Floor Sanding Sherborne

Floor Sanding and Wood Floor Restoration in Sherborne, Dorset

QUICK QUOTATION

Floor sanding before and after

Floor Sanding in Sherborne and North Dorset

Sherborne is built of Ham stone and it is one of the handsomest small towns in the south west. Medieval buildings around the Abbey, Georgian frontages along Cheap Street and Long Street, substantial Victorian villas on the Bristol Road, and the two schools whose buildings shape a good deal of the town.

The floors follow the buildings. Wide oak and elm in the oldest properties near the Abbey, Georgian pine in the townhouses, and pitch pine in the Victorian villas and institutional buildings.

We are about fifty minutes away and in this part of Dorset regularly, so Sherborne surveys are usually within the week.

We cover Sherborne, Yetminster, Bradford Abbas, Thornford, Longburton, Castleton, Milborne Port, Charlton Horethorne, Marston Magna and Trent, plus Yeovil, Wincanton and Shaftesbury.

Listed Buildings and Conservation Consent

A very large proportion of central Sherborne is listed or in the conservation area. Sanding and 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 Dorset Council.

It is always worth a call before work begins. Consent tends to be straightforward for sensible work and the conversation is far easier beforehand than after.

Historic England publishes readable guidance on traditional building fabric, including floors, at historicengland.org.uk.

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

parquet wooden floor sanding
wooden floor sanding

School, College and Institutional Floors

Sherborne has more institutional floor area than a town its size normally would, and we work on that kind of building across the south west.

School halls, chapels, boarding house corridors, gymnasia and dance studios all have the same two constraints: they take enormous punishment during term and they can only be worked on during holidays.

We plan accordingly. 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 holds grip rather than turning glassy. Corridors and halls get a hard-wearing lacquer that will survive a term of trunks and trolleys.

Holiday windows are fixed and they fill early, so bursars who ring a term ahead get the dates they want.

Ham Stone, Damp and Ventilation

Ham stone is beautiful and porous, and buildings made of it need to breathe. Where cement render or modern paint has been applied at some point, moisture goes somewhere else, and often that somewhere is the floor.

What we find is cupped boards near external walls, blown or milky finishes in the same band, and occasionally soft timber where a joist end bears into damp stone.

We take moisture readings before quoting and we will not sand a wet floor, because it will move again and the finish will fail. Where the cause is blocked airbricks or raised ground the fix is cheap. Where it is impermeable render on a stone wall, that is a bigger conversation and one worth having before you pay for a floor.

flooring sanding company

Dust-Free Sanding

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

In a Georgian townhouse with lime plaster, decorative cornices and an open stairwell that matters a great deal. Fine dust settles into plaster detail and is difficult to remove without doing damage.

We sheet doorways, protect what stays in the room and clean as we go. Most customers stay in the house throughout and we plan the sequence of rooms so there is always somewhere usable.

Finishes for a Ham Stone House

Hardwax oil is what we fit most in period Sherborne property. It penetrates the timber rather than forming a plastic film, which is the right behaviour in a solid-walled building that needs to breathe, and it keeps the grain visible.

It is also repairable, so a burn or a deep scratch in three years is dealt with locally rather than by sanding a whole room again.

For heavy traffic, a shop, a rental, a school corridor, a two-pack water-based lacquer is harder and cures faster, and it does not amber with age.

Old boards take colour unevenly. We lay trial patches on your own floor and leave them a full day so you can judge them in your own light before committing.

Wood floor sanding company
Floor sanding taunton

Costs, Timings and Booking

Sanding and sealing in Sherborne generally runs twenty-five to forty pounds a square metre. Parquet is forty to sixty because it is slower and usually needs block repairs. 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, check ventilation and tell you honestly what the floor needs.

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 visits.

Nearby areas we also cover: Shaftesbury, Blandford Forum, Bournemouth and Bridport. There is a page for each, and the full list of towns is on our areas we cover page.

FAQ: Floor Sanding in Sherborne

Sherborne, Yetminster, Bradford Abbas, Thornford, Longburton, Castleton, Milborne Port, Charlton Horethorne, Marston Magna and Trent, plus Yeovil, Wincanton and Shaftesbury.

Refinishing an existing floor is normally acceptable, but lifting, replacing or altering historic timber can need listed building consent from Dorset Council. With so much of Sherborne listed, always check first.

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

Yes, regularly. Halls, chapels, corridors, gymnasia and dance studios, including line marking to governing body specification. Holiday windows are fixed and fill early, so book a term ahead.

Ham stone is porous and needs to breathe. Where cement render or modern paint has been applied, moisture is pushed elsewhere, often into the floor. It is a common cause of cupping here.

We use industrial extraction which captures the great majority of dust at the machine. That matters in a house with lime plaster and cornices, where fine dust is hard to remove safely.

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.

Not if it is done properly. We measure the remaining timber, use finer grits and more passes, and take off the minimum needed to get a sound, even surface.

Yes. In historic property we generally recommend timber slivers rather than resin, because the boards still move seasonally and slivers move with them.

Yes. Pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels, shops, halls, churches, 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

Our Services

Contact Us

© Copyright 2018-2024 ryansrestoration All rights reserved.
Connect with us:
Facebook-f Instagram
Ryan's Restoration
4.9
Based on 114 reviews
×
js_loader