Gap Filling
Gap filling is a process of the wood floor restoration, which can only be done onto bare wood and before the finish is applied.
Gap-filling is a part of the wood floor restoration process. Is it always necessary? No. Is it useful? Absolutely.
The main benefit of having the gaps in your floor filled is energy efficiency. Naturally, you want your house to be warm during the winter. However, if you have gaps between the boards. a lot of the heat will be lost. Even worse, the gaps will lead to draughts which certainly won’t lower your central heating bills.
Gap-filling can also grant more dimensional stability to the floor and limit its movement. Sadly, because of the very nature of the wood (contracts during the summer and expands during the winter) the process has varying success. You can never tell if it will attempt to expand again a few years after it is all finished.
How Do We Fill Gaps Between Boards?
The most common method of gap filling is by using a mix of filler resin and sawdust. The dust is collected beforehand from rough and medium sanding rounds, combined with the resin and applied to the gaps between the boards. The benefit of this practice is that newly created substance has a colour identical to that of the floor’s. This grants the illusion of a perfectly smooth and uniform surface. For gaps which are narrowed to 6mm filler is applied with flat spatula as for wider gaps, they should be filled prior to the gap filling.
No company can guarantee the gap filling, a professional sanding company can refit and limit the movement of the flooring boards, and however because of the nature of the wood, no one can say if it will expand again.
Gap-filling can also grant a more dimensional stability to the floor and limit its movement. Sadly, because of the very nature of the wood (contracts during the summer and expands during the winter) the process has varying success. You can never tell if it will attempt to expand again a few years after it is all finished.
For larger gaps the solution is filling them with wood stripes. The method is more expensive compared to the previous one but it is more reliable and particularly useful for covering larger gaps. The floor sanding company will supply the stripes; they are cut from reclaimed pine timber which will be very close to your floor’s original colour. Keep in mind that if there are too many large gaps you may be better off with replacing the boards entirely instead of strip filling.
There Are Many Ways to Fill Gaps
The gap-filling methods listed above are simply the most popular ones. There are plenty of other options. Instead of a resin filler, you can use a mix of PVA glue and sawdust. However, the mixture created this way is simply inferior when it comes to mechanical properties and takes more time to apply compared to a resin.
Of course, we have also have to mention the good old papier mache. If you are after a more reclaimed, Victorian look, this may be just what you need. Unfortunately, this also isn’t a very practical solution since it requires a lot of time and attention.
How many coats of lacquer are included in your service?
For residential restoration services, floor finishing requires 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of lacquer. The final sheen of the product is defined by the lacquer and available options are extra-matt, matt, satin and gloss.
For commercial restoration services, our floor finishing service will apply 1 coat of primer and 3 coats of commercial grade lacquer. Commercial floor finishes are available in extra-matt, matt and satin.
Extra coats are available on request and we do not recommend application of more than 5 coats of lacquer (including primer). The list of all floor finishes we use is available here.
How long it takes before for the floors to be used again after sanding service?
During the restoration service, the floors can be take light traffic, which is not disruptive for the service.
During the process of sealing the floors can be used only between the coats and after application of final coat the floors can take foot traffic in 2 hours for lacquered floors and (depending on air humidity / season) 5-8 hours for hardwax-oil.
Furniture should go back in place on the following day.
Do you lift & dispose old flooring?
Yes, with our floor restoration service we can remove and dispose old carpets, vinyl, laminate or wooden flooring.
Do you do floor repairs to herringbone parquet flooring?
Yes, we can supply matching blocks for most solid and engineered herringbone flooring. Usually after herringbone floor repairs, the floors may need to be sanded, gap filled and re-sealed for achieving uniform appearance to the floor.
What qualifications your floor sanding specialists have?
To join our networks of flooring professionals, we make sure our local floor restoration technicians comply with the quality, the standard and conduct of our service. As part of the process they must show experience, expertese and skills, good understanding of the floor finishes we use, the floor sanding equipment and the various timber species.
Additional qualifications and courses are a benefit, but as we value our experts based on results, our main focus is on previous experience and eye for detail, which is key to delivering an excellent finish.
Can I book floor sanding service throughout a weekend?
Yes, our sanding and sealing service is available to book throughout a weekend, however these works are noisy and usually noise restrictions apply in flats and residential areas with blocks.
If you property is a house, we highly encourage to inform your neighbours for the upcoiming works.
Can you extend exsiting flooring over a fireplace hearth?
Yes, if you are planning to remove a fireplace hearth and you have parquet flooring, floorboards or planked flooring we may be able to help.
After the repairs, with matching the floor spare material, the floors will need to be sanded and refinished.
How many coats of oil are included in your service?
Our standard sanding and oiling service includes 2 coats of clear hardwax-oil or 1 coat of colour oil followed by 1 coat of clear oil. Ocassionally we can increase the number of coats depending on the timber species we are sealing.
Extra coat of hardwax-oil is also available on request.