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Sand and seal your wooden floors!

A wooden floor. Timelessly popular - simple - natural and honest.  
Despite the passage of the centuries - and new kinds of building materials - wood remains unsurpassed for beauty, utility, hygiene and durability.
The wooden floors in your home or business premises are valuable assets that repay care and investment.
So when they are damaged, worn or in need of restoration…

  ask Sand n Seal for your free assessment.  

We’ll show you how modern sanding and sealing will restore your floors to their original hardwearing beauty.
And possibly even better..  The vast improvement in sanding techniques and sealing products can produce a restored floor superior to the one that was originally laid down many years before.
Sanding strips away the old layers of sealant and returns the floor back to bare wood.  It can then be stained and sealed to protect the surface and give a hardwearing finish.

Place your new floor into the sure hands of a truly professional team. Sand n Seal work throughout Greater London and the Home Counties.  

For the best advice - and an efficient job at a fair price…

Sand n Seal – the first choice

A free assessment
We will visit your property and examine your floors.  Having determined their type and any previous treatment, we will give you appropriate advice on all aspects of their restoration: from repairs and sanding - to staining and sealing.
Restoring wooden floors is about the balance between looks and practicality.   What is their likely use and how much wear will they have to bear?  Are the the floors for hard-wearing, everyday use?  Will they need to withstand the playful feet of children or the paws and claws of hairy pets?   Do you want to create a showpiece - where customers and visitors will tread with respect?
Every finish has its advantages and some drawbacks.  Your choice depends on what you want - and particularly on the degree of care you wish to devote to the floor once it is restored. We will give you a practical comparison so that you can make your own decision.
A thorough and professional job

As wooden floor restoration specialists for over twenty years, we have worked on hundreds of floors of all types - in a vast range of domestic and commercial properties. Our staff have at least seven years experience in the industry. They all work to the high standards of the national trade body - the National Wood Floor Association (NWFA).  

We believe in thorough preparation at every stage of sanding and sealing a wooden floor. A level finish is essential for the even coating of stains and the adhesion of sealants. Bumpy areas can result in dull and dirty patches.
Our modern cylinder machines give an even finish right up to the skirting boards. And we cope with awkward corners and confined areas with edging sanders and hand tools.
Old traces of bitumen or ‘Victorian’ style black wax will also be sanded away. And don’t worry about that old concrete fire hearth…  We’ll remove it completely - and use matching flooring to fill in the gap.
  

Only top quality work
An overwhelming variety of traditional and modern stains and sealants can be found in today’s market.
Natural or artificial - choosing the most suitable materials depends on the kind of floor you want. But whatever your choice, we only recommend the highest quality products.  Many of these are only available to members of the trade. You won’t be able to buy them yourselves in your local hardware store.  
You pay a little more, but the better the quality, the longer the product lasts - and the better the value in the longer term. Where a floor is under constant heavy use, more time will elapse before the need to apply a new finish.
Restoring a floor requires time and patience: quality finishes require several applications – and adequate drying time. The superior results will be clearly visible – and last for years of use.

For the complete wooden floor service – contact us today!

Sanding and sealing - the whole process

Bottom of Form Repairs

Loose and damaged boards

We check every block and board - and replace any that are damaged beyond repair.  We use reclaimed timber - wherever possible, of the same age and quality.

Any loose boards are reset and fixed in position.  We remove old tacks and nails - and hammer protruding nails flat.

Gap filling

This depends on personal preference - for those who prefer the even look of a gap-filled floor.  Filling gaps does prevent draughts (especially on the ground floor) and the build up of dust.  Filling also tightens the floor – and timber movement is minimized.

Traditional methods of gap filling include:

 * Resin - mostly used on floors with lots of fine gaps, such as parquet and mosaic. Dust from the floor is mixed with a resin and applied to the gaps with a filling knife.

* wooden strips - solid fillets of reclaimed pine and other timbers are glued and forced into the gaps, being chiseled back before sanding flat.

Sanding
All kinds of wooden floors can be sanded: hardwood (oak, beech or walnut) or softwood (pine, yew or Douglas fir); strip floors; engineered floors (hardwood over ply); herringbone; parquet blocks; mosaic and even cork.
Sanding machines are fitted with special sanding paper of various grades of coarseness. They prepare the floor in three stages: a rough, medium and fine sand to strip, level, and smooth the boards to leave a high quality finish.

Staining and colour
The smooth wood may then be stained. A clear natural stain enhances the original grain of the timber. For a quick, fresh and affordable look, choose a coloured stain.
Stains are traditionally oil and spirit-based, while the modern water-based stains are safe and odour-free. They come in an abundance of choice: all the traditional wood colours through to contemporary pigmenting: eg white, red, blue or even pink!
For even coating, we recommend top-quality stains. Applying cheaper brands tends to leave patchy or dull areas.
Coloured lacquers are available, but will lose their colour as the surface is damaged and the sealant wears away.

We find that it is far better to apply the stain and sealant in two distinct stages. Not only is the floor colour easier to control but the sealant is more durable. As the sealant wears away, the underlying stain retains its colour.

The floor can also be painted - or choose a coloured wax for the soft tinting of the wood grain. Lime wax, for example, enhances floors with dull washed colours.  

Should you wish to challenge us - we can create an unusual or specific colour. Our record is the mixing of 75 different pigments to match the floor colour in an ancient castle!

For the full, professional service - contact us today!

Sealing
The final stage is to protect the new floor with a sealant. Your choice will depend on the use of the floor – and the degree of aftercare you wish to provide.   
Lacquer 

This sealant is the most durable and easiest to maintain. An artificial product – it is suited to floors that are subject to medium or heavy traffic.

Modern water-based lacquers have progressed way beyond the ‘plastic’ look of traditional varnish.  Their attractive silky sheen comes in a matt, satin or high gloss finish.

Being safe and odour-free, they can be used in the home or areas where food is prepared and served.

A polyurethane lacquer is very hard-wearing but may discolour the underlying floor. To avoid this, choose a part polyurethane/part acrylic floor lacquer – suitable for areas subject to lighter traffic.

We will show you the qualities of recommended sealants during your free assessment.

For the best sealing for your sanded floors - contact us today!

Hard Wax Oil

The safe traditional floor finish, hard wax oil is based on waxes and vegetable oils. It has a similar effect to natural oil: the floor will breathe under a soft and mellow finish, emphasising the natural wood grain – and the colour of the wood.

A popular choice, hard wax oil demonstrates the virtues of both oil and lacquer: a natural look and feel - plus improved durability. As with oil, further floor protection is simple: more coats or a thinned down ‘revive coat’.

Its microporous nature makes it very useful in areas of high humidity, as it does not crack, flake, peel or blister.  For an example, take a house in Twickenham – whose parquet floor lay over an underground river. Although adhering well, the blocks suffered from constant damp.

We tried a water-based lacquer – only for it to turn white and come away within two days. A case for Osmo hard wax oil! Three coats not only adhered to the blocks but prevented the damp rising to the surface.

The owners are delighted with their new dry floor – and relieved at having been spared the considerable outlay on a replacement.

   For the best advice on waxes and oils - call on Sand n Seal

Natural Oil

In matt or satin, oil is the choice for the traditional natural look of a wooden floor. It repels water – and resists scuffs and abrasions.  

Oil does tend to dry out in humid conditions – but scores on maintenance. Simply top up with extra coats of oil to cover minor damage.

Allow us to give you a comparison of the properties of natural oils with the various other sealants.

Contact us for your free assessment and quote.

Bring your floors back to life - call us today!

Choose the best - call on Sand n Seal
Maintaining your new floor
After we’ve restored the floor, feel welcome to ask us for any advice on its aftercare.  We want you to enjoy the benefits of your new floor for years to come.
Whatever the finish, a wooden floor is very easy to maintain: just avoid abrasive cleaners of any kind. Remove everyday dirt and grit by regular sweeping and/or vacuuming.
Avoid excess moisture and the use of revolving vacuum cleaner brushes (which harbour grit). Use a simple damp mop, with possibly a wooden floor cleaner, as recommended by the manufacturer. And when a lacquered floor has lost its lustre? Sand down the surface lightly - and apply more lacquer.
Waxed or oiled floors also benefit from simple treatment. Sweep and mop – and then buff to maintain their shine.  

For a professional ‘sandnseal’ - contact us today

What you get from Sand n Seal

When you call on us, we provide:
Fixed prices  
As we offer a fixed price for every stage in the floor restoration process, we can create the restoration programme to fit your budget.
You’ll know exactly what you will be paying - with no surprise costs.
Work at your convenience
Although a floor restoration project is disruptive, we will keep the inconvenience of sanding and having rooms out of action to a minimum. A job takes at least a full day – and several days for large or multiple rooms.
We can work during evenings and at weekends, if necessary, to enable you to get back to business or your usual domestic routine. We will give you approximate timings during your free assessment.
And if you need an overnight or speedy job, we can accommodate you. An Estee Lauder beauty salon in central London posed several challenges. There were heavy sunbeds and chairs to remove.  We then used five teams of sanders to prepare the floors - with heaters for the fast drying of each coat of sealant. An intensive but satisfying job – with the salon reopening for business the following morning!
Carpets away
Old carpets can be awkward and heavy – and you may need a van to take them away to the tip. You may also leave pieces behind as you rip them up – and carpet staples need special tools for their safe removal.
So leave it to us. We can quickly deal with every last trace of old carpet – and dispose of them in the right place.
Shifting furniture
We need to work on a completely clear room – but don’t be put off getting your floor sanded because the room is filled with heavy furniture. 

Just ask us to do this for you - and, as important, replace it without damaging your pristine new floor!

Minimal dust  

The older-style drum sanders are noisy and spread dust that can linger for days.  Our modern cylinder machines capture 98% of all dust.  They have a unique dust collection system – as the bags remain outside each room as it is sanded.  Dust is further restricted by the careful masking of doors and windows - and frequent vacuuming.
An authentic job
Wooden floors of many styles have been popular over the centuries in the UK, so we are fortunate to have a substantial reserve of reclaimed timber as older buildings are either demolished or their floors replaced.  It is usually possible for us to match the existing wooden boards or blocks with timber from our suppliers nationwide.  Sometimes this proves a challenge…
A set of offices in Central London had 1930s parquet floors – with about 40 sq feet of blocks missing.  We searched for replacements in the capital, to no avail.  Going further afield to Nottingham, the right blocks surfaced from the demolition of an old mews.
One small problem... they were twice the size!  So we cut them in half by hand, laid them - and sealed the floor with three coats of hard wax.
The company now work in a modern glass-partitioned office - complemented splendidly by a period parquet floor.

Go for the best – contact us today!

Stair stripping

Sanding and sealing a stairway is a highly painstaking job.  Many stairs have lain forgotten under old carpet, paint or sealant for years.  Yet a restored stairway can become an outstanding feature in your home, municipal or commercial premises.

We strip and sand the entire tread and risers – allowing the whole stairway to be stained and varnished.  For a really striking effect, we can paint the risers in white and leave the steps in clear varnish.
Please note: we usually only treat these parts of the stairs and not banisters.
Wooden decking

Attractive when new, these garden features soon become victims of the weather, dirt and careless feet.  They then look grubby at best and - once the top layer begins to peel - an ugly embarrassment.

So ask us to sand the surface.  Removing the old fibres will reveal a new fresh layer underneath.

Then apply decking oil or stain - for an impressive new finish.

For the complete wooden floor service – contact us today!

‘Nothing to it….  I’ll hire a machine... .’

Go ahead.  It’s your floor, but please consider first the kind of result you are looking for.  Floor sanding is a skilled job: there are good reasons why it’s best left to trained professionals.  
A hire shop will give you a drum sander: old fashioned and heavy (so think about the need to carry it into the house.  Let alone upstairs..).
When you start sanding, you’ll be struck by the noise and the dust - and its reluctance to be manoeuvred in the way you want.  Getting a smooth finish won’t be straightforward – and you may end up with ugly clatter marks on the floor.  There is also the danger of sanding away too much wood (how many previous sandings has the floor had?)  Once the wood is gone, you can’t put it back – and sealants won’t have proper adhesion.

Please don’t offer us yet another one of these jobs we hate.  We do our best -but the marks of amateur efforts are sometimes on the floor for ever.  You’ll end up paying three times over: for your attempts, our rectification of the damage – and the sanding we should have done in the first place.

Restoring a wooden floor involves far more than the physical act of sanding.   You need to fully understand your floor to decide on the right treatment and sealants.  So ask us first: we’ll give you a free assessment and the best possible advice.

Floor sanding is no weekend job - call in the professionals

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Testimonials

“The crew completing the re-sanding, colouring and sealing of the floors at 1 New Bond Street did fantastic work to a high standard.  I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.”
Grant Smith
Maintenance Manager at Ralph Lauren
“A brilliant result: immaculate wood floor.  Very professional: work anytime of the week.”
Robert Clergerie Boutique, Central London
"The Floor Sanding team repaired, sanded and varnished the existing wooden floors in our living room, dining room and hall.  They arrived on time, completed the work within the period promised and delivered a good quality finish.  I am happy to recommend them to others."
Judith Tacon, Chiswick

“A month or so on, I am really, really pleased with the work you did on my floor.  Everyone who has seen it agrees that it looks not just brand new but better than when it was brand new because of the superior finish you put on.  It was money more than well spent.  
“I would have had it done years ago if it hadn’t been for the headache of furniture removal - which it turned out you did anyway.”
Linda Grant, North London

As well as working with householders and small businesses in London and the Home Counties, we have some high-profile commercial clients:
Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s London Marylebone townhouse
“Just a short note to say a big thank you to the FS team for your help in making our client’s wooden floors looks so amazing.  They are very happy with the work and would definitely use your company again.”
Joel Cohen, Madonna's House Manager - 2007

Contact us
We’re happy to answer any of your questions by phone or email.   
And let us arrange your free assessment - with no obligation.

The Sand n Seal Company

Freephone: 08000 075 075
Email : sandsnealcompany@gmail.com