Like other Atlanta homeowners, you want your home to look as pristine as possible. However, hardwood floor maintenance may challenge you. As people constantly walk on the floor, the materials garner spills, scuffs, scratches, and more. Which maintenance service should you seek?
Authentic Hardwood Flooring outlines how to know whether to buff and recoat, refinish, or replace a hardwood floor below.
What Does Buffing and Recoating Hardwood Floors Entail?
When you buff and recoat a hardwood floor, you mitigate noticeable but minor damage. Hardwood flooring technicians will use an abrasive material to remove scratches, water stains, and other minor damage from the protective layer. Then, they’ll apply polyurethane to areas that lost their initial coating.
What About a Refinish?
A hardwood floor refinish involves sanding the original finish off. A technician removes the entire polyurethane coat. Then, they’ll apply a new, fresh layer across the whole floor. This service eliminates and restores the floor’s finish.
What Happens During Replacement?
When technicians replace your hardwood floor, they’ll remove the old wooden planks and replace them with similar matching materials. Most replacement materials work with the maintenance formulas you currently use. You can either replace the whole floor or just a part of it.
How to Know Whether to Buff and Recoat, Refinish, or Replace a Hardwood Floor
So, how do you know whether to buff and recoat, refinish, or replace a hardwood floor? The service you choose depends on the floor’s age, the extent of the damage, and the number of times you serviced it. A skilled hardwood flooring technician can advise you about which service you need.
However, you’ll find pertinent indicators below that can help you select the service you need the most.
Floor Age
When did you install your hardwood floor? Your floor’s age will determine when you need maintenance services. Hardwood materials incur more significant damage as they age. They can also degrade, especially with frequent spills or multiple dents. The levels of damage will determine which services you need and service frequency.
Traffic and Damage Levels
Each service minimizes various types of damage. Assess the damage your hardwood floor incurred using the brief guide below.
- Minimal damage: Your hardwood floor doesn’t look as shiny as it once did. You notice a few minor scuffs and scratches. Therefore, you need buffing and recoating services with a finish that has product compatibility with the flooring materials.
- Moderate damage: Not only does the hardwood floor look dull, but it has numerous scratches and scuffs. You might also notice mottled water stains across the surface. A refinishing service should restore your hardwood floor’s original charm.
- Heavy damage: Your hardwood floor features deep scratches, several dents, and even a few cracks in some places. Typical buffing or refinishing services will mend this damage. These boards need replacements!
Maintenance Routine
What does your maintenance schedule entail? An experienced flooring technician can help you find the perfect balance depending on your traffic levels and floor age. However, you can get an idea of the average service frequency below.
- Buffing and recoating: You should buff and recoat hardwood floors every five years minimum. Some technicians may recommend a more frequent routine if your home receives heavy traffic.
- Refinishing: Schedule refinishing services for hardwood floors every seven to ten years.
- Replacing: Hardwood floor replacement services are difficult to pinpoint. A plank’s average lifespan ranges between 20 and 30 years. However, consistent maintenance practices and professional services can extend the lifespan. Plus, you may need single replacement boards occasionally.
Authentic Hardwood Flooring Offers Reliable Flooring Services in Atlanta
Learn more about how to know whether to buff and recoat, refinish, or replace a hardwood floor from Authentic Hardwood Flooring in Atlanta, Georgia. Our team helps protect your floors with comprehensive maintenance services and free estimates.
