Do I protect my wooden floor with hard wax oil or lacquer?

This is quite a common question our customers ask us at Art of Clean, professional floor cleaners in Cambridge. This really depends on the type of finish you would like to achieve.

At Art of Clean we would normally discuss these options with you on our initial inspection of your wooden floor. Hard wax oils contain a mixture of oil and wax, which completely saturates into your timber flooring. Which means that no other liquid can be absorbed into your wooden floors, so if you were to spill any drinks, occidentally tip up your bucket of cleaning water onto the surface then none of this would go into your lovely wooden floor.The wax element of the hard wax oil, protects the surface from small scratches to the wood. Hard wax oil finishes are generally popular with our customer’s wooden floor cleaning requirements in and around Cambridge, as they are the easiest to maintain.

The hard wax oil also comes in various shades and colours, and offers three different types of sheen finishes.Lacquers on the other hand act in a slightly different way, rather than absorbing into the wooden surface of your floor, it will sit on the surface.The type of lacquers we use at Art of Clean in Cambridge, have flexible qualities, so rather than drying into a solid rigid surface, the lacquer will flex with the timber when it is scratched or dented.

This type of finish is harder to maintain, as although it is durable, if you need to touch up and scratches, it’s much harder. There are also only a two different types of finishes available too.We realise at Art of Clean that it all comes down to a question of taste, and as hard wood flooring cleaning experts we will be happy to help you choose the most suitable finish for your hardwood floor, so why not give us a call on 01223 863632.

Commercial parquet wood floor restoration with Art of Clean

We've had some great floor sanding and oiling/polishing jobs lately in Cambridge, Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and beyond.

Take a look at the images below to see the amazing transformations our technicians have been working on lately……

Here are some images of a parquet floor restoration the team completed in Leicester.

Pre-sanding

Post-sanding

Post-oiling

At Art of Clean we understand how a well finished floor can set off a whole room, giving your floorboards a new lease of life and increasing the lifespan of the timber.  Refinishing wood floors is one of our specialties, and we are trained and affiliated with the Ultimate Floor Sanding Company.  If you would like to talk to us about our services, please call our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

Parquet floor filling in Cambridge

Although it’s not always necessary we sometimes have to fill the gaps between the boards before sanding, here is a recent floor where we had to fill the gaps between the boards, please pics before and after. The process is quite simple and it can really make a difference to a floor. If the floor has gaps of 2mm max we will be able to create mix of fine sand with resin (an alcohol based product is better than other solvents), and then we fill the gaps in the wooden floor, we would strongly recommend that we fill the gaps in the entire floor so that there are no parts which stand out afterwards as being different. However we can only fill the gaps if the floor is solid, i.e situated on a concrete floor, as if the floor is placed on a flexible surface it can cause movement and the filler will come out over time. But our specialised team will be able to offer advice on whether it is a viable option for your floor. If the gaps are more than 2mm we would need to fill the gaps with strips of pre-manufactured V shaped tips of wood, as if the gaps are too large these would come out over time.

The strips are then dipped in glue and then driven between the gaps. If the strips of wood then protrude above the level of the wooden floor we will then sand it flat, once it has dried the next day. Here are some pics of the before and after, the customer was really impressed with how the floor now looks as good as new.

Watermarks on wooden floor - use suitable tray under pots

Protecting your wood floor from water staining from your pot plants:

Here is a real issue to wooden floors - water.  Wood is a porous material which will absorb water if

it is left sitting on the floor long enough.  Mopping is not such an issue as you will use only a small amount of hot water which will dry quickly.  The issue is when the water sits for some time and the worst place for this in most homes is under plant pots.

Here you can see the damage that is caused from moisture entering the wood...

To prevent this damage use plastic trays under your pots so they wont leak, and do not over water. 

If you have sustained this damage to your Wood Floors you will need the to be sanded and protected.  The sanding will take the wood back to an unaffected level and the protection applied will give an amount of water resistance to the wood to help prevent this occurring again. 

For further maintenance contact us about our wood floor services us on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk

What can I do with my newly discovered wood floor?

Discovering that a beautiful wood floor lies just beneath a shabby old carpet can be really exciting, and it’s at this stage that you will do a search on-line for a professional sanding company. Before you search on-line for sanding company you will need to consider a few things:
•Is the floor worth sanding and which service do you require?Before getting anyone to carry out the work on your newly discovered floor you will need to check out their credentials:
• Are they insured? Ask to see their insurance papers if unsure• Have the had professional training? Check out their certificates
• Do they have experience? Ask to meet previous customers, check out references if necessary
• Do the company offer a guarantee? Make sure you ask for this in writing
• What finish do they recommend? These are some photos of a floor we recently restored with the above type of damage.

The floor was strip filled (this is the gap between the planks) and then we filled them strip with resinYou will need to think about what type of wood flooring you have. If you have a traditional wood floor and there are large gaps between the boards then it is likely to have been made from pine. If your boards are butted neatly together then they are likely to have been made from oak, but a professional opinion would be recommended at this point. If in doubt then ask Art of Clean for advice, we have specialist wood flooring experts in our team.A pine floor is very soft and is not exceptional quality, whereas oak on the other hand if looked after well will serve you well for many years.

Oak wood sanded and oiled in Saffron Walden

Have a look at this video! You will see the process of sanding and oiling the oak floor.

Wood floor sanding and sealing in Norwich Cathedral...

Art of Clean was recently awarded the work of sanding and sealing the floor of the beautiful Norwich Cathedral. The historical Cathedral has been beautifully designed inside and out, since the start of its construction in 1096.

Inside the building the wood floor is made by the manufacturer Junkers who make top quality hardwood floors. The floor inside the Cathedral had started to show signs of wear and tear, especially in their refectory, so the customer knew that it was time to clean the floor by sanding and sealing, before it got so bad that it needed a complete restoration. They asked us to clean two floors within the Cathedral.

Throughout this project we worked closely with Junkers, to make sure that our customers warranty stayed in tact. We followed the following process when cleaning the first floor:
• Stage 1 – First of all we applied Junkers wood cleaner
• Stage 2 – We then screened the floor back with a light sand to ensure that the fresh coating of polyurethane lacquer adhesive to the floor.
• Stage 3 – We then applied two new coats of Junkers Lacquer onto the wood floor.

The refectory wood floor was badly stained from through traffic

Stage 1 – We sanded the entire floor
Stage 2 – We applied Pallmann Magic Oil, which gives a great finish for commercial applications.

If a standard lacquer had been applied, then if certain areas wear more than others the whole floor would need to be sanded. This can be a problem between two rooms if there is not a door break dividing them. One of our other customers had this problem previously, so we advised them to have a brass strip installed between the two rooms. If you require this here are the details of a company we recommended.