Wood Floor Sand and Refinish Obstacles

One of the main obstacles when installing hardwood flooring as well as throughout the refinishing process is definitely furniture.

Prior to the Arrival of your Hardwood Floor Refinishers, Removing Furniture Completely is of the Upmost Importance.

This includes anything that is not permanently affixed to the floor. Unless otherwise noted, we do not move furniture. This is because we are expert hardwood flooring professionals, not movers. We want to avoid any risk of damaging your valuables. Which is why we choose to stick to what we are great at, hardwood flooring services. Note the most common area people forget about when removing obstacles is closet floors including pantry floors.

Refinishing Obstacles = Appliances

Ok so by now you are probably thinking, “what am I going to do with the appliances”? Well, the good news is, the dishwasher can stay in place. We do not need to remove the dishwasher in order to refinish your hardwood floors. We simply remove the front toe kick cover and sand behind it as much as possible. So that leaves the stove and the refrigerator. These two appliances aren’t easy to move. If you are not able to move them yourself we are usually able to work around them. This is contingent upon the layout of your kitchen, existing wood floor color and selected new stain color.

Please note, that for a complete and perfect sand all obstacles including large appliances need to be moved prior to our arrival.

If you have gas appliances, we recommend you contact PSNC to disconnect and reconnect them. When the time comes, whoever does move your appliances back in should be careful not to roll or drag the appliances on the newly coated hardwood flooring, as these could pose as majors obstacles. They should be lifted and set in place and never rolled on the fresh polyurethane.

Furry Loved Ones Are Great! But Please Remove This Obstacle Prior to Our Arrival

Although we love our pets, our pets need to be thought of as well when sanding and refinishing our hardwood floors for a couple of reasons. Mainly because we are dealing with wet product. Each coat of finish can take up to 4 hours for water based and 12 hours for oil based polyurethane to dry.

Overcoming obstacles in hardwood floor refinishing, opting for a superior water-based finish like Bona Traffic HD proves advantageous, especially for homes with medium to large pets. Previously, a full week cure time posed significant challenges. However, with this option, the waiting period is reduced to just 48 hours! This means that the entire family, including furry friends, no longer has to endure displacement for an extended period while waiting for the wood floor to dry.

Stain Color is NOT an obstacle so long as you preselect your favorite 3 colors. One of the coolest parts of sanding and refinishing your hardwood floors is that you have the opportunity to change the color of your stain.

As part of our process we ask that you preselect 3 stain colors from our Bona stain colors page, our DuraSeal stain colors page, or work with us so we can custom create the stain color your heart desires.

In addressing potential obstacles during the hardwood floor refinishing process, if you’re planning to be away and therefore not present, we can accommodate by applying the stain samples before your departure. It’s important to note that this additional service, conducted before your full-service appointment, will incur an extra cost. Otherwise, stain samples are typically put down on the first day of the refinishing process.

When returning your furniture, attach felt pads to the furniture where it comes in contact with the hardwood.

Using felt not only keeps the floor safe from scratches but felt also makes your furniture easy to slide and therefore not obstacles when they need to be moved in the future. For example, to reach an outlet. Keeping felt pads clean or changing frequently will help reduce grit build-up. Protecting the flooring topcoat with CLEAN felt pads ultimately extends the life of the finish. For area rugs, we also recommend using felt. Felt-for-area rugs can be purchased in three or four-foot rolls and cut down to size as needed. Do not use rubber as rubber can break down and stain your hardwood.