Floor Sanding Information Page 9

Sand and grit are harmful to polished timber floors. They are easily bought into homes with footwear. These particles act like sandpaper and can result in scratches on the floor.

Having started a timber floor installation at the Youngcare share house, Budget Floor Sanding is now about a third into the overall timber flooring installation of 250m2. The timber flooring has been supplied to the charity by a benevolent timber supplier. The wooden flooring being used is milled out of recycled Blackbutt. Blackbutt is a popular choice in timber flooring installation, as it is a hardwood, and when the floor is sanded and polished it reveals its blond coloration. Having installed the flooring into the bedrooms now the open living areas remain. Hopefully, we will come close to finishing by the end of the week. The photo below shows the timber floor installation in progress in the large Youngcare lounge room.

Next week Budget Floor Sanding will start a large Timber floor installation job at a new Youngcare share house which is currently under construction in the Brisbane suburb of Wooloowin.  Youngcare is an organization that provides alternative housing options for young people needing 24/7 care and provides a care arrangement that may otherwise only be found in an aged care facility.

Modern polyurethane finishes are extremely tough and hard-wearing, however, there are certain things that you can do to get the best out of your timber floor.

After having floor sanding and polishing carried out, your new floor may be walked on the day after it has been finished. However, it is necessary to exercise care until the coating has been given the opportunity to reach maximum hardness. In our Brisbane climate, this may take seven to ten days. During this curing period, floor use is more likely to result in scuffing and scratching. While rugs are attractive features on floors they should not be laid until the finish is fully hardened. Rugs with rubber backing should not be used on timber floors as they may stain the coating.

Blackbutt timber flooring has in recent years been a very popular choice of timber flooring in new houses and in flooring extensions. It is a good choice for old Queenslanders undergoing extensions due to its similar color as compared to old Hoop Pine flooring, yet it is much harder than Hoop Pine flooring. Blackbutt is a commonly grown hardwood that has attractive coloring from cream to pale brown, sometimes with a slight tinge of pink. The Janka hardness rating is 9.1. This test is a measure of the force required to press a steel ball into the wood surface to half its diameter. The larger the number the harder the wood.

During a typical busy week prior to Christmas Budget Floor Sanding was contracted to do the floor sanding and polishing in two new houses side by side in the Brisbane suburb of Gordon Park. Both of these houses had Tasmanian Oak flooring secret nailed to both the upper and lower floors with a connecting set of stairs.

One of the timber floors sanded and polished this week was a fairly typical job for Budget Floor Sanding. Because the wooden floors in the entire house were done, the owners needed to vacate the house. They coincided this with a holiday and the work was completed while they were away, keys for the property are left in trust with Budget Floor Sanding.

In recent years Budget Floor Sanding has done a number of apartments and common areas at McWhirters Apartments in Fortitude Valley. The two lifts in the complex have hardwood floors. Being in such a high wear situation Budget Floor Sanding has now sanded and polished these lift floors on a couple of occasions.