Floor Sanding in Maitland
Old Boards, Old Problems
Wide baltic pine, cupped boards, sections patched with whatever was to hand and floors that somebody painted at some point: across Maitland and the surrounding areas, older houses throw up more variables than a straight sand allows for. At Freedom Flooring, floor sanding in Maitland starts by working out which of those need fixing before the machines run, because sanding over a loose or cupped board just produces a smooth version of the same problem. Nail heads get punched, movement gets dealt with, and paint or bitumen residue is planned for rather than discovered mid-cut. That assessment happens during the free measure, at no cost to you. Call 0404 606 142 to book it in.
Preparing an Older Floor
In the older housing around the town centre and the surrounding areas, preparation takes longer on an old floor than the sanding itself does.
Loose boards and movement are fixed before any cutting. A board that flexes under the machine cuts unevenly, and the dip it leaves only becomes obvious once the coating goes on and catches the light.
Old paint, bitumen and adhesive are identified during the assessment. These clog abrasives quickly and some can bleed into a new coating, so knowing what's there changes both the approach and the time the job takes.
Cupped boards are checked for the cause before being levelled. Cupping is a moisture response, and flattening boards still reacting to a damp subfloor means they'll cup again once the job is finished.
Wide boards behave differently under a machine than narrow ones. They move more across their width with humidity, so gaps and level differences between them need assessing before the grit sequence is chosen.
Deciding What to Save
Not every board in an old floor is worth keeping, and the useful question is which ones aren't. Boards sanded to the point where nail heads sit at the surface, boards split through and boards cut into for plumbing then patched with a different timber are the usual candidates for replacement. Everything else generally sands. We'd rather replace a dozen boards and sand the whole floor as one surface than sand around problems and leave them showing under a new coat. Where replacements are needed, matching species and width matters more to the finished look than matching colour, because colour evens out over time and grain never does. In the surrounding areas that often means sourcing wide stock to suit a floor laid well before narrow boards became standard.
FAQs
- Usually yes, though paint clogs abrasives far faster than a clear finish and adds time to the job. Floors painted before the 1970s may contain lead-based paint, which needs identifying and handling appropriately before sanding begins.
- Cupping happens when the underside of a board holds more moisture than the top, lifting the edges higher than the centre. The usual sources are subfloor ventilation problems or dampness beneath the house, and both need fixing before the boards are levelled.
- Wide boards move more across their width with seasonal humidity, so level differences and gaps between them tend to be larger. That affects the starting grit and the number of passes needed, though the process itself is the same.
Freedom Flooring Pty Ltd
- 0404 606 142
- 26 Walu Ave, Budgewoi NSW 2262
- Monday – Friday: 7:00am – 6:00pmSaturday: ClosedSunday: Closed
Australasian Timber Flooring AssociationNSW licence PS 154853C