School and College Floor Sanding

Sports Hall, Gym, Hall and Corridor Floor Restoration for Schools, Colleges and Universities

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Floor sanding before and after

Floor Restoration Built Around the School Calendar

Education floors have one problem that no other commercial floor has: they take punishment for thirty-nine weeks and can only be touched in the thirteen when nobody is there. Everything else follows from that.

We have worked on school and college floors across the South West for over forty-five years, and the firms that do this well are the ones that plan around your calendar rather than asking you to plan around theirs. We hold dates a term or more ahead, we work to the day rather than the week, and we do not leave a hall half finished on the first day of term.

Sports halls, gymnasia, assembly and drama halls, dance studios, corridors, boarding house floors, chapels and libraries. If it is timber and it is in an education building, we work on it.

Sports Halls and Line Marking

A sports hall floor is a technical surface, not a decorative one. It has to give the right amount of grip for indoor sport without being sticky, it has to survive trainers, trolleys, chairs and staging, and the markings have to be right.

We sand back to clean timber, remove the old markings entirely rather than painting over them, then re-mark to the correct governing body specification for badminton, netball, basketball, five-a-side, volleyball and short tennis. Multi-court halls are set out and colour-coded so the lines can actually be read during a game.

The seal is a proper sports system rather than a general-purpose lacquer. That matters because a hall floor finished with the wrong product either polishes up slippery, which is a safety problem, or goes dull within a term.

Where a floor is beyond restoration we will say so. Sprung floors with failed battens or widespread board damage sometimes need replacing, and we would rather tell a bursar that in June than in August.

parquet wooden floor sanding
wooden floor sanding

Assembly Halls, Drama Studios and Dance Floors

Assembly halls do everything: exams, concerts, drama, PE, parents evenings and lunch. That mixed use is what wears them out, because staging and chair stacks do far more damage than feet ever will.

We sand back, repair or replace damaged boards using timber matched for age and section, and finish with a system chosen for the actual use rather than the nominal one. If the hall is used for dance and drama we specify accordingly, because a dance floor needs a different amount of slip than a dining hall does.

Where a hall doubles as a badminton court, which many do, we re-mark it properly at the same time rather than leaving faded lines from the last decade underneath a fresh coat.

Corridors, Boarding Houses and Libraries

Corridor and circulation floors are the ones most often forgotten and the ones taking the most traffic. Hundreds of pupils several times a day, plus trolleys, cleaning machines and trunks at the start and end of term.

For these we normally fit a two-pack water-based lacquer, which is considerably harder than oil and cures fast enough to be walked on within hours. It also does not yellow, so a corridor refinished in August still looks right the following summer.

Boarding house floors, common rooms and libraries are gentler and can take an oil finish if the look matters, with the advantage that scuffs can be repaired locally in a half-term rather than needing the whole floor redone.

flooring sanding company

Dust, Safety and Working in an Occupied Building

All our machines run to industrial extraction rather than the bag systems on hire equipment, which captures the overwhelming majority of dust at the point it is created. In a building with IT suites, science labs and sensitive equipment that is not a nicety.

We work to method statements and risk assessments, our team are DBS checked, and we carry full public liability insurance. Certificates and references are available before you commit to anything, and we are used to signing in, wearing visitor identification and working alongside caretaking staff.

Where work has to happen while part of the site is occupied, we section off, sheet the route and agree access times in advance. Fumes are worth mentioning too: the water-based systems we use are far lower in solvents than the old products, which matters in a building where windows may be locked shut.

Planning, Timing and Getting the Dates You Want

Summer is the obvious window and it is also the one that fills first. A large sports hall typically needs five to seven working days including cure time, an assembly hall three to five, and corridors can often be done in phases across a half-term.

Book early. Bursars and site managers who ring in the autumn term for the following summer get the dates they want; those who ring in June take what is left. We hold provisional dates without deposit and confirm once you have budget approval.

Easter and October half-term work for smaller floors, and we can sometimes work a long weekend for a single hall if the timing is tight. Christmas is possible but cure times are slower in a cold building, so we would rather talk you out of it than deliver a floor that has not hardened properly.

Wood floor sanding company
Floor sanding taunton

Costs, Procurement and Booking

Sports hall sanding, marking and sealing is usually quoted per square metre with the line marking itemised separately so you can see it. Assembly halls and corridors are quoted the same way. Repairs, board replacement and any sub-floor work are listed line by line rather than buried in a lump sum.

We are used to procurement processes, will provide written quotations in whatever format your finance office needs, and can supply method statements, risk assessments, insurance certificates, product data sheets and references from other schools before you place an order.

Ring 01823 674562 or use the contact form and ask for a commercial survey. We will come out, measure, tell you honestly what the floor needs and what it does not, and give you a date you can actually plan around.

Where we do this

The workshop is at Wellington in Somerset and we cover Torquay, Barnstaple, Salisbury, Weymouth, Bridgwater, Wells, Dorchester and Newquay from it, along with everywhere on areas we cover.

Related work: sports hall floors, gym floors and basketball court construction. Two guides covering this in more depth: Removing Heavy Scuffing from Gym Floors: A Guide for Somerset Schools and Removing Heavy Scuffing from Gym Floors: A Guide for Somerset Schools.

FAQ: School and College Floor Sanding

Almost always in holiday periods. Summer is the main window, with Easter and October half-term suitable for smaller floors. We can occasionally work a long weekend for a single hall if the timing is tight.

A term or more for summer work. Holiday windows are fixed and they fill early, so schools that enquire in the autumn term get the dates they want. We hold provisional dates without a deposit.

Typically five to seven working days including cure time for a full sand, re-mark and seal. An assembly hall is usually three to five. We give firm dates at survey, not vague windows.

Yes, in-house. We remove the old markings completely rather than painting over them, then re-mark to the correct governing body specification for badminton, netball, basketball, five-a-side, volleyball and short tennis.

A proper sports system rather than a general-purpose lacquer. The wrong product either polishes up slippery, which is a safety issue, or dulls within a term.

Yes. We are DBS checked and carry full public liability insurance, and we work to method statements and risk assessments. Certificates and references are available before you commit.

Far less than you would expect. Our machines run industrial extraction which captures the great majority of dust at source, which matters in a building with IT suites and science labs.

The water-based systems we use are far lower in solvents than traditional products. We will still agree ventilation arrangements with your site manager before starting.

Usually, but not always. Sprung floors with failed battens or widespread board damage sometimes need replacing rather than restoring, and we would rather tell you that in June than in August.

Yes. We provide itemised written quotations in whatever format your finance office needs, plus method statements, risk assessments, insurance certificates, product data sheets and references from other schools.

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, ..

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