Restoring Wooden Floors To Their Former Glory

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A few months ago we decided to replace our living room carpet with wooden floors, and it's one of the best decisions we could have made. Not only does it make the room feel more spacious but it's easier to keep clean with the two dogs and overall just looks a lot nicer. There's a reason why wooden floors are all over Pinterest, Instagram and in the backgrounds of blog photos- they look modern and chic and work well with just about any kind of decor. While I used a simple laminate flooring, had there been nice floorboards down I'd have definitely utilised those. If you're lucky enough to be hiding gorgeous wood under your carpets why not consider bringing them back to their full potential? Here's how to restore your hardwood and parquet floors to their former glory!

Cleaning and Preparing The Floor
After completely emptying your room remove all of the old floor coverings along with things like nails, gripper rods and big bits of debris. This will make it easier to sweep and hoover, you need it completely empty and as clean as possible. From there you can assess your flooring and repair or replace any boards or areas that have warped, twisted, split or rotted. It's a good idea to let the newly exposed floorboards acclimate (reach the same temperature as the rest of the room) for 24 hours before doing anything to it, which helps to prevent any further warping or splitting of the wood.

Sanding 
When it comes to sanding you have three choices; you can do it yourself by hand, hire a sanding machine or call in the professionals. Sanding by hand will take longer and require more effort, but will save money on equipment so might be an option for smaller rooms. If you choose this method, make sure you're using the correct grit sandpaper for the type and condition of the wood so that you to avoid damage and time wastage. Hiring a machine (either a belt sander or a small pad sander depending on the condition of your floor) will be easier especially for larger rooms, and is likely to give a more even finish. If you're not very handy or just don't know where to start then consider leaving it to the professionals to ensure that your hardwood or parquet floor sanding is restored to perfection. A professional company has the benefit of using cutting edge, dust free floor sanding equipment- especially handy if you have children, pets or anyone with breathing issues such as allergies or asthma in the house as it prevents the wood dust getting everywhere.

Treating
Finally you're able to paint or treat the wood in order to give it the finish you're after. I'm personally all about gorgeous whitewashed wood but could use whichever shade of paint or varnish that you like the look of. Be sure to thoroughly sweep and vaccum before using any treatments and open the windows to ensure the room is well ventilated. Use the varnish or floor paint according to the manufacturers instructions, and always allowing the recommended drying time before stepping on it or moving furniture back into the room.

Have you ever restored a wooden floor?