Wooden Floors Renovated without Dust or Smell

Sun-bleach and water-damage pose a challenge when restoring old wooden floors. Many years of use will expose wooden floors to all sorts of wear and tear. Sometimes, when renovating, the choice will be between putting down a new floor or polishing/sanding down the old one. Most people who have experienced restoration of an old building know how the dust spreads, creeps into every nook and cranny and permeates all textiles. But now there is a solution to the problem of dust. Bona, leaders in surface treatment of wooden floors, have recently introduced the Dust Care System, a specially adapted vacuum system for wooden floor sanding machines. The Nordea branch in Malmö was among the very first to experience the new wooden floor sanding technique with the Bona Belt and the new Dust Care System when their 20 year old sun bleached maple floors had to be sanded down. The 102 square metres with inset carpets and a conference table in the centre became a real challenge for Håkan Strömberg and Jonas Gustafsson of Håkans Golv Company in Simrishamn. It was an assignment that would illustrate how dust can be avoided when the tools used are adapted to their surroundings. – While we, the floor contractors, think of our health, our clients think of their homes. With the new system we are even able to empty the dust bags without inhaling any the dust or spreading it through the air, Håkan Strömberg tells. Once emptied, a new bag will automatically be put in place and the vacuum cleaner can be restarted. The Bona Edge was a superb ergonomic tool to remove marks from under furniture that had been in the same spot for years and from other surfaces that were difficult to get at. The Bona Edge was also attached directly to the vacuum cleaner, removing all the dust while the 7.5 metre tube from the sander to the vacuum cleaner followed every movement. Once the floor was completely clear of all old varnish, sun-bleached surfaces and marks from old furniture, it was time for the finish. The Bona Buffer sands down the floor and give it the perfect finish before varnishing. – Because we wanted to keep the floors light we used the Bona Tempo as primer. It is the primer that determines the colour of the floor. On top of the primer we applied the top coat, Bona Traffic twice, Håkan Strömberg explains. The advantage of Traffic, the two component water based finish, is that it wears particularly well and has a mat finish. The finish is pliable and does not crack like old varnishes. Furthermore, the environmental impact of the water based finish is much reduced and therefore it is the obvious choice for the environmentally conscious client. Water based finishes are less harmful to work with and do not have the unpleasant smell of solvent based finishes. – Unfortunately, many people leave it too late to sand down or repair their lovely, precious floors. Once the floors are too worn down or damaged by damp it may be difficult to get them back in style by sanding them down. However, in most instances renovating the floors can salvage them, says Jonas Gustafsson. Nordea Premises Manager Ulf Kardel can see many advantages in Bona’s Dust Care System. – At Nordea we open more and more of our central office space to become open-plan offices. This makes it difficult to renovate without spreading dust all over. With the dust-free sanding down facility it is possible to renovate the floor in stages – i.e. to isolate the part of the surface to be renovated without all the other parts of the open-plan office being overcome by dust.