After several years, most floors tend to show their age no matter how good the quality of their make is. In some cases, you’ll only need to have your floors refinished, but more serious issues require replacement. A little once-over can determine which process will work for the condition of your floor. Here’s what you need to know about replacing your floors versus refinishing them.
Replacement
If you’ve had your floors for over 20 years and if they’re starting to show structural problems, replacing them is the best option. There are plenty of excellent services in Barnes that offer flooring installation to help you. Other signs that your floor needs replacing include individual boards moving, termite damage, warping, or stains on more than 30% of the surface. These kinds of damages aren’t something a simple sanding and coating can fix. You’ll need to completely overhaul your floorboards, especially if you’ve already sanded them one too many times.
You can always go for the same type of wood that your home already has, but replacing it with a new type of wood can give your house a good sprucing up. Perhaps the exteriors and interiors of your house have changed over the years, but your floors haven’t. Now is as good a time as any to catch up with the times.
Don’t know which wood to choose? If you’re looking for something inexpensive, opt for softwoods such as pine. You can save even more money by choosing engineered wood flooring. This type of surface consists of several layers of wood that are bonded together with heat, adhesives, and pressure. Around the mid-range price point are American cherry, oak, and teak. If you’ve got a bigger budget to spare, then you can take your pick among mahogany, cypress, tigerwood, and Brazilian walnut.
Refinishing
Floors that have accumulated some scratches and discolored spots over the years may only need a bit of refinishing to look good as new. This is the cheaper option if the state of our floor is still salvageable. However, even though you’ll be saving money by doing it yourself, mistakes can be costly. They’re also extremely visible and can’t be covered up with a simple paint job or some sanding. It’s best to seek professional help to ensure that you aren’t doing more damage to your floors.
Worn-out and dull floors can be fixed up by resanding it and coating it with a polyurethane finish. You can resand hardwood floors up to eight times before you have to replace them. Only floors with the right thickness can be resanded so you have to make sure that there is at least 1/32 inch of wood on your floor surface. You can check this by using a heat register and comparing it to the surrounding boards. When you determine that your boards are thick enough, you can hire professionals to do the refinishing job for you.
Do note that the coats of polyurethane finish that flooring professionals add onto the surface will remove any original stain from your floor. If you want to retain the original colored stain or change it, you need to have the floor re-stained, sanded, and coated.
Depending on the state of your floor, these are your best options for refurbishing it. Revamping your floor is a simple way to give your home a fresh, new look.
