Can You Sand & Polish Engineered Flooring?

Yes, you can sand and polish engineered timber flooring. Almost all engineered timber floors can be sanded and polished a couple of times, just like solid timber floors. It depends upon the thickness of the wooden veneer present in the engineered flooring.

Pre-finished engineered floors are the best alternatives to solid hardwood flooring as they have a beautiful appearance and style like timber floors. They are more affordable, but at the same time, they are designed to be stronger and more durable than timber floors. They also come in a wide variety of styles, finishes, sizes, and thicknesses.

Engineered floors give you the flexibility to choose your favourite wooden species without worrying about the cost. Because of all these advantages, many homeowners choose engineered hardwood flooring over timber floors for their houses in Sydney. However, they are uncertain if their engineered floors can be sanded and refinished. Almost all engineered flooring can be sanded and refinished except a few. So, let’s see how and why.

Sanding & Polishing Engineered Flooring

To begin with, let’s see how engineered floors are made. Engineered floors, also called floating floors or hybrid floors, are made of multiple layers of wood pressed or glued together. It consists of a thick core of plywood topped with a hardwood wear layer. It is the thickness of this hardwood layer that decides whether your engineered flooring is suitable for sanding and polishing.

Engineered floors that come with a hardwood wear layer of thickness around 3 mm to 6 mm can be sanded and polished multiple times. And they will last for a very long time. So typically, engineered floors with 3 to 4 mm thickness can be sanded about 3 to 6 times. However, if the hardwood wear layer is less than 3 mm, then floor sanding and polishing treatments are not recommended. For instance, if your engineered flooring has a thickness of about 2 mm, then floor sanding is risky.

Floor Sanding and Polishing for Engineered Flooring

Since the top wear layer is real wood, engineered floors are also susceptible to damage from daily wear and tear. Floor sanding and polishing can help remove all types of damage, including scratches, dents, gouges, and stains. Sanding removes the worn-out top layer and smoothes out the flooring.

Floor sanding and polishing professionals pay special attention while sanding engineered hardwood floors, as they are thinner wooden veneers. A rigorous or menial sanding could permanently damage the floor. They use the right techniques and equipment with utmost care to sand and polish engineered flooring. However, if a board is severely damaged, they will replace it with a new engineered hardwood plank.

Once sanding is done, floor sanding professionals apply a protective finish like polyurethane, wax, or oil to ensure durability, appearance, and protection, just like timber floors.

Staining Engineered Hardwood Floors

You can also stain engineered floors in a desirable colour that matches your aesthetic style. For staining, the floors are first sanded to eliminate the scratches, imperfections, and the previous finish. After sanding, timber floor stains of the desired colour are applied.

Good quality engineered flooring can last for ages with proper care and maintenance. Though engineered flooring can be sanded several times, they are still limited. So, you must take care of your floors by cleaning them regularly. Sweep them daily to remove dirt and dust that can scratch and damage the floor.

 

Need professional sanding and polishing service for engineered floors in Sydney? Contact our team at Abacus Flooring and leave your engineered hardwood floorings to us. We will sand and refinish them to make them look flawless and beautiful again.