This one was a proper whole-house job. Every single timber floor in the property got the full treatment: sanding back to bare wood and multiple coats of polyurethane. Bedroom, guest room, living room, kitchen, both corridors, and the staircase. 320 square meters in total, and the house was empty which made life a lot easier.

Location: Wakerley, Eastern Brisbane
Total area: 320 sqm
Finish: Polyurethane, multiple coats
Duration: 7 days
Areas covered: Bedroom, guest room, living room, kitchen, corridors, lobby and staircase

The Starting Point

The floors had seen better days. A mix of wear, old coatings, and some genuine damage meant this wasn’t a straightforward sand-and-coat situation. A few sections had planks that were cracked or lifted so before any sanding equipment went down we had to sort out the floor itself.

We sourced replacement boards, a mix of new hardwood and some carefully matched reclaimed timber, and got those repairs done first. If you want to understand how that side of things works, we’ve written it up properly here: Timber Floor Board Repairs.

Why an Empty House Makes a Big Difference

With nobody living in the property we could work through the whole house in one continuous run rather than staging it room by room around people’s lives. No furniture to move and move back, no need to keep half the house habitable at all times. That’s a big part of why a job this size was achievable in such a short duration.

The Sanding and Coating Work

Once the repairs were solid, it was straight into sanding. Each area had its own character: the corridors needed to be dead even because any inconsistency really shows on a long run; the kitchen floor had old residue that needed extra prep before coating would take properly; and the staircase is always detailed work because you’re doing a lot of it by hand where machines won’t fit.

We used solvent based polyurethane (Urethane Coatings) across the whole house, applied in multiple coats with a light sand between each. Different sheens in different areas depending on what the client asked for.

We don’t repeat the full process breakdown here since we’ve already covered it in detail: The Floor Sanding Process.