In time, all wood floors eventually become a bit dull, worn out, or scratched. Although wood floors are initially protected with a coating (mostly a clear one), once in a while, depending on its condition, recoating is required as part of its maintenance.
The process of recoating involves a lot of preparation in advance. The recoating itself does not take much time, but preparation and pre-testing are the keys for a good result.
There are several important factors when determining whether and which type of recoating is needed. This is something that one cannot try to DIY, especially with no experience or knowledge in wood floor production.
Know what to expect
A recoating is not simply a beautifying or “anti-age“ treatment for the wood. As stated above, it is first and foremost a maintenance procedure, meaning its primary function is to maintain the condition of the wood with a protective layer.
Often, people wait too long to recoat their floors, so it becomes overly worn out and with too many scratches.
Another thing that people are often misled to believe is that it will give a shinier finish and make it look like a brand new floor. A new recoat will not make your floor shiny if it had a satin finish before, nor it will make the scratches and other surface damages disappear. Yes, if applicable (more on that later), it will make the floor look much better, but in some cases, depending on several factors, it simply won’t make any visible difference.
Here are some guidelines as what to expect (and what not to expect) when it comes to recoating the floors.
A Few-Step Process
In our next post, we’ll go more in-depth about each of the steps for preparation and recoating. In short, these are the things to consider:
- Get to know the original floor finish
- Test an area of the floor with the new coating (clean it first)
- Determine if the coating is applicable (will it adhere to and blend with the floor evenly?)
- If yes, proceed with screening, then clean the wood floor thoroughly
- Proceed with recoating the whole area