Wood Floor Polishing

In professional terms it means machine buffing the existing finish to bring back its shine, and where needed applying a fresh coat of lacquer or oil. It is not the same as pouring on a bottled floor polish, which builds up in layers and eventually has to be stripped off.

Most of them are, yes. Products containing acrylics or silicone leave a film that goes cloudy, attracts dirt and stops any future coating bonding properly. If a floor has been treated with them for years, it usually has to be stripped before it can be refinished. A pH-neutral cleaner and professional buffing is the safer route.

Polishing works on the finish sitting on top of the wood. Sanding removes timber. Polishing costs a fraction as much, takes hours rather than days and can be repeated indefinitely, whereas a floor only has a limited number of sands in it.

Buffing is one of the cheapest things we do, usually well under half the cost of sanding the same area. The price depends on the size of the floor, its condition and whether a fresh coat of finish is going on afterwards. Send us photographs and we will give you a figure.

A typical living room takes a couple of hours to buff and you can walk on it the same day. If a fresh coat of finish is being applied it becomes a one-day job, with the floor walkable in socks that evening and ready for furniture after three or four days.

Yes, all three, though the approach differs. Parquet needs care because the blocks run in several directions and an aggressive pad can leave swirl marks across the pattern. Old floorboards with a lot of movement sometimes need working in sections.

Matt, satin or gloss. Satin is the most popular because it looks warm without showing every mark. Gloss reflects most light but highlights dust, scratches and any unevenness in the boards. Matt hides marks best and suits modern interiors. We carry sample boards so you can see them in your own light.

Every two to three years in an average home, and annually in hallways, kitchens and anywhere that opens onto a garden. Commercial floors often need it every few months. Keeping to that sort of cycle is far cheaper than letting a floor go and paying for a full sand.

Light surface scratching in the finish, yes. Wet the floor with a damp cloth — if the scratches vanish, buffing will deal with them. Scratches still visible when wet are in the timber itself and need sanding.

Usually, and that is exactly what it is for. Dullness is normally thousands of microscopic scuffs scattering the light. Buffing flattens them and the shine returns. If the floor stays dull after buffing, the finish has thinned and needs a fresh coat.

Yes — restaurants, shops, gyms, offices, village halls and schools. We work evenings and weekends where needed so you can keep trading, and we run full dust extraction so neighbouring areas stay usable.

Very much so. Buffing works the existing oil back into the surface and evens out the patchy look that develops in walkways. Oiled floors also take maintenance coats without visible joins, which makes them the easiest of all to keep looking well.

You can buff a floor with a hired machine, but the two things that go wrong are pad choice and pressure. The wrong pad leaves swirl marks and too much dwell in one place burns the finish. If you are applying any product afterwards, compatibility with the existing coating is critical.

Some, and it is fine dust that stays airborne longer than coarse sanding dust. We run extraction throughout for exactly that reason, so the mess is minimal and nothing settles onto a wet finish.

Mats at every outside door, felt pads under furniture legs, regular sweeping or vacuuming with a hard-floor head, and a barely damp mop with a pH-neutral wood floor cleaner. Never use a steam mop — it drives moisture into the boards and causes cupping.