If you’re like many of our clients and have bought or moved into a new house and are looking at a wood floor that you simply don’t like, what should you do? There are various options open to you and which you choose will depend on a number of basic issues such as your budget, whether you’re renting or have bought and how much hassle you’re prepared to put up with.
In this article, we’ll explore the options of staining or painting your wood flooring as well as the sometimes overwhelming, but cost effective notion of replacing your floor.
NOTE: If you are renting your property, one thing you should consider before you do anything is whether or not you have the right to change the look of your flooring. This information will normally be marked in your rental agreement. If you don’t check this out, you could find yourself in a whole lot of trouble; even if the floor looks better after you’ve finished!
The two major advantages of painting a wood floor are that you can achieve a dramatic colour difference, which is less possible with a stain AND the fact that the paint effectively sits on the surface of the wood, which means changing the colour again in the future is easier than it would be if you applied a deeper stain.
Painting your floor can often seem like an easy option, but before you get fooled into this false sense of security, think carefully about the steps that are required for an effective and long-lasting result. In order to do any paint job successfully, the secret is in the preparation.
Here’s an idea of the steps you need to plan for:
1. Sanding.
2. Cleaning.
3. Priming.
4. Re-sanding.
5. Painting.
6. Drying.
7. Painting again.
8. Finishing.
Sometimes people try to skip one or more of these steps and while the immediate result may look OK, in no time whatsoever, they’ll typically find themselves dealing with peeling, wearing or bubbling paint. This is really bad news because it means that the time you’ve saved at the start of the process soon creeps up on you and you wind up spending more time in the end. So beware and be prepared if you decide to paint your floor.
In many ways, the preparation required for staining your wood floor are similar to those required when painting, so there is little to be gained on the preparation front when you choose staining. However, the big difference between paint and stain is that stains go beyond the surface of the wood and will be a deeper, and in many ways a longer-lasting solution. That said, the main downside of staining wood is that the colour change possibilities are less dramatic than those you can achieve by painting and tend to be more conservative than wood paints which can be as wild as your imagination will let you go.
Replacing your wood flooring may seem like a completely overwhelming notion if you’ve just moved house or are in the middle of significant renovations, yet this solution often proves to be the most cost effective.
Wood flooring today costs a whole lot less than it did only a couple of decades ago. What’s more, modern-day wood floors give you a whole lot more choice than before as well as being really efficient in terms of withstanding temperature and moisture fluctuations and even being suitable for installation over under floor heating.
While at Wood and Beyond, we’d never suggest to someone who is looking at a stunning, original and top condition wood floor to rip it up and start again, there are some situations where replacement truly is the best option.
One such situation is where you are considering investing in painting or staining a wood floor that is in bad condition and needs significant repair. Another is where you are considering your flooring solutions in either a bathroom or a kitchen or where you plan to install under floor heating. In each of these situations, a modern, engineered wood flooring solution is a significantly better option than doing up old solid wood flooring, no matter how pretty you think you can make it look.
When it comes to making the right decision for your particular project, you can often be torn between renovating and re-looking a floor and replacing it. It’s always a good idea to get a couple of professional views and at Wood and Beyond, we work with our clients to make the best decisions for their unique situation and their budget.
If you’d like help to choose between staining and painting your floor, why not get in touch? It costs nothing to chat and we’d love to hear from you.