Glasgow Floor Sanders -Wood Floor Renovation Call 0141 440 1586 for FREE SURVEY!

How Many Floor Sandings Can a Floor Brand Stand?

2010-03-30T14:46:00.002+01:00

This is a question I had been asked a few times over the years (try a few thousand), but never-more than since Wickes said on their advert that their floor can be sanded up to 3 times.

Since that advert aired this has been one of the most common questions people ask when buying wood flooring products. How many sandings can it take? How many times can that species be sanded? Etc etc etc.

The truth is... Read more>>>

I Need a Tough Wood Floor, Should I Choose Handscraped or Sanded

2010-03-23T20:05:00.001Z

I have just been asked something that I get asked frequently, but today I was inspired to answer it in a blog. I was asked this on another blog that I run called Woodfloorguru, in a post about Kahrs Oak Sienna:

"Hi, I have a question about another oak, white oak. We're trying to decide if we should go with hand scraped or sanded due to concerns about heel dents, etc. Solid HW, not engineered. It's a darker, "antiquish" stain but we don't know if we would like to make it even more antique/rustic looking with the hand scraped. We don't want to be overly stressed when we entertain is our primary issue."

The answer to that question is: Either.

When buying a wood floor, hand-scraped is a surface texture effect. The effect is applied by a machine when the floor is being manufactured. It is not an alternative to floor sanding, and any difference it makes to the durability of the wood is unintended and probably marginal.

The hand-scraped effect can not be easily re-done, so when the floor becomes worn it will most probably be a case of sanding and re-finishing anyway.

Therefore, whether to choose hand-scraped or sanded is a matter of personal choice and whatever you think looks/works best in the room.

Here are some things you could consider in order to get a floor capable of withstanding a dance party or two:

Consider laminate flooring. Laminate flooring is basically a photograph of wood planks covered with a sheet of high tensile plastic, therefore it is one of the toughest flooring products around.

If you really want a real wood floor, consider applying a thick coat of lacquer or clear varnish. This will harden the floor without taking away too much from the look of the wood.

Floor Sanding & Finishing: 3 Reasons You Should Hire Professionals

2010-03-16T14:40:00.000Z

It is a common misconception that hiring professional floor sanders is so expensive that we are better to have a go at it ourselves. This couldn't be further from the truth. Here are just 3 of the top reasons why hiring professional floor sanders is the best way to go:

Read full post

Floor Sanding, Finishing and Sealing: A Step by Step Guide

2010-03-02T14:05:00.001Z

It is a fact that hardwood flooring will last a lifetime if properly maintained. In our last post we covered how to protect floors from damage, and how to keep floors looking beautiful with regular light cleaning, and occasional deep cleaning when necessary.

But what if its too late for that? What if the floor is damaged or simply loses its shine? Well, my first answer there is to get in the professionals. The price they charge is well worth the peace of mind you get from knowing that they will make a perfect job and bring your floor up good as new. Not to mention removing the risk of you damaging the floor in a catastrophic mistake/accident.

Thus, below we will cover how a floor can be sanded and refinished to make it look as good as new. Call it a DIY guide if you like, but more importantly it will give you the knowledge necessary to make an educated judgement about quotations, and whether or not it is worth attempting yourself.

Step 1: Sanding

This is the bit that you should really have the professionals in for. Floor sanding is not difficult, but you only want to have one go; every time a floor is sanded is 1 sanding off the length of its life, and maybe more if you lean too heavily. That is why you should get the professionals in, to ensure that it is done properly in one go, to prolong the life of the floor. Not to mention removing the potential of accidental grooves in the floor.

If you do want to do it yourself: the best advice is to hire an orbital sander.

You will also need to get the four different grades of sandpaper, 36, 60, 80, 100, and a dust-mask.

Most importantly: make sure you keep moving whilst the sander is on; long, steady strokes along the grain of the wood. If you leave the sander stationary while switched on it will leave an irreprable recess in the wood. Also, never sand across the grain! If you accidentally make a small gouge in the wood, simply make long strokes back and forth over the affected area to even it out.

Start with the roughest sandpaper, 36. Then using the slightly lighter-grained sandpaper (60 grit), sand scratches and lines in the floor as many times as necessary to remove them. Then attach the next grade, and the next, to sand the floor to a beautiful smooth finish.

If your sander doesn’t reach the edges of the floor you will need to use an edging sander, or a hand sander to sand down the edges of the floor in the same way as covered above.

You should then brush up the saw-dust, and then use a hand vacuum to pick up the even finer dust.

This is another advantage of hiring Glasgow floor sanders Mckay Flooring, we have expensive dust-free sanding machinery, which removes any possibility of a grain of dust ruining the finish.

Step 2: Staining

By now, you are looking at a smooth, sanded hardwood floor, as bare and beautiful as nature never intended. You have to choose whether you want to keep its natural beauty or give its beauty a different shade, texture and/or tone.

This is a decision you will already have made when buying wood-staining products, but no one says you can’t change your mind when presented with the natural beauty of the wood.

If you have decided not to stain you can move on to step 3. Otherwise, the next step is to test your shade on a corner of the floor and leave it 5 minutes to dry, to make sure you like it on.

If you do: the next step is to apply a first coat of stain to the rest of the floor. Use a brush and smooth out with a rag if you want heavier, darker coats. Use only rags for lighter and more controlled strokes. Either way, apply with long, even strokes, going with the grain. Allow the first coat to dry. If necessary, apply a second coat, or touch up light spots.

You can just imagine how devastating it would be if you made a mess of this job, so please be careful. Of course it can be sanded again, but this is again shortening the life of the floor.

Step 3: Finishing (AKA Sealing)

Firstly, ensure that you do the opposite of how Bond likes his martinis; stir the polyurethane finishing solution, do not shake. Shaking would create air bubbles which would ruin the finish on your floor.

Apply polyurethane with a brush or roller, using smooth, even strokes with the grain to avoid marks in the finish. Then leave to dry for at least 3 hours, before applying the second coat – check the label for drying times of the brand you have bought.

Add a second coat. Allow the final coat to dry overnight at least, and leave it up to 3 days before moving furniture or rugs back on the floor.

When Does My Wood Floor Need Sanding

2010-02-26T13:41:00.002Z

This is a very difficult question to answer, because there is no set duration in which you should have your floor sanded. A floor’s life is determined by how many times it is sanded; when it has been sanded down till the point where one more sanding will expose take it past the grooves of the locking mechanism which holds the floor together, a new floor is needed. Therefore minimising the amount of times your floor is sanded is the best policy to prolong the life of a floor.

That being said...

Read more...
enquiries@mckayflooring.co.uk
http://www.mckayflooring.co.uk
http://www.mckayflooringblog.com

Floor Sanding: Why Can’t I Sand my own Floors?

2010-02-22T21:38:00.001Z

In my time working in the flooring and floor sanding industry, I have come across many people who say: oh, it’s okay, I’ll hire a floor sanding machine and do it myself, and some who say: why can’t I sand my own floors?

The answer is simple: a potential DIY floor sander has one floor and one chance to sand it. There are no practice runs.

The average hardwood floor costs £500 - £700, no one wants to risk putting a deep groove and ruining a floor, thus it is far better to hire professional floor sanders to do the job.

We have been sanding Scotland’s floors for over 30 years, to us, floor sanding is a carefully orchestrated symphony. We have a dustless sander, that leaves a 100% dust-free smooth finish.

People sand a floor to have it refinished. This is the bit where most people have the professionals in, ironically the professional is less essential at this stage than at the sanding stage.

Yes, re-finishing a floor is very difficult, and a DIYer is much less likely to make the floor as good as new than a professional, but at the same time, any mistakes made during the finishing stages are much less likely to be fatal for a portion of the floor, and they are much more reversible.

Click here to get a quote from Glasgow’s finest floor sanders; Mckay Flooring.

Floor sanding in Glasgow

2010-02-19T13:16:00.002Z

For wooden floor sanding in Glasgow please phone 0845 602 7694

Glasgow Floor Sanding

2010-01-22T13:04:00.001Z

Our specialist Glasgow floor sanding service uses dust free sanding machines to achieve the best finish for our customers. We specialise in wood floor sanding for domestic properties throughout Glasgow and west of Scotland. Please contact us on 0845 602 7694 to arrange your free survey and quotation.

Sanding wood floors in Glasgow and West of Scotland

2009-10-22T12:56:00.000+01:00

McKay Flooring are the longest established wood flooring company in Scotland. We have a specialist floor sanding division who can restore wood flooring back to new. Our Glasgow showroom organises a free survey for any customers wishing a quote for refinishing their wooden floors in Glasgow or the Central belt.

enquiries@mckayflooring.co.uk
http://www.mckayflooring.co.uk
http://www.mckayflooringblog.com

Cheap Wooden Floors - Sale

2008-08-13T11:01:00.000+01:00

Clearance Sale - Hardwood Flooring
10 days to go till our clearance sale at our Glasgow premises. The sale will open at 10am on Saturday 23rd August and continue on Sunday 24th (if there's sale stock left). The reason for this particular sale is that we will be moving premises later in the year and whilst clearing our storage area have discovered many smaller lots of wood flooring. We are keen to move this stock so definitely bargains to be had.
enquiries@mckayflooring.co.uk
http://www.mckayflooring.co.uk/

Sale 23rd -24th August - Cheap Wood Floors in our Moving Premises Sale

2008-07-15T15:45:00.002+01:00

McKay Flooring will be moving premises (just across the road) sometime later in the year. Due to our move we would like to clear excess stock (end of line products/uncollected orders etc) from our current showroom at 8 Harmony Square, Govan, Glasgow. We will therefore be having a sale on Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th August 2008 to clear these job lots. All these job lots MUST go so definitely bargains to be had!

Squash Courts renovation

2008-07-10T21:47:00.001+01:00

If you have a squash court that requires new wood flooring or needs renovating please get in touch and we can furnish you with a price. We install Junckers Sylvasquash (we are Approved Contractors for this Junkers system). We also undertake all repairs to broken boards and carry out sanding and sealing to bring your court back to looking like new. We will then mark out, tape and paint the squash court line markings. Pleas email enquiries@mckayflooring for more details.

NWFA - Certificate of Recognition

2008-07-10T21:36:00.000+01:00

National Wood Floor Association
McKay Flooring Limited are very proud to have received a Certificate of Recognition presented by the NWFA for 5 years membership of the National Wood Flooring Association. The certificate recognises our strong support for the wood flooring industry and thanks us for our commitment to excellence!!

Kelvingrove Art gallery & Museum, Glasgow - floor sanding

2008-07-10T21:30:00.001+01:00

Kelvingrove, Glasgow
McKay Hardwood Flooring are extremely proud to have been selected as the hardwood flooring contractor for the refurbishment of this world class museum. For more info on the Kelvingrove reurbishment please click the link below.

http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/page.cfm?venueid=4&itemid=7

Architects & Designers

2008-07-10T21:16:00.001+01:00

Architects and Interior Designers
FAO Architects and Interior Designers :-

In order to assist you we can help with Specifications for all types of hardwood flooring installations and can recommend specific systems to suit your clients requirements. We also host a library of technical information within our Architects Area. To access this section of our website please send an email to

richardmckay@mckayflooring.co.uk

Granwood Flooring

2008-07-10T21:11:00.002+01:00

Granwood Flooring
McKay Hardwood Flooring can provide a maintenance service for Granwood and Gransprung Flooring.We offer a sand and sealing service for Granwood. After the restoring a granwood floor we can also paint sports lines. Please contact Richard McKay for more details.

richardmckay@mckayflooring.co.uk

Insurance Work for wood floors

2008-07-10T21:03:00.001+01:00

Wooden Flooring Repairs, Maintenance and Insurance Claims

McKay Flooring Ltd provide a full repair and maintenance service. From sanding and sealing to replacing damaged boards. We also undertake repairs and replacement of hardwood floors that qualify as wood floor insurance claims.

Contact us today to arrange a home visit to assess your damaged or worn floors.

http://www.mckayflooring.co.uk/products_and_services/request_a_survey.cfm

Pearce Institute, Govan Glasgow - floor sanding

2008-06-28T14:01:00.001+01:00

McKay Hardwood Flooring were contracted to sand the wood floors in the Pearce Institute in Govan. Please watch the video in the sidebar courtesy of the Pearce Institute showing some of the refurbishment works. Thank you to the Govan Story website for their info on the Pearce Institute (below).

http://www.thegovanstory.co.uk/theme.php?content=17&theme=4

William Pearce of the Fairfield Shipyard died in 1888. In his memory, Lady Pearce commissioned the erection at Govan Cross of a magnificent institute for the men and women of Govan, in a pastiche of a 17th century townhouse designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson. The first departments of the Pearce Institute first opened in 1904. It offered Govanites a men's and women's reading rooms and clubs, a library, a gymnasium, cooking and laundry departments, and a retiring room. The MacLeod Hall provided a grand venue for dances and social gatherings, with its organ, stage and gallery. On the wall at the entrance to the Pearce Institute is the welcome: “This is a House of Friendship. This is a House of Service. For Families, For Lonely Folk. For the People of Govan. For the Strangers of the World. Welcome.”

Homes & Interiors Exhibition - Glasgow SECC

2008-06-23T09:20:00.002+01:00

Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition 2008

McKay Hardwood Flooring are delighted to be exhibiting at this year's Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition 2008 at Glasgow's SECC. Please find some info below from the Homes and Interiors Website. We will be posting more details as to our stand number and may be in the position to issue some free tickets to subscribers of this blog over the next two months. Watch this space!

http://www.homesandinteriorsscotland.com/exhibition/index.htm

Homes & Interiors Scotland exhibition is organised by Scotland's biggest selling home interest magazine, Homes & Interiors Scotland. Each issue features stunning lavishly photographed homes, interior design, architecture, property, art, news, views and exciting new concepts. It has been awarded 'Magazine of the Year' and picked up the much coveted 'UK Magazine of The Year' award at the PPA's Independent Publishers Awards.

Back for the forth year running, the Homes & Interiors Scotland Exhibition is the only show in Scotland dedicated to quality interiors. Now well established and a key date in the diary of design conscious individuals from Scotland and afar it already boasts an impressive selection of leading interiors companies onboard for 2008.

Win Junckers Floor Cleaner!

2008-06-22T13:15:00.002+01:00

Glasgow Floor Sanders recommend Junkers Floor Cleaner to maintain your wooden floors. We have a bottle of Junckers Hardwood Floor cleaner up for grabs. To enter please answer the following question :-

Please name 5 previous contracts completed by Glasgow Floor Sanders (McKay Hardwood Flooring Limited).

and email your answer, your name and address to enquiries@mckayflooring.co.uk.

All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw on Sunday 31st August 2008. The winner will be notified with 7 days of draw. Closing date for entries is Saturday 30th August 2008.

Wood Floor Sanding Contracts

2008-06-17T08:32:00.003+01:00

Here's a list of some of the hardwood flooring contracts that we've been involved in over the last two years. Our intention is to start posting case studies of all of our sanding contracts including photos and descriptions of the materials we used. I have only included our commercial contracts in the following list. Due to respect of the privacy of the many home owners whom we also sand wood floors for we have omitted these from this post.

Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery - we also installed Junckers flooring here.
John Lewis, Buchanan Galleries
Molly Malone's Bar, Glasgow
Boy's Brigade Hall, Bearsden
Scottish Dance Theatre Alliance, Glasgow
Cumnock Academy
Tarbolotn Primary School
HBOS Bank , Argyle Street, Glasgow (Old GAP shop)
Glasgow School of Art
St. Lucy's Church Hall, Glasgow
Fairfield House Hotel, Ayr
Garnetbank Primary School, Glasgow
Connel Village Hall
Gaelic School, Glasgow
Royalle Club, Gourock
Dunard Street PS, Glasgow
Albert PS, Glasgow
Kilsyth Academy
University of Glasgow
Bargeddie Village Hall
Dalry Community Centre
Drongan Community Centre
Newsquest, Glasgow
Bluebell Hotel, Castle Douglas
St. Aidan's High School, Wishaw
St. Luke's High School, Barrhead
Burnhill Sports Centre
Mearns Castle High School
Ferguslie Sports Centre, Paisley
St. Gregory's Church Hall, Maryhill
Edmondstane Hall, Blanefield
Jordanhill Campus, Glasgow
City Inn, Glasgow
RSAMD, Glasgow
Auchenharvie PS, Stevenston
Pearce Institute, Govan, Glasgow
Erskine Sports Centre
Maidens PS, Ayrshire
Braidbar PS, East Renfrewshire
Auchenback Community Centre
Loch Lomond Activity Centre
Clarkston Halls
Railway Bar, Carluke
Radisson Hotel, Glasgow
Culzean Castle
Eastwood High School, Newton Mearns
Griffin Bar, Glasgow
Tarbert Bowling Club
Dunoon Youth Hostel
Lismore Public Hall
Darvel Town Hall
Cumbernauld College
Dakota Hotel, Eurocentral (sanded blocks we had previously fitted)
Tarbert Academy, Argyll & Bute
Kilsyth Acdemy
Hyndland Primary School, Glasgow
Thomas Coates Memorial Church, Paisley
St. Ninian's HS, Giffnock
Cumbernauld Town Hall
Renfrew Golf Club
Maxwell Mearns Parish Church
St. Anthony's PS, Saltcoats
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
Hillington Park Church, Glasgow
Gourock Golf Club
Tollcross Leisure Centre
Scared Heart PS, Glasgow
St. Augustine's PS, Glasgow