MAINTENANCE COAT??
A maintenance coat will not only protect your investment but also prolong the life of your investment. It will save you money, time, and labor costs. Let's use the example of you having your floors fully resanded, stained, and finished in the not-so-distant past. Let's say anywhere from 2 to 10 years. Chances are you love them so much that you take extra precautions in protecting their beautiful appearance and will treat them with "kid gloves" for quite some time, possibly even forever. But the truth is floors are made for walking on, and that's exactly what your family uses them for. Over the years, they get surface scratches and lose that beautiful consistent sheen. They get dull or even shiny in some areas and the opposite in others. The finish starts to wear down in heavy traffic areas, and the truth is, because you do live on it and see it every day, you likely don't even notice. Before you realize it, you're calling your hardwood flooring professional back, and if you're lucky, you're told it can be maintenance coated and restored to its original beautiful condition. But if you're not as lucky, you're told it's worn through too much and needs to be sanded completely again.
A maintenance coat is one of the most important aspects of long-term hardwood floor care. In my 15 years of professionally final coating thousands of hardwood floors, one theme that consistently presents itself is the lack of knowledge around this vital process. What makes it such an unknown in the floor craft world, by customers and consumers alike? Time and time again, people say, "they never even knew it was an option." I've read articles online stating that a "screen and recoat" is the best-kept secret in the hardwood flooring world. While I can't answer the question as to why this is the case. I can certainly tell you that it shouldn't be the case.
When a maintenance coat is applied, it completely changes everything. What we call a screen is used. A screen, unlike in your window, is like sandpaper, only it has a much finer abrasion grit than sandpaper. All the edges around the entire perimeter are scrubbed and cleaned with the screen. And then a buffer is used with a screen to do the same to the complete surface of the floor. This process is basically cutting into the top coat of finish without cutting into the hardwood itself. It not only cleans the surface and smooths it out but also puts thousands of micro scratches into the top coat, which will allow the new finish to bond properly with the old. Kind of like sanding between coats of paint for ultimate adhesion. The floor is then vacuumed and cleaned, and the new finish is applied. Whether it's oil-based polyurethane or water-based polyurethane, the results are phenomenal. Many, if not all, of the old scuffs and scratches are completely gone, and the floor has a beautiful and consistent sheen across the entire surface. Not only does it look once again like it did when they were fully resanded, but the process has just protected and prolonged the life of your investment by adding another layer of protection. You did all of this for a fraction of the cost, and if you are going with a water-based finish, you can usually be back on your floor the same evening. Oil-based finish you'll probably want to stay somewhere else overnight. Either option, you're done in a day, and your floors look beautiful, are protected for years to come, are cleaner than you could ever get them with the most involved deep cleaning, and will bring you peace and pride once again.
You ask yourself, why didn't I spend a fraction of the money and time to prolong and protect my beautiful floors?
Why didn't anyone tell me about this?
No matter how careful you are with your hardwood floors (have family and guests remove shoes, clean them with regularity, try not to slide things), the polyurethane protection that's below your feet, and on top of your floor, is designed to take the abuse so that the expensive part, your hardwood itself, doesn't have to and can last a lifetime. But polyurethane, much like sunscreen on a sunny beach, doesn't last forever with one application. Sunscreen wears off with water, activity, and play, and so does your polyurethane. As you and your family go about living your lives, this protective layer gets thinner and thinner. If this protective layer deteriorates for too long, eventually it will begin to expose bare wood, and you will start to see graying areas in the most heavily trafficked areas. At this point, no amount of cleaning can help and, in fact, can accelerate the problem because your wood is now exposed to chemicals, water, and has no scratch protection. Eventually, the floor you once loved so much is just too far damaged, and it will need to be completely resanded down to raw wood again.
No matter how careful you are with your hardwood floors (have family and guests remove shoes, clean them with regularity, try not to slide things), the polyurethane protection that's below your feet, and on top of your floor, is designed to take the abuse so that the expensive part, your hardwood itself, doesn't have to and can last a lifetime. But polyurethane, much like sunscreen on a sunny beach, doesn't last forever with one application. Sunscreen wears off with water, activity, and play, and so does your polyurethane. As you and your family go about living your lives, this protective layer gets thinner and thinner. If this protective layer deteriorates for too long, eventually it will begin to expose bare wood, and you will start to see graying areas in the most heavily trafficked areas. At this point, no amount of cleaning can help and, in fact, can accelerate the problem because your wood is now exposed to chemicals, water, and has no scratch protection. Eventually, the floor you once loved so much is just too far damaged, and it will need to be completely resanded down to raw wood again.
A maintenance coat is not only a necessary part of hardwood floor care but also a fraction of the time and cost. Over time your floor gets surface scratches everywhere. Some worse than others and some areas worse than others. Spills, stains, scuff marks, dull areas, shiny areas are all a normal part of living on your hardwood floors. Cleaning them can help remove the dirt and grime but do little to help many of these issues. Many people become frustrated and turn to products on the shelf that claim to cure their frustrations. Products like Murphy's oil, Orange glow, Pledge, or wax should never be used on your hardwood floors. These products may briefly make your hardwood floors appear better momentarily, but they've actually just contaminated your floor. Not only can they be oily and slippery, increasing the risk of falls, but the floor's finish is not compatible with it and will usually result in needing a complete resand and finish.
Having your hardwood floors completely resanded, stained, and finished is a necessary part of life sometimes. Maybe you have excessive water damage, have removed carpet and discovered the wonderful sight of genuine hardwood floors, or completely hate the color and just want a reset. These could be examples of when a full resanding is the right choice. However, completely resanding floors is expensive and can be disruptive for you and your family. It most likely requires you to completely stay off the floors for a minimum of three to four days. For many, depending on your home's layout, this could require you to completely stay out of your home. It's, unfortunately, also a dusty process. Trust me, even if a company claims to be dustless sanding or uses dust containment systems on their equipment, there is going to be dust when completely resanding the floors in your home. Ask anyone you know who has had their floors sanded. Again, sometimes completely sanding your floors is necessary, and having a beautiful hardwood floor is always worth it in the end.