Wood floor sanding for care homes

Undergoing a wood floor sanding service delivered to care homes might sound like a bit of controversial idea. When it comes to care homes, there are specific requirements in such establishments and respecting the comfort and peace of the residents is often the main priority. On another hand, sanding service tends to be popular as a messy, noisy and pretty much stress and hassle process that definitely adds some disturbance and disruption to the otherwise peaceful everyday life of the residents and seniors of the care home. However, this statement would be true, if we were discussing the topic a couple of years back. Today, thanks to the industry improvement including better and more advanced equipment, better-trained and educated professionals and specialists and mainly the flexibility of the service offered by the flooring contractor, wood floor sanding are no more the messy-stressy process all of the occupants of certain premises need to go through gritting their teeth!

Today we are not going to discuss the sanding services provided to care homes as an exception to the rule, because the service delivered in such establishments care and nursing homes are is in no way different than the sanding treatment delivered to wooden floors in any other commercial or public premises or even in busy homes with large households and a lot of family members. In fact, where there are many people and a wooden floor installed, there you can expect wear and tear and common wood flooring issues to happen in shorter time and more intensively.

First, let’s discuss whether or not wood flooring is a suitable choice for care homes. In fact, wood flooring comes with a long list of benefits and advantages over other types of flooring. Speaking of appearance, wood usually has a classic, elegant and even cosy and comforting appearance that easily achieves a homely atmosphere whenever installed. Considering the fact that in care homes one of the main priority is to make the residents feel like they are at home, comfortable and safe, wood is definitely a good choice. Furthermore, wood flooring is known to be really solid, stable, long-lasting and hard-wearing. Every type of flooring experiences and manages wear and tear as well as the common issues differently. In this matter of facts, wood flooring is naturally resistant or less prone to a number of issues than many other options offered on the market. Thanks to the progress in modern wood flooring manufacturing, we all can nowadays enjoy engineered wood floors that are resistant to humidity, moisture and regular temperature changes that used to affect the condition and appearance of hardwood flooring dramatically just a few decades back in time.

Additionally, real wood floors have a natural shock resistance and pretty much manage their surrounding environment, even if aggressive and unfriendly without weakening their stability and general condition and appearance dramatically or can be easily fixed and repaired if needed. Wood floor sanding is an essential process of improving condition and appearance.

Real wood is also a naturally hygienic product. Unlike carpets, for example, wood floors do not attract dust, dirt, grime and bacteria and do not hold dirt build-ups that much, or can be easily cleaned. In terms of cleaning, wood is also a material that is really easy to maintain perfectly clean. The cleaning and maintenance routine of a wooden floor do not require too much elbow grease as well as little to no money, energy and time. Just an everyday vacuuming and occasional mopping to treat some more serious stains and stubborn dirt will be more than enough even for busy places with a lot of high traffic.

One of the main reasons for a wooden floor experiencing some issues is high traffic and heavy footfall. Normally, a wooden floor will be covered with a protective layer of a finishing product that preserves its colour, texture and condition from issues and imperfections such as scratches, permanent stains, darkening or bleaching of the natural colour, drying out, ageing, dents and more. All of the wood floor finishes offered on the market do their job perfectly, protecting the bare wood from all these issues that are a result of everyday life and everyday usage, especially in busy premises and homes. However, wood floor finishes get worn with time and need to be re-applied and refreshed every now and then, so you can be sure that your wooden floor is well-protected and preserved. When it comes to busy places with a lot of high traffic and heavy footfall, wood floor refinishing is recommended on a more regular base, but still keeping in account the individual needs and requirements of the floor.

Speaking of refinishing, it is not recommended and probably impossible to have a finishing service before a sanding one beforehand. What wood floor sanding actually stands for is the process and treatment of removing the aged, worn and distressed layer of finish and, if needed, also a thin layer from the top of the bare wood in order to an even and uniform surface without any imperfections to be achieved. Usually sanding can happen up to 6-7 times in the lifecycle of a solid wood floor, still depending on the thickness of the floor boards. Sanding a wooden floor is performed with the help of a sanding machine with a range of sanding paper belts with varying density attached to it. Due to the specificities of this type of job, most of the people believe that sanding is a very messy and dirty job. In fact, it is, considering the amount of saw dust and dirt piling up along the process, but as we have already mentioned, gone are the days, when sanding used to be messy and stressful, mainly thanks to the technical improvement of the modern equipment most of the contractors use. A modern sanding equipment will guarantee not only perfect results but also almost full collection of the sawdust along the process of sanding, so you do not have to deal with all the mess and dirt later on.

Next, right after wood floor sanding is done and performed, it is about the right time for a finishing service. Why at this time? Well, wood is a natural product and still remains natural even when cut into floor boards, so this means that wood keeps its natural porous structure even when laid down as a floor. Besides the fact that sanding is evening out the surface of the floor, it is also opening all pores of wood, so the finishing or sealing products can soak and be absorbed more effectively. Thanks to this the floor finishing product is ensuring protection and more strength not only on the surface but also from within, into the wood’s structure. So all the benefits coming with sanding are simply undeniable and unbeatable. A stronger, improved visually and in condition, more solid, easy to maintain and long-lasting wooden floor, who wouldn’t want that? And since we are talking about wood flooring in care homes, where there are more members of the community than the usual members of a family and where quicker wear and tear and the related and closely tied to it weakened resistance to issues can be expected, in this case wood floor sanding is even more highly recommended by the experienced and knowledgeable professionals. There is a little-known fact that hardwood floors are designed to last up to 100 years if you maintain them properly and sanding is an essential part of proper maintenance. Ok, we have cleared out the fact that wood floor sanding is very much needed and recommended occasionally, now let’s try and prove to you that the service is not the hassle and fuss it used to be and many people still associate it with and that it is completely suitable to be performed in care homes too.

Wood floor sanding in care homes

Generally, the main drawback for someone that wants to start a wood floor sanding project provided to a care home would always be the disturbance factor. Overall, having respect to all senior members of this small community based on ensuring comfort, calmness and peace are essential and crucial and floor sanding is not entirely fitting into the idea for convenience and peace. Although the fact that a day of sanding happening a few steps away is definitely not as any other normal day, minimal disturbance and disruption due to the wood floor treatment can be easily achieved and truly guaranteed. So in case you are wondering if wood floor sanding is a good idea and suitable for care homes the answer is yes… but probably under some specific circumstances that put focus and priority of the welfare, well-being and comfort of the care homes residents. Here is what the good and respecting sanding contractor would be ready to offer and do:

• Respect – Of course, having respect to each and every client is crucial and very important for the good professional. Furthermore, a care or nursing home requires even more respect to the ‘house rules’ and being able to offer that and meet all requirements, needs and desires makes you a reliable contractor. In order to achieve that, you need to be very flexible in your job…

• Flexibility – Being flexible in your work and every time you are taking engagements and undertaking wood flooring maintenance projects is an essential aspect of the professional’s approach. What does it mean to have a flexible working abilities? Wood flooring services are not your average 9 to 5 office job and working after hours, night hours and even very early hours is a part of this job. When it comes to care homes, a reliable and understanding contractor would be able to offer a tailored timescale to fit the individual requirements of this sort of establishment. Working at night, while the residents are sleeping in order to minimize the disturbance related to delivering the service, or working on the weekends is something that a contractor will most probably need to consider and be able to guarantee. Additionally, working faster (without making compromises with the quality, of course) would be probably needed for shortening the total run of the service with the help of…

• Being able to engage more employees in the process – Perhaps most of the contractors wouldn’t be used to work with many people on site. Normally a sanding process takes up to a day for an average sized room, sometimes longer or shorter. When it comes to care homes, in order to minimize the disturbance and disruption to the day-to-day life of all residents, being able to deliver the job in shorter run is a key priority the contractor want to seek and this can be easily achieved with some additional professional help.

• Advanced equipment – Advanced and modern equipment is not a mandatory for achieving best results, but it definitely helps a lot for achieving cleaner and less messy job.