1.      What is the durability of the flooring?  When will I have to re-coat again?

Maintaining and caring for such a valuable asset as your floor can make a substantial impact on how long it will look  great for, and also how long it may be before a new refurbishment coat may be required. Durability of the coating on floors varies as to the amount of traffic and the bringing into the house of outside grit on footwear. These are a few handy tips to remember; it is always a good idea to have entrance matting at the door so that outside grit can be brushed off before entering the house.  Remove outdoor shoes and only wear soft indoor shoes inside, this helps to reduce surface scratches.  Ask our salesperson for a leaflet on “How best to care for your flooring.”

2.      Can you pull-up my old floor coverings?

       Yes or we have DIY kits available as well or we can arrange it for you, please feel free to ask our salesperson for more information. Extra charges will apply if we are not told about glue, paint & or other substances on the floor which are seen after the proposal or when the customer pulls the floor coverings.

3.      How many coats do you apply and how long will it take?

       We apply three coats for on the timber floors – a base coat and then two top coats.  The second coat is sanded and vacuumed after application. Drying time is approximately three to eight hours per coat and you can move back in 24 hours after last coat. Light furniture can be moved in after 24 hours.  Heavy furniture can be moved in after three days and rugs and mats after two weeks. Timber Decks receive 2 coats.

4.      What kind of power will you need for the job?

       The job will require that we use power on site. Each room must have at least one power point and we will require 240 volts to those power points. No builder power poles or having power leads from next door.

5.      Will I have to move my own furniture out of the way for the job to start?

Furniture is always moved by yourself, or you can use a removalist company. Plus take paintings, plates & any other objects that may be of your concern. Because vibration does funny things to objects.

6.      Do I have to remove my kitchen appliances, dishwashers, stoves and fridges, blinds/curtains for the job to be done?

       It is recommended, in order to save money that our customers move their own appliances before we come on to the site. Handy tip:  Please could you disconnect your stove before work begins.  Kitchens are best fitted after the floors have been sanded and coated. Your floor is a lifetime investment, so in order to protect it always move the appliances from one hardboard to another & so this way  no damage occurs in the moving.  Please feel free to ask our salespeople if you require any further advice on this issue. Pull curtains or blinds down that are close to the floor. If they are we will put them up for you but we take no responsibility of any damage caused.

7.       What do we do about stains on the floors from water and other substances?        

         A warning to all customers:  Wood is a porous material and water will stain the timber, if the water is a carrier of staining materials. In most cases, the timber sanding will remove the stains but the coating will bring them back, but each floor is unique, it will depend greatly on how long the damage/leak has gone on for. Once the stain is there we are unable to remove it in most cases. We are unable to take responsibility if these stains/coatings/etc affect the coating going on your floor & afterwards. It can take up to four years in some cases for the marks or patches to appear, but it is a very rare occurrence for contaminates to come to the surface.  Floorboards will have to be assessed by the quoter after the floor coverings have been lifted as glue/paint can cause blockages in the machinery this will be an extra charge to get glue/paint off the floor. Most glues/adhesive from old Vinyl, Tiles, Carpet & etc will stain the timber flooring. When the clouds open up & rain we will endeavour to finish your job on time, sometimes we need to delay your job by 1-2 days or a week. Sorry we wish we could clap our hands & it stops but we are working on it.

8.      What do we do about all the rubbish at the end?

We will endeavour to clear up all the rubbish and place it near your bins.

9.      What do I do about staples from old floor coverings?

       It is advisable for the customer to remove all staples from the floor before the sanding commences.  We will advise you, if necessary on the best method to remove staples but usually a pair of vice grips will do the job adequately or we have a DIY kit available. 

10.  Who does the repairs to the floors?

       Repairs and replacement of flooring timber should be done by a licensed carpenter or handy man because T&G flooring on joists is structural. Second-hand timber is best for old floors and this can be found in demolition yards, but may take some time to find.

11.  What do we do about holes and knots in the floors?

       We will endeavour to fill the knots in the timber flooring with putty where possible. Larger holes may need a piece of wood to be placed under the hole, then plugged with a wooden plug of the same material as the flooring and filled round the edges. Please tell us if there are any holes in your floor when you accept our proposal.         

12.  Will you remove old glue and paint?

       Old glue can be removed and we recommend a separate company to do this work for you.  They will also remove lead paint. Ask our salesperson to let you know what this additional charge would be.  Handy tip*  lead testing can be done by you. These can be obtained from a paint shop & we have lead test kits available for $25 each. Extra charges will apply if we are not told about glue, paint & or other substances on the floor which are seen after the proposal or when the customer pulls the floor coverings.  Please advise our Quoter if you have paint or glue on your floor please & if this is missed or not on your quote this will be an extra charge.

13.  What happens if there is damage on the skirting boards, kick boards, architraves and walls?

Due to uneven skirting boards & timber floors not being level it this may create some damage. We will endeavour to take the utmost care not to damage the skirting boards, kick boards, architraves and walls. We strongly recommend, that the last coat of paint be applied to the skirting boards. This is after the last coat of floor coatings has been applied to the floors. It must be remembered that new paint can take up to 6 weeks to cure. Our company cannot take responsibility for the paintwork on the skirting boards, kick boards, architraves and walls that has not been applied in a correct manner as to the manufacturer’s requirements.

14.  Do we stain the floor boards?

       Staining a wood floor is not recommended, the process we use lasts 30 years with three re-coats. Staining may, in fact, remove the colour of the timber forever.  

15.  Do timber floors change in colour?

Yes they do. When you have to do a cross join on your timber floor (your old floor may be 1-2-3 years old or more) the colour between the two areas will be different. They will not match.  

16.  Do you fill the gaps between the floor boards?

      Gaps between the floor boards should not be filled as the floor boards should be allowed to move freely. As timber is always taking in and releasing moisture so the floorboards actually grow and shrink with time. 

17. Can you re-coat polished timber floors? 

       Re-coating can be done any time that you feel it is necessary. When recoating boards that have been polished previously we take no responsibility of any problems that will occur.  

18.Grain Raise

Grain raise is a natural phenomenon in timber floors and is: 

• more prevalent with certain species of timber

• influenced by the cutting and milling of the timber

• influenced by the dryness of the timber

• influenced by various classes of coatings

• minimised by timber floor preparation technique

A degree of grain raise is to be considered acceptable. 

Grain raise occurs when a liquid soaks into the surface layer of timber and causes expansion of wood fibres in the surface layer. These may protrude out from the surface and give a ‘furry’ feel to the timber. If coated while in this state, the protruding grain raise may be locked into the first applied coating and give a ‘rough’ feel and surface appearance. The condition may be uniform across a floor or be isolated to a few individual boards that may have had a certain mill cutting technique. A degree of visible grain raise within the coatings is often referred to as ‘the European look’, where it is considered normal if not desirable to have this effect in northern Europe. 

What Timbers are more prone to grain raise.

Typical examples would be:

• Tasmanian Oak, Victorian Ash, Messmate, Softwood pines including, Radiata, Slash and Hoop species, Baltic Pine, Northern Hemisphere Larch, European Oaks, Blackbutt.

Other things to take into consideration:  Pine (all species) timber flooring may require four coats of finish on them, due to the density & if so an additional charge will apply. When recoating boards that have been polished previously we take no responsibility of any problems that will occur, we only guarantee Enviro Floors old floors. Our product is designed to bring out the natural grain of the timber and no guarantee is given with regard to the resulting colour of your floor. When splitting your job into stages of days, weeks, months, apart to be done we take no responsibility for the colour of the floorboards, putty & polish staying the same. We would recommend doing all of the floor area at one time. We advise that all furniture and vehicles are to be removed from underneath your home whilst the floor sanding and finishing is being carried out.  If you have no other alternative, please make sure that everything is completely covered as we will not take responsibility for any varnish/coating spilling through floor boards onto items underneath the home.