There are countless flooring options for homeowners to choose from. Fortunately, floor polishing and sanding have made these floor covering options available to the masses at much more affordable prices than in the past. Wood flooring is one of the most popular floor types chosen by homeowners today.
So, floor polishing and floor restoration, what’s the difference? Well, floor sanding is an entire floor material removal process, whereas floor restoration is more of a floor repair process. Floor restoration involves repairing any damage to your floor before refinishing it with layers of floor finish. This may sound like it’s unnecessary, but there are many reasons why you should consider doing so. Let me explain some of them below for you.
Here are 7 signs that your wood flooring needs restoration:
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Your Floor Has Serious Scratches
One of the most common manifestations that your floor needs sanding is serious scratches on it. It is normal for high footfall areas on floors to show signs of wear over time. In some homes, this might be an area where people walk in from the garage to the mudroom. In other homes, this flooring area might be where people walk from a home office or sitting room to a bedroom suite. Many people think they can save some money by sanding their floors themselves- while it works if the scuffs aren’t too deep if it’s deeper than that, floor restoration is your best option.
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Your Floor Is Pre-Finish/ Unfinished Wood
If you have a floor that is unfinished or pre-finished, floor polishing would be the best option for you. If you have flooring that has stains on it, floor sanding will only make the stain look deeper and more apparent. So, what do floor refinishers do? They can remove deep scratches from your floor fill in larger gaps in the wood, making the floor safer to walk on. They can even fill in any dents or holes with matching material!
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Your Floor is more than 50 years old
If your floor is older than 50 years, floor sanding may not even be the best option for your floor. If your floor was not properly finished, floor polishing will definitely not help. What refinishers do at this point is try to identify the type of wood that your floor is made of and determine what type of finish it had when it was initially built. They would then apply a similar finish on it, or if there isn’t enough material left to do so, they will use stains instead! This way, you get an authentic-looking floor that brings back its original beauty. Floor sanding just won’t cut it in such cases.
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Your Floor Is Underneath Carpeting
A floor with flooring underneath floor polishing may not be the best option. Floor sanding may expose floor damage that was hidden by the floorboards. If this is the case, floor restoration is your best bet to get a floor restoration done properly without further damage.
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Your Floor Is Damaged
If you have water damaged floor, your floor needs to be restored before refinishing it; otherwise, it will just break down when you polish or wax it. You can’t do much about water-damaged floors- if the wood is already split, there’s not much that anyone can do other than replacing part of the floor if possible.
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Your Floor Is Less Than 3 Feet High
Floor polishing would definitely not work in such cases because high-traffic areas usually get damaged first. Floor restoration involves floor repairs before refinishing the floor, so it is more suitable in cases where your floor is already looking pretty bad with deep scratches and heavy wear on high traffic areas.
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Your Floor has Heavy Traffic
An infinite number of floor paths can accumulate foot traffic in a home over time. As floor coverings age, they become worn and start looking old. Regular floor polishing can rejuvenate them to make them appear newer and bring back the depth of color in the wood grain patterns. When you have floor finishing applied, ask your flooring professional to use a floor polish with stain-sealing properties to protect the finish from damage due to heavy traffic.
Considering your floor’s condition should definitely help you decide which floor restoration process to opt for, floor polishing or floor restoration? But whether you choose flooring sanding or floor restoration, one thing is for sure: your floor needs to be restored before you can refinish it! Floor polishing can bring back their glamorous appearance with a fresh coat of floor finish.
