Set-Up Phase

We always seal off the surrounding areas with plastic sheeting and cover any wall or floor vents. If we are doing work in a kitchen or dining room, we will seal off all cabinets, cupboards or drawers to ensure no dust gets in. This not only protects the other rooms from dust... it also protects our work area from any contamination.

Our technician will ask you if you have a 220-volt power source readily available. Examples of these power sources are dryer outlets or electric stove outlets. If neither or those are accessible, have no fear, we come prepared to run power directly from a breaker box.

Before we start any sanding, we vacuum to ensure that we have a nice clean slate to start with. After that we will look over the floor to find any small areas that may need repair, such as any nails, staples, or splinters. This is critical to protect our equipment and your floor.

Rough Sanding Phase

The purpose of the first sanding is to remove the old existing finish or waxes and get down to the bare wood. We use two different machines in this process. The big belt sander sands in a straight line, up and down the length of the room. The smaller sander – called an edger sands in a circular motion around the perimeter of the room.

So now we are down to the bare wood on your floor. From here we will look over the entire floor, searching for any nails to set, staples to pull, or holes to fill.

Final Sanding Phase

Final cut with the belt sander and edger. This final sand is done with fine grit sandpaper and eliminates the coarser sanding scratches from the previous sanding.

Detail Sanding Phase

The belt sander and edger are not able to get right into the corners, around the door jambs or under and around the radiators so we need to do this by hand. The time spent in this step is one of the factors separating a good sanding job from a great sanding job. At Simply Floors, we spend a lot of time in this step as we believe a great quality job is in the details. The extra effort is always worth it.

Polishing Phase

The next two steps will be carried out with a floor buffer. There are two types of sandpaper that we use on the floor buffer. The first is a hardplate, it is called this because quite literally it is a hard disc of sandpaper that is intended to smooth out any small imperfections that are left over from the final sanding process. The second is a fine paper screen and this is used to blend the edges and the middle of the floor to provide your floor a nice even look.

Before we start to cleanup a thorough walkthrough occurs to check one last time for any imperfections that would need to be fixed before stain or finish is applied to the floor. Once the technician is satisfied that the sanding job is exquisite, we will start to tear down our plastic and tape. This is followed by an intensive vacuum of the work area as well as any adjoining rooms to make sure there is no dust leftover.

Your floors are now ready for the next step of being conditioned. This can include any number of processes that could include bleaching, water popping, staining or simply starting the finish process. Simply put this is where we start to make your floor look like what you want it to.