Expert Wood Flooring Installation & Restoration Contractors in Hitchin

This basically boils down to whether you are more precious about your walls or your floors. Ideally for us, we would suggest completing any sanding process prior to a room being decorated as inevitably the floor sanders will leave the odd mark on the skirting board. (These marks can easily be touched up at a later date.) Unfortunately, though, if we do the floor first it is not uncommon for decorators to mark the floor, either with paint (some dust sheets are quite porous) or with step-ladders. As our floor sanders have very good dust extraction, there is little chance of any dust getting into the paintwork, so the choice is usually driven by who is available first to start their respective task.

There are a couple of options with Gap Filling. For the smaller gaps, we use a mixture of the fine dust & a solvent based resin. This is mixed into a paste & trowelled into the gaps. This is more suitable for Parquet Floors & pine boards with narrow gaps. Unfortunately over time, some of this filler works its way out & may need replenishing with a coloured mastic. With floor boards, we use Pine slivers, these are glued into the gaps, then sanded down to provide a smooth, level surface ready for coating. Unfortunately, wood being Hygroscopic, floorboards expand & contract with varying levels of humidity. Gaps can still open & close throughout the seasons.

We recommend putting felt pads on chairs or furniture if they are likely to damage the floor. A good exterior door mat is always helpful, as is an internal one. Stiletto heels will readily mark any floor so these are to be avoided, if possible. It is also worth bearing in mind that floors will change colour if exposed to a large amount of UV light. Day- to-day cleaning and the odd maintenance product will prolong the good looks of your floor.

If the underfloor heating has been installed with the intention of fitting wood on top then, theoretically, wood flooring is perfectly suitable. However, as wood is regularly used as an insulant in a lot of building practises, if certain prerequisites are not met, it is not likely to be a success. Electric systems emit less heat and are generally preferable. Should a water-based system be in place, it is recommended that a surface temperature of 25 degrees C is not exceeded.

Wood flooring is possibly the most anti-allergy flooring product currently available. Any dust/dust mites, allergen or pollen has nowhere to hide. Providing the floor is hoovered regularly, wooden floors are ideal for those suffering from asthma or eczema.