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Hard Flooring Material Characteristics The most common hard flooring materials used in homes are wood, stone, vinyl, and tile. A common characteristic shared by all is that they are porous in their natural state and they will absorb liquid. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the surface with a barrier to prevent the absorption of liquids. This treatment allows the floors to be cleaned with liquid with no damage. Laminate flooring is becoming more popular and will not absorb liquid. Are walk off mats important? All hard flooring materials are susceptible to scratching and precautions should be taken to reduce the amount of grit tracked onto these surfaces. Walk off mats that will trap grit should be placed at all entries, both inside and out. Rugs should be used to protect the surface where furniture is often slid across the surface and in high foot traffic areas. Kitchen or dining chairs will scratch the surface even if equipped with glides. Without a protective rug in place, these areas will fail prematurely. These hard surfaces should be swept and dust mopped regularly in accordance with the amount of traffic they experience. A residue free neutral wet cleaner should be used periodically to remove any soils that cannot be removed by dust mopping. Use of high Ph cleaners such as 409 do leave residues and can sometimes cause the protective finish to turn yellow. Look for the words "residue free" or "no rinsing necessary" on any product you consider using. Why is a good finish important? Hardwood floors may be pre-finished with polyurethane at the factory or finished on site in the case of virgin hardwood. Careful application of the finish is most important in assuring a long service life. If the application is too thin, it will wear away quickly and expose bare wood. Once bare wood is exposed, the only remedy is sanding and refinishing which is expensive, inconvenient, and messy. Pre-finished hardwoods are not usually solid hardwood. They have a hardwood veneer that is only about 1/16 inch thick. Refinishing is a delicate job and probably can't be done more than once before the substrate wood is exposed. Therefore, it is even more important to protect these type hardwoods from scratching. Can appearance be improved without refinishing? When the care recommendations mentioned previously do not provide the appearance you desire, there are several options so long as no bare wood is exposed. A coat of liquid floor finish can be applied which will last for a while. It will wear away in high traffic areas over time and will have to be reapplied periodically to maintain appearance. This is the least expensive way to improve appearance. Is there an alternative to sanding and refinishing? Scratched floors can be refinished with a new coat of urethane without major sanding if no bare wood is exposed. Two systems exist. "Screening" is nothing more than a light sanding of the existing finish to "rough it up" so the new coat of finish will bond properly. However, sanding dust must be dealt with. The other system chemically etches the existing surface to assure proper bonding of the new coat of finish. Either method can restore the floor successfully. These methods cost about half as much as sanding down to bare wood and refinishing. back to top Vinyl floors come in a multitude of patterns and grades. All but the most expensive have a very thin surface color and pattern. The surface coat on vinyl is thin but very durable so long as it is protected from scratches. The thin surface color and pattern are easily scratched and because the product is usually about 1/16 inch thick, it is easily cut or torn. Such damage can be repaired with a patch by an experienced technician so long as you have leftover material from the installation. As is the case with wood floors, when vinyl has become scratched to the point that the appearance is unacceptable, a coat or two of floor finish can restore the shine. However, once you start this cycle, floor finish will have to be applied periodically to maintain the appearance. At some point, it may be necessary to "strip" the old finish and start over in order to achieve the desired shine. back to top Tiles are manufactured from naturally occurring elements that are combined into a wet slurry, formed into various sizes and shapes under pressure and then cured with heat which extracts the moisture and hardens the tile. Tile will absorb liquid. Tile floors are laid on a cement-like base and the base allowed to harden. The spaces between the tiles are then filled with "grout" which is a form of cement. Once dry, it is very porous and will absorb liquid too. The most common complaint people have with tile is dirty grout. Since the grout is more porous than the tile, it absorbs more liquid. When there is dirt or a coloring agent in the liquid, it becomes lodged in the grout and is very difficult to remove after the liquid has evaporated. Restoring tile and grout to their original appearance is sometimes impossible but always expensive. In some cases, the old grout may have to be removed and the tile re-grouted which is very expensive. For those who want pristine tile and grout, it is necessary to seal the tile and grout. The best time to apply a sealer is immediately upon installation of the tile. These sealers are designed to allow moisture to pass from beneath the surface but prevent penetration from the top. The sealer is worn away over time and should be reapplied periodically according to manufacturer recommendations. back to top Most people think that the stone used for flooring can withstand just about anything, after all, it is rock! Well, it may be rock but it is brittle and porous. Stone is simply a chemical compound which has been formed by heat and pressure over time into a solid chemical compound. Therefore, stone requires specialized care to maintain its natural beauty whether it's limestone, sandstone, slate, marble or granite. While sandstone, limestone, and slate are not usually polished, marble and granite are. Marble and granite are usually polished to a very high luster using diamonds. The high luster begins to dull when subjected to grit and requires periodic polishing to retain the high luster. Polishing is expensive but restoration is even more expensive. It makes sense to have the stone polished when degradation becomes apparent rather than waiting until it is so worn that restoration is required. Restoration requires grinding the stone with portable equipment using diamonds of varying size, just like sandpaper. Depending on how badly the stone is damaged, as many as 7 passes with different size diamonds may be required to achieve the highly polished look that people prefer. This process is expensive. Stone is susceptible to staining due to it's porous structure. Staining materials can penetrate into the stone. While many stains can be removed by using a proper poultice some stains are permanent. Stone is also susceptible to etching from acidic materials. A carbonated beverage spilled on a stone floor can cause a permanent etch stain if not removed immediately. Wine can also etch and stain stone floors. The importance of sealers and protective finishes cannot be stressed enough when dealing with stone surfaces. The sealers allow the stone to breath but prevent external elements entering the surface of the stone and therefore prevent permanent staining. A surface finish is necessary to protect the surface from etching. Some people think that the application of sealer and finishes is too expensive. However, it is much more cost effective than restoring the surface after something has permanently etched the surface of the stone or stained it. back to top 919-369-5560 |
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