Floors That Last a Lifetime

One of the main selling points of a solid hardwood floor is that, when maintained properly, they last a lifetime—if not longer. Evidence of this can be found throughout the country and around the world in the beautiful wood flooring that still exists in historic buildings today. Some of these structures have hardwood floors that are well over 100 years old.

Got Damage?

Often, hardwood floors are sanded to repair damage to the floor caused by furniture and appliance scratches, neglect, sun fade, wear and tear, pet scratches and stains or even having the hardwood floor covered up, at some point, with carpet. However, the reason to sand and refinish a hardwood floor doesn’t always have to be damage. Hardwood floors are a renewable resource that can often be repaired instead of being replaced. The color and sheen of a hardwood floor, as well as the texture can be updated to match any décor. Whatever your reason for needing a complete sand and refinish, Uptown Wood Floors can restore your hardwood floors to their original, beautiful condition.

We Want You to Love Your Floors!

When inspecting an existing hardwood floor for a sand and refinish, or hand scrape, we want to involve our customers in the evaluation process. It is important to know what your expectations are, and how you live on your floors, so we can make recommendations and address any concerns before sanding your hardwood floor. When walking your floors with you we will help you understand what you can expect once the project is complete. In some cases there are hardwood floors that have been sanded or hand scraped by someone who had little experience and left behind excessive sanding marks or gouges that may not be able to be corrected by sanding alone. Most sand and refinishes take between 3 and 5 days to complete. In most situations it is best that you not be in the home during the sand and finish process. Any movement in the air caused by doors opening and closing can cause dust or debris to fall into the wet finish.

All precautions will be made to ensure the containment of the dust to only our working areas by using dust containment on our machines and hanging plastic to create barriers between the hardwood floors and other areas of your home.

Smooth or Hand Scraped?

A smooth finished floor is sanded multiple times, each time with a higher grit of sandpaper, to achieve a smooth, uniform appearance. Once the hardwood floor has been sanded smooth DuraSeal floor stain is applied and allowed to dry before 2 coats of polyurethane. A screening is always done between each coat of polyurethane to ensure proper adhesion. If you are having your floors hand scraped, the existing hardwood floors are sanded only once to remove the finish and existing stain. Then, our crews will hand scrape your entire hardwood floor. There is not a machine that “hand scrapes” floors, this is a learned skill that our crews have perfected and is done with proper technique and care. Once the hardwood floors have been hand scraped, they are screened before DuraSeal floor stain is applied and finished with 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane.

Polyurethane

There are 2 types of polyurethane that we use for all of our finish coats; oil based and water based polyurethane. If you look up either of these polyurethanes online, you will be overwhelmed with an abundance of conflicting information. With over 25 years in the industry we have the knowledge and experience to help you decide what polyurethane is best for your home.

Oil based polyurethane is the least expensive and has a strong odor. We use a commercial grade, oil based polyurethane that can stand up to most average household use. Each coat of oil based polyurethane takes 6-8 hours to dry and completely cures in 7-10 days’ time. Oil based polyurethane has an amber tint to it creating a warm and rich appearance, but will yellow over time due to auto-oxidation and sun exposure. Water based polyurethane is more expensive than oil based polyurethane. However, with the additional cost come additional benefits as well. Each coat of water based polyurethane takes 2-4 hours to dry and completely cures in 7-10 days’ time as well. A high quality, wood floor, water based polyurethane is a harder and more durable finish than oil based polyurethane making it a better choice for very active homes, homes with active children, or large dogs. Uptown Wood Floors is committed to recommending the best options for your unique situation and will walk you through all of the choices so you can make an informed decision.