Family business established since 2005 in Cambridge. Our mission is to give 100% satisfaction to all our clients. Art of Clean has been sanding and finishing wood floor many years. We sand and repair any types of wood floor in Cambridge. 01223 863632
Our client ordered a grey floor engineered oak and when it arrived it was dark blue. They were not happy with it so we had to sand trying to keep the dark grain pattern. It worked beautifully.
Results are amazing on the oak floor:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
More pictures of wood sanding HERE and videos HERE
You’ve made the investment of restoring or installing new flooring into your home, so what can you do to help your wooden floor stay good as new?
One of the biggest issues for wood flooring maintenance is scratches. Particularly those caused by furniture that is regularly moved back and forth across the floor such as chairs and tables.
To help reduce the likelihood of these types of scratches there are a myriad of products available ranging from simple self-adhesive pads to rolling casters that can be mounted on legs so furniture can move with ease. As with most things in life, some combinations work better than others and some offer greater protection. Just remember that regardless of the product you choose no furniture protector is fool proof, if you haven’t taken the time to install it correctly you’re likely to get scratches.
For example, some furniture protectors are designed to be nailed directly into furniture legs, if the protector is made of plastic and you hammer it directly the plastic could crack and leave sharp edges. The best way to deal with a protector of this type is to place a piece of wood over the cap when hammering, so that it’s not in direct contact with the plastic.
When installing a screw-in or nail-in product onto a wooden furniture leg, pre-drilling a hole into the leg first might make the installation easier, helping to prevent the nail head from pushing out and the wood from spitting.
Even simple to apply felt adhesive protectors can be a problem in the long run. They wear off over time and often fall off or rip, especially when placed on chairs that get frequent use or if dirt and grit get trapped in the felt, meaning that the protector you considerately placed to save your wooden floor, can turn on you and damage that which you so wanted to protect. So it’s important to check the protectors are securely in place and free from any dirt or debris.
An excellent high quality option for wood or solid plastic legs are the award winning QuickClick slide products produced by Wagners (A company we are ridiculously proud to be partnered with). This innovative product is an interchangeable and replacement guide system, with sizes ranging from 17-50mm diameter and sold in individual packs as well as dining and bulk quantities (Bulk gives you 25 sets of 4!).
To determine which QuickClick size you’ll need, measure the base of the object, e.g., if a chair leg base measures 30mm, a 25mm diameter glide would be suitable, then choose the style that best suits your flooring (wood, laminate, carpet, anti-slip, etc.).
To fix the glides; screw the base into the selected object but don’t over-tighten as you can reduce it’s efficiency, click the glide into place and you’re done!
To replace a glide, simply insert a small screwdriver into the hole positioned at the side of the base and click out. WARNING! Do not insert the glide prior to fixing as this will be difficult to remove. You have been warned.
We have 2 roles to fill and hope to attract people with the right attitude and teach them the skills.
Social Media and Marketing Coordinator. This is a very dynamic role and it involve some time out on the road as well as office based work. A person that fills this role has great communication skills both verbally and written. You might not have any social media experience though that is actually a good thing as we have found in the past experience can lead you to follow some bad habits. The role is part time 8am – 4:30 pm 4 days per week.
To apply for the position, please send your CV to pierre@artofclean.co.uk.
For more information about the position: CLICK HERE
Office administrator This role requires someone that is highly organised and loves to work under pressure while staying cool and calm. You can meet deadlines and love a challenge. You have great communication skills on the phone. Your desire is to serve each client as best you can rather than to answer as many calls as you can. Work Hours will be 4 days per week and one of the days has to be a Friday.
Our Mission: Here at Art of Clean our mission is to “Deliver the most outstanding service experience” and this applies to both our clients and our fellow team members. Our principles are: Expect the most from yourself, Expect the most from others, provide assistance and Protect others from fear and influence. These values are non-negotiable and if you feel they ring true to you please contact us now for an interview.
To apply for the position, please send your CV to pierre@artofclean.co.uk.
For more information about the position : CLICK HERE
Art of Clean Denny Lodge Business Park Ely Road Chittering Cambridge CB25 9PH – 01223863632
Over the past couple of weeks, the Art of Clean team have been working a lot on sanding floorboards so it was interesting when the team got booked on a job to sand a Granwood floor.
A Granwood floor is made out of a composition of wood and concrete mix that is then formed into tiles.
These floors are very common in commercial spaces like schools and sports halls these floors has a special requirement to be finished with a solvent based Granwood polyurethane seal. The downside to this product is that it is very smelly and it is not very good for health and that is why Art of clean team will use masks.
In this case, which is very similar to the previous job we've done for the The Paradise Centre in Ely.
The coating we applied had some anti-slip particles in it because the client requested that we help them solve the slippiness problem on the floor as this was the woodwork shop and all the wood shavings end up on the floor and that causes a slip hazard for the students working in this room
A little bit of advice on what to do when you do have a Grandwood floor that needs refinishing and the best advice would be to attend to your floor before it needs to be sanded. If the floor is not in too bad a condition the floor can be cleaned back and recoated which means it's much less invasive because if Cranwood floors need to be fully sanded back it is a very messy and very dusty process and the dust created from this is a very harmful.
For that reason the floor should be kept in a good condition and then every one to two years the floor should be cleaned back properly and a fresh coat of gram guard should be applied. This way the floor is never left to deteriorate and I know invasive sanding will not be required, if cared for well.
In a case where the floor is left too long and it will need sanding, be prepared that the floor will be out of action for a long time usually a week or two. Also be prepared for the smell, as it is very strong and you will probably not be able to use the floor for a few days and windows and doors would need to be left open so that the smell can despite.
I want to share with you the special qualities of Pallmann Magic Oil, which is a great product to use on the installation, renovation and maintenance of wood flooring.
This morning Pierre was mixing a bespoke colour using Pallmann Magic Oil 2K on a sample piece of solid oak wood to show to a customer.
Before applying the oil mix, the wood sample was sanded back using a 60, 80 and 100 grit sanding paper. The wood was also water popped, which means light moisture is used to open the grain, which in turns swells the wood fibres and more colour is accepted into the wood.
The oil is then mixed using 15% black and 85% brown. The oil is applied to the wood and forced into the fibres of wood with a green hand pad and the excess removed.
Pierre was using a piece of oak, but Pallmann Magic Oil works well on pine and most other types of wood.
As well as black and brown the other main colours are white, grey, dark brown, red brown and natural .
Some of the benefits of using magic oil, apart from the ones already mentioned are the four hours drying time and so the floor can be used much quicker, as opposed to 12 hours with other brand floor oils.
Magic Oil also comes with a hardener which makes it much harder wearing than many other oils. Also, if the floor is scratched the floor can be easily repaired with simply keying back the area and then apply a re-oil.
In the case of coloured oil, you would need to key back the whole floor.
Below is a previous example using Treatex (left) and Liberon (right).
