Why sand your hardwood floors?
What is sanding and screen and recoat?
Today we'll explain the difference between hardwood floor sanding and a screen and recoat for hardwood floors and why you would choose one over the other. The work involved is one of the main differences between sand refinishing and screen and recoat.
A hardwood floor sand and refinish project is much more labor-intensive. It is a multi-step process that can take multiple days to complete. Sanding hardwood floors removes the existing finish on the floor and exposes the raw hardwood.
A screen and recoat is far less labor intense. It is typically a one step process. During a screen and recoat, screens (picture the screen on your window) are used to only remove the top layer of polyurethane from the hardwood floor. An orbital machine is used with a screen attached to it. A screen is much less abrasive than sanding. This process does not "sand" down to the raw hardwood. This is recommended maintenance for your hardwood flooring to be scheduled every other year to keep them looking like new.
Sanding has the ability to remove floor discrepancies.
A screen and recoat will only remove superficial and surface scratches on the topcoat of the polyurethane. It will not go deeper. If you have deep scratches in your finish, sanding will be needed to remove them. Also, screen and recoat will not remove any discolorations in your flooring from pet stains or water damage so you'll not be able to apply a new stain to the hardwood floors.
Hardwood floor sanding has the ability to sand below the poly coating and remove other deeper scratches since the floor is being sanded down to the raw hardwood. While sanding will remove most scratches that have penetrated through the poly and left markings, there are instances where the floor has been gouged too deeply and those may be too deep to sand out. However, repairs can be done since sanding will help blend the new and existing hardwood flooring.
Here at Grades Hardwoods, we know how important hardwood floors are to our clients–and when they have a question or want help with something related to their floors (whether routine maintenance or some other issue), we’re going to step up and provide an answer. Give us a call and speak directly to the owner, Uli Gradinger at 919-336-1562.
