Since 1992
Sand And Seal
FAST, FRIENDLY, NO-DUST SANDING
☛ Affordable Prices ☚
☛ Latest Technology ☚
☛ Our Equipment Sucks Up All The Dust ☚
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☛ Guaranteed Work ☚
☛ Your Place Is Left Clean & Tidy ☚
Revitalize 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…
Bring Your Floors Back to Life
A free assessment
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Call us for your FREE assessment today!
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Our Services
Loose and damaged boards
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 chiselled back before sanding flat.
Sanding
Sanding machines are fitted with special sanding paper of various grades of coarseness. They prepare the floor in three stages: 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!
Stair stripping
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
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.
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.
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.
Natural Oil
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.
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