Floor Sanding Bovey Tracey

Floor Sanding and Wood Floor Restoration in Bovey Tracey, Devon

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Floor sanding before and after

Floor Sanding in Bovey Tracey and the Moor Edge

Bovey Tracey calls itself the gateway to the moor and it sits exactly where the Devon lowlands give way to Dartmoor. Old stone and cob cottages around the church and Fore Street, Victorian villas built when the town became a genteel retreat, the pottery and craft buildings, and modern housing on the edges.

Beyond the town the moor villages take over, at Lustleigh, Manaton, North Bovey and Widecombe, where the cottages are granite and thatch and the floors are much older.

The floors range from wide elm and early pine on sleeper walls in the villages to good Victorian boards over joists in the town.

We cover Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, Manaton, North Bovey, Heathfield, Chudleigh Knighton, Ilsington, Hennock, Trusham and Moretonhampstead, plus Newton Abbot, Ashburton and Exeter.

National Park Rules and Listed Buildings

A good deal of this area sits inside Dartmoor National Park, and a great many buildings are listed. Refinishing an existing floor is generally acceptable, but lifting boards, replacing timber, altering levels or changing the character of a historic surface can need listed building consent from Teignbridge District Council or the Dartmoor National Park Authority, depending on where you are.

It is worth a call before anything starts. We have worked on plenty of listed floors and are happy to speak to your conservation officer.

Our default on historic timber is minimum removal. Finer grits, more passes, and no attempt to flatten out centuries of settlement. Wear is character rather than damage, and once it is sanded away it does not come back.

parquet wooden floor sanding
wooden floor sanding

Moorland Rainfall and Sub-Floor Damp

Bovey sits at the foot of the moor and the rainfall here is high, with saturated ground through much of the winter. Sub-floor damp is a regular finding, particularly in the older buildings and the moor edge cottages.

The symptoms are consistent: cupped boards near external walls, blown or milky finishes in the same band, and occasionally soft timber where a joist end bears into wet granite, cob or masonry.

The cause is rarely a leak. It is nearly always a void that has stopped breathing, because airbricks were blocked, rendered over or buried by a raised path, or because a concrete floor elsewhere stopped the airflow through.

We take moisture readings before quoting and we will not sand a wet floor. We tell you plainly what to fix and come back when the readings are right.

Dust-Free Sanding in an Old Building

Our machines run to industrial extraction rather than the cloth bags fitted to hire equipment, capturing the great majority of dust as it is created.

In an old building with lime plaster, exposed beams and a tight stair that is not optional. Fine dust settles into every joint and lime plaster does not take kindly to being scrubbed.

We sheet doorways, protect what stays in the room and clean as we go. Nearly all our customers stay in the house while we work, and we plan the room order so there is always somewhere usable.

flooring sanding company

Commercial Floors Around Bovey Tracey

We work for pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, galleries and shops in the town and the moor villages, plus church and village halls, schools, colleges, nurseries, gyms, dance studios and sports halls across south Devon.

Sports halls and dance floors are sanded back to clean timber, re-marked to the correct governing body specification for badminton, netball, basketball or five-a-side, then sealed with a proper sports system that keeps its grip rather than turning slippery.

Village halls we normally complete inside a single closed week, which suits committees who cannot lose a month of bookings. Pubs and restaurants are done overnight or on closed days with fast-cure sealers. School floors go into holiday windows booked a term or more ahead.

Finishes for a Moor Edge House

Hardwax oil is almost always our recommendation in old Bovey property. It penetrates the timber rather than forming a plastic film, which is right in a building where everything else breathes, and it can be repaired locally rather than by redoing a whole room.

For anywhere taking wet boots off the moor, a family hallway, a holiday let, a pub, a two-pack water-based lacquer is harder and cures faster.

In a climate this wet, matting matters more than usual. A generous coir mat at every external door removes the grit and water that would otherwise grind through any finish along the walking line.

We lay trial patches on your own boards and leave them a full day, because old elm and pine take colour unevenly.

Wood floor sanding company
Floor sanding taunton

Costs, Timings and Booking

Sanding and sealing in Bovey Tracey generally runs twenty-five to forty pounds a square metre. Parquet is higher. Stairs are priced per tread, and gap filling, board replacement and repairs are quoted line by line.

The survey is free and takes about half an hour. We measure the remaining timber, take moisture readings, look at ventilation and tell you what the floor genuinely needs, including when the honest answer is to wait until it has dried out.

Ring 01823 674562 or use the contact form. A wide photograph of the room and a close one of the worst area will usually get you a realistic range before anyone drives over.

Nearby areas we also cover: Ashburton, Chudleigh, Exeter, Moretonhampstead and Newton Abbot. There is a page for each, and the full list of towns is on our areas we cover page.

FAQ: Floor Sanding in Bovey Tracey

Bovey Tracey, Lustleigh, Manaton, North Bovey, Heathfield, Chudleigh Knighton, Ilsington, Hennock, Trusham and Moretonhampstead, plus Newton Abbot, Ashburton and Exeter.

Refinishing an existing floor is normally acceptable, but lifting, replacing or altering historic timber can need listed building consent from Teignbridge District Council or the Dartmoor National Park Authority. Ask before starting.

Generally twenty-five to forty pounds a square metre for sanding and sealing, higher for parquet. Stairs are per tread and repairs quoted separately. Survey and quote are free.

High rainfall off Dartmoor and saturated ground through the winter, combined with sub-floor voids that have stopped breathing because airbricks were blocked, rendered over or buried.

No, and we will tell you so. It will cup again and the finish will fail. We take readings first, explain what needs fixing and come back when the floor is ready.

Usually beautifully, but they need a light hand. Elm is soft and often thin by now, so we take off the minimum needed rather than chasing a flat surface.

We use industrial extraction which captures the great majority of dust at the machine. In a lime-plastered building with exposed beams that makes an enormous difference.

A single room is about two days and a full downstairs three to four. Oil wants a day before light use and a week before rugs. Lacquer is quicker.

Yes, and in historic property we strongly prefer timber slivers to resin, because these boards still move seasonally and slivers move with them.

Yes. Pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, galleries, shops, village and church halls, schools, colleges, nurseries, gyms, dance studios and sports halls including line marking.

Case Studies

Once your floor has been professionally sanded and finished, it is important to take steps to maintain its appearance and durability.

FLOORING GUIDES

Once your floor has been professionally sanded and finished, it is important to take steps to maintain its appearance and durability.

Our company provides professional wood floor restoration services and floor installations for both commercial and domestic clients across the UK. With more than 30 years of experience under our belts, ..

Ryan's Restoration

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