Floor and Doors

Introduction: Floor and Doors offers the following: * hardwood floors screening and recoating for low as $200 a room * whole house screening/buffing and recoating for as low as $875 * hardwood installation for low as $1.00 a square foot * laminate floor installation for low as $0.75 cents a square foot * door installation for low as $200 * wood door buffing and recoating for low as $100 What is a screen and recoat? Screening and buffing are the same thing. They are synonyms for each other, and both mean that you "scuff up" or abrade the floor, and then you apply a coat of polyurethane for protection and sheen. Screening is often called buffing since the screening is done with a buffer. Screening both smooths the floors a bit, and the abrasive action allows the polyurethane to adhere to the surface better. The screen and recoat process can restore the glow of the floors and give them a refreshed look. Some customers call this "light sanding," but technically, it's a screen and recoat since you are not sanding the wood, but rather, you are just sanding the top layer of polyurethane. Other customers refer to this as "adding a top coat" or a "buff and coat." When you screen and recoat hardwood floors, you have the option of changing the gloss level of the finish. If your floors are too glossy and you want more of a satin look, you can do that (or vice versa). Screening (or buffing) will not address deep scratches or changes in color. If you have a stain on the floor and scratches that have penetrated down to the raw wood, the screening will not help with this. It is simply adding on a coat of clear protection on the floors. Think about nail polish. If your nail polish color has chipped and you add an extra coat of gloss, it will help preserve the existing polish, but it will not change the color underneath. Screening will save you money, labor and time. Not only will a screen and recoat help refresh your floors, but it will also postpone the need for a complete sanding and refinishing later. When will screening not work? Screening will not work on waxed floors as it cannot adhere properly to the surface. Also, it will not work well if you have used products that have wax in them (e.g. mop and glo or orange glo). If the floors have worn down past the color (and/or you have portions of the floors that are gray from oxidation), screening is not the right process. Instead, it's time for a full sand and refinish. Screening will not work if you want to change the color of your floors. In order to change the color of your floors, you need to sand the floors completely down to the raw hardwood and then apply the stain. If you have gray patches on the floor, it's too late for a screening. A screening will not address UV discoloration under area rugs. How does screening work? Unlike sanding and refinishing (which is rather messy), screening just scuffs up the floor and is relatively clean. It is a faster, hence a less expensive process as well. After the floors are screened (which could take an hour or two, or sometimes 1/2 a day to a full day, pending on the areas), we then apply one coat of polyurethane -- either oil-based or water-based polyurethane can be used. The buffer has a mesh that is embedded with abrasive particles -- just enough to allow proper bonding for the new coat of poly. It is basically the last step of the sanding process. Typically, for a screen and recoat, you add one coat of poly, but if you'd like even extra protection, you can add on two coats. Screening is generally a one-day process (or 2 days if you opt for 2 coats). Just like sanding and refinishing, all the furniture need to be moved. There is some drying time involved as well -- usually 24 hours before you can walk on it and a few more days before you can move the furniture back. How long does a screen and recoat take? Generally, a screen and recoat can be done in 1 day, and it needs to dry for 24 hours. It depends on the area to be done, but often, the work can be done in a few hours. An oil-based polyurethane will take 24 hours to dry, and a water-based poly will usually dry in 4 hours. All furniture and items must be moved off the floor. With an oil-based poly, it's advisable to wait 4 days before putting furniture back; for water-based poly, you only need to wait 2 days. It's ideal to wait 30 days before putting area rugs back, so that the floors fully cure. Screening is a great maintenance plan for your floor. Screening can help prolong the length of time between full sandings. Over time, the top protective layer of finish will wear down. This leaves the wood more vulnerable to scratches and spills, and the luster becomes duller. The key is to do a screen and recoat before your floors get badly scratched up. Once the scratches have gone through the color, it's often too late. How often should you screen your floors? Well, this depends on how much traffic your floors get and whether or not you wear shoes, but as a general rule of thumb, if you screen every 3 years or so, you can avoid a full sanding for a very long time. If you have a stenciled floor (which can be rather expensive), screening every couple of years is a "must do", so that you maintain the beauty of the design. Sanding, refinishing and repainting stenciled work can be very expensive and very time-consuming. You would generally add on at least another week for this work. If you want to avoid the large expense and hassle, a regular maintenance screening program will be much easier. Can you just screen a portion of the floor? In general, it's better to screen and recoat the full area or at least a full room. You can stop at the end of the room if there is a clean break in the wood (e.g. if there is a saddle, if the wood changes directions or if it is along the grain of the wood). but you cannot stop if the edge of the area is perpendicular to the grain of the wood as you won't have a clean line. If your wood floor is from one room into the next, an alternative is to add a saddle at the door to create a clean breaking point. Also, I would advise against doing part of a room rather than a full room as you can usually see a difference in the two sections if part of the room is restored while the other part isn't. The sheen will be different. Laminate Floor Installation This is how laminate floors work: There are four basic components or layers of laminate flooring; each of which plays a specific role in the look and durability of the floor. They are as follows, from bottom to top: * A plastic, paper or melamine backing layer, also known as the balancing layer, stabilizes the floor and resists moisture. * Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) or high-density fiberboard (HDF) makes up the water-resistant substrate layer or core layer. Both MDF and HDF are composed of wood fibers that are compressed together with adhesive and resin. * The photographic, decorative or pattern layer gives the floor its realistic appearance. This layer is essentially a photograph, typically constructed with multiple sheets of paper sandwiched with melamine resin. Realistic colors and pearl-sheen ink give the image depth and a realistic look. The pattern layer starts with one large photograph of wood grain, which is segmented into sections the size of the desired laminate plank. Because the same photograph is used for many planks, it is possible to have repeating patterns in a case of planks. * The protective top layer is the wear layer. It's typically constructed from an aluminum-oxide clear coat. The coating can range from low to high gloss depending on the consumer's tastes. This layer prevents moisture penetration. These layers are sandwiched together and fused using high heat and intense pressure. Some planks have a thicker core than others, which affects the overall durability -- the thicker the product, the more rigid the floor will be. The core of the product is typically measured in millimeters and is dependent on the grade of the product and the manufacturer. There are four common thickness measurements for laminate flooring. These are as follows: * 6 millimeters (least cost, least durability) * 8 millimeters * 10 millimeters * 12 millimeters (highest cost, highest durability) New Hardwood Floors Installation Are you considering a home remodeling and thinking about new wood floors? With the recent real estate market market surge, new wood floors will help boost selling prices as opposed to ones that still have carpeting. Today's trends show darker stained products sell quite well, and grey stained floors are making a huge surge in 2013. Hand-scraped, distressed and character-grade sales remain strong in many areas of the nation, while natural-colored wood flooring always seem to be popular. What are the most popular types of hardwood? What hardwood species are people buying? Red oak flooring remains the most often purchased, while maple, hickory, and imported exotics are chasing from behind. Of all exotics, Brazilian cherry tops the list of many homeowner choices due to the hardness of the species itself and its uniqueness. Available supply with others has been troublesome. Additionally, bamboo flooring continues to sell but at a slower pace compared to five and ten years ago. Factory prefinished wood flooring remains the selection of choice over actual on-site installation and finishing. Reasons include faster completion schedules as the flooring is ready to be used immediately instead of waiting for finishes to cure. Additionally, prefinished warranties are very difficult to top traditional on-site ones. The majority of manufacturers are now offering 25- and 50-year warranties. When looked at closely, they only cover the actual wear of the finish itself and have a lot of fine print that should be studied. Wider plank flooring has seen a dramatic increase in use since the turn of the century. Some prefer their appearance as it can open up rooms that may otherwise feel or look smaller. What areas of the home is hardwood being installed? Of the many floors installed today, areas of use have expanded over the last 10 to 15 years. More common areas used for new flooring today include foyers, great and dining rooms, dens, libraries, home offices, and hallways leading to bedrooms. Kitchens and powder rooms fall right behind, while bedrooms are often preferred for carpeting. Kitchens? Yes. Properly maintained wood flooring in kitchens play a significant role. However, sheet vinyl, ceramic tile, or stone lead by a large margin as the floor covering of choice. What hardwood floor types should we choose? Ah, we'll have to leave this one up to you. If you haven't noticed, there are a myriad of choices and options these days, but solid 3/4'' products are still the leading choice if you have a wood subfloor. For those with concrete subfloors, engineered hardwood should be considered in either a glue-down application or floating installation. However, this does not rule out genuine wood flooring on concrete. When should they be installed? Any hardwood flooring installation project should be scheduled very near the end of the other work. The only other trades we would expect after the installation would be carpet installers, punch out trimmers, painting touch-up guys, or wallpaper hangers. It's highly suggested to cover all completed areas to protect against damage. For limited trade traffic, gray craft paper available at the big-box stores can be used for covering. Tape? The 3M quality the painter dudes use are safe on wood floors but should not be left on for extended periods of time nor should they be exposed to direct sunlight. It's best not to tape to the floor but to the baseboards. Our remodeler/builder says it has to go next week. Haven't we heard that before? Builders are notorious for not understanding when floors should be installed. Some reasons for their hurriedness include having the painting and trim subcontractors finish everything at once instead of having to come back. There are other reasons we'll never figure out. If your new hardwood floor is installed with other major work not completed, make it clear to them you want the flooring protected. Far too many times, new floors get damaged so badly they need to be refinished before the remodeling work is completed. The best protection, besides having the work done at the proper time, is covering with 1/8'' masonite board, while duct taping the seams or joints. Duct tape should not be affixed to the floor itself. These efforts will be meaningless if the masonite board and finished floor itself is not squeaky clean. It doesn't stop there. Depending on how much other work is needed to complete the remodeling and the amount of debris created, it may be necessary to remove the masonite every so often, making sure nothing has traveled underneath that will damage the finished floor. Common sense dictates the areas should be swept often and debris cleaned up at least once per day. Site finished floors need time to cure. Covering may not be an option. Consult a qualified professional with this one. And That Crazy Decorator Says Decorators have some great ideas, but experimentation seems to be the norm. Frankly, our opinion is consumers have a better grasp on color and design decisions than most decorators. However, time is often a constraint when it comes to ideas. We're near the beach. Sand? If you're living near the beach or in the desert, sand will always affect the performance of any flooring. Attention to care and maintenance should be given top priority. Newer high-tech finishes will help handle the everyday wear but not the inevitable scratching. Many Say Not To Use Wide Planks Near Water Solid wide plank products will be more susceptible to adverse reactions relating to high moisture levels, but some types are less prone than others. Engineered hardwood will offer a safer alternative, if in doubt.