Dagenham, 2024
Can you restore engineered wood flooring by polishing rather than sanding?
Hi,
I recently lifted my carpets and found out that there is parquet flooring underneath. I decided to sand the flooring myself, but I need some help with sealing as I want to make sure that the right sealant is appropriately applied. Please note that the floors are exposed to heavy foot traffic and we also have a dog, so floor varnish would need to be very hard wearing.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Many Thanks.
![Flooring Expert](https://cdn.frontserve.net/snd/mr-sanders.png)
Engineered wood flooring comes in various thicknesses of the top layer, ranging between 3mm and 6mm, which defines the number of times it can be sanded. You mention that your floors have already been sanded once, which means that if your flooring has the thinner top layer there might be a limited opportunity to sand it again. Having said that, if the previous sanding was properly done by a professional sanding company, this means that another sanding should be possible.
Because your floors are in a bad condition, as you describe it, cleaning and polishing might not be applicable. This is a service that is used to maintain the existing sealant in order to extend its life until another sanding is required. Unless this is done before the condition of the flooring gets really bad, and before the sealant is actually worn out, it is not recommended. Cleaning and polishing is done to apply an extra coat of sealant, where the new coat bonds to the existing varnish and not to the bare wood. If the existing sealant has disappeared, then a proper sanding and re-varnishing will be required.