Wood Floor Options

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Traditional hardwood restoration is a lengthy, messy, smelly process. And it’s expensive, too! 

Even high-tech sanders with vacuums attached leave fine sawdust in the air. Traditional polyurethane sealant typically takes 2 to 3 days to dry, rendering the floor unusable to the homeowner for several days. In fact, homeowners with large wood flooring areas often decide to move out while their floors are being redone, increasing the cost of an already-expensive process. 

Oil-based polyurethane is also very smelly, emitting an odor that many people are sensitive to. And because it takes so long to dry, special care must be taken to prevent pet hair and other particulates from settling on the still-drying surface. Polyurethane is also problematic to use because it doesn’t self-level, meaning special application methods must be used to prevent applicator lines from showing on the floor.

Some homeowners make the mistake of using floor care products sold in grocery and home improvement stores to try to recreate the lost "glow." While these products do work at first, many homeowners find themselves trying to figure out what to do with the cloudy residue and streakiness they find on their floor after multiple uses.  And there's nothing they can do on their own once the sealant is scratched or dirty to get their wood floors clean and shiny again.

Clean Tile and More uses a the screen and recoat process to restore and protect your hard wood flooring investment. There’s little mess and odor; it’s fast drying, and — best of all — it's about a third of the cost of traditional restoration processes. And we can correct your wood product nightmare as well!

Our first step is to lightly abrade the entire surface then vacuum up any resulting  debris.  Then we clean the floor with a neutral cleaner to remove any remaining particles and prepare the wood for its first coat of sealant.

Our self-leveling water-based polyurethane sealant has several advantages over traditional oil-based sealants. It applies easily and quickly and dries in about 2 hours per coat, greatly reducing the probability of particulates and hair getting trapped in the sealant while drying. Homeowners can choose their preferred look - matte, satin, semi-gloss, or glossy - to create the desired look.  

NOTE: Our process is not appropriate for every floor.  Badly damaged, gouged, neglected floors MUST use the sanding method to be restored.  

Engineered Wood is a low-cost way to bring the beauty of wood floors into your home and they look great when newly installed!  But that initial savings comes with limitations on what can be done when maintaining the floor.  

Unlike hardwood planks, which are wood all the way through, engineered wood is made up of a thin (~4mm) veneer covering a plywood "core."  This means that it can only be refinished a maximum of 3 times for the best quality versions (fewer times for less expensive types)!

Unfortunately, like all wood floors, they eventually have the same issues that are found with hardwood - they start looking dull or dirty OR someone has applied multiple layers of sealant products that have trapped the dirt and looks awful!

While we won't use the same process as for hardwood floors, we CAN clean your engineered wood and add a protective sealant.   

And if you have the problem of sealant product that has built up over time and ruining the look, we can remove those sealants and reveal your floor's original beauty.

Hand-scraped wood has a beautiful, rustic feel.  After a few years, sometimes the luster is gone and all you see are scratches - a little more "rustic" than you may have planned!  

So now what?  If you bring in a traditional wood restoration company, their only option is to SAND your floors flat:  NOT an option if you're interested in retaining that hand scraped look!

We can clean your hand-scraped floors and add a protective sealant to restore their look.  

If you have made the mistake of using a product that has built up over time and is making your floors look dirty, we can remove the sealants and reveal your floor's original finish.