry sealer is perfect for that purpose): that will give your floors an amber look, not as rich as you would get with an oil-based finish, of course. This, the price of it(on average twice higher then the price for the oil-based poly) and a little bit complicated application process, are  actually the main minuses.Otherwise it’s great.

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