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Is It Worth Restoring Wooden floors?

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Is It Worth Restoring Wooden floors and Refinishing Them?

Most wooden floors can be restored or refinished, but at what cost and what level of inconvenience compared to buying a new one? Well, if they need repairing from termites or just damage due to their age then that will be very costly as it’s much more time consuming. You would really probably only choose to do this if you had an antique floor that you wanted to preserve. Refinishing has a lot more options than you might think and is way more cost-effective and can also be done on almost any wood floor. Let’s look at the reasons you may want to do this.

Refinish worn out floors that have lost their sheen

Genuine solid wood floors are much rarer than timber flooring. Engineered or hardwood flooring have been around a while now and all these types of flooring can be refinished. If they have lost their varnish and dirt was worn into the top surface they can be brought back to life with sanding and polishing. The results can be spectacular and also it’s not just a one-off. Refinishing can be done about 5 to 7 times so it’s a technique that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Change the colour to match a renovation or remodel

When refinishing you get the chance to change the colour with staining. the range of colours now available is incredible but there are obvious limitations in that the lighter wood is the more choice you have of colours. Staining first, and then applying a topcoat protective finish will yield the best results by a long way, and you also have the option of white-washing them.

Benefits of refinishing

The main benefit is obviously cost, but there are also some other factors. Whilst saving money is always a good thing, there’s time. Refinishing a floor takes a bit longer than laying a new one, but how much longer depends on the coating. Usually, hardwood floors take 2 to 3 days to refinish using sanding alone, but most people will want some protection on the top. If oil based polyurethane coating is used it takes about 1 day per coat (with varying factors like humidity, whether staining is used and how dark that is), so you do need to prepare properly for your floor to be refinished.

But there is another reason that would make you choose refinishing over buying a whole new floor and that is you get to keep your floor. Looking at what most homeowners want in wooden flooring from the list below and you’ll see why. This is especially true if you have real floorboards.

Characteristics people want in wooden flooring:

  • Dark stains, including ebonised or black finishes
  • Hand-scraped boards (factory scraped or scraped on site)
  • Natural characteristics, such as knotholes and mineral streaks
  • Wood reclaimed from old buildings
  • Environmentally friendly wood that’s certified to be from sustainable forests
  • Water-based finishes
  • Oil-based finishes in kitchens or other heavy-traffic areas
  • Painted, stained or inlaid patterns and borders

In the middle of a renovation, this timeline becomes irrelevant and you’ll get to keep all the things you liked when you chose when you originally brought the floor. Of course, you could replicate this again but it would cost more, plus, you’ll end up with a coating that will be much hardier and luxurious.

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