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4 Options for Changing the Color of Your Hardwood Floors

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 22:25:47 GMT

There are plenty of methods for changing the color of your floor, but not all methods will work on every floor. Read this blog to learn about your options.

No matter what wood, stain, or finish you currently have for your floors, you're not stuck with the coloring. There are plenty of different methods for changing the color of your floor, but not all methods will work on every floor. Here are some of your options.

1. Sanding and Refinishing

As long as you have healthy hardwood, you can sand and refinish it. You will need to fully sand the floor first. After sanding, you can stain the floor a different color. From there, you add the finish.

The sanding is arguably the most important part of this process. No other method of changing the color of your floorboards can give you the full effect you're looking for without some sanding involved.

Caveats to Sanding and Refinishing

Much of what you can accomplish will depend on the natural color of your hardwood and the condition of the wood. Old, thin hardwood can't stand up to sanding. You will do better by having it replaced. If you have engineered flooring, such as a floating floor not attached to the substrate, you can't sand it.

The same stain solution can show a different color depending on the wood you apply it to. You should test the stain before finalizing your choice. A good time to do it is while sanding. Since you will go over the floor multiple times, you can remove the test stains in the process.

You can also skip staining if you like the natural color of the wood. Even if you do stain, you can find it difficult to make the wood lighter than its natural color.

2. Glazing or Coating

You can add a glaze or coat to your hardwood floors to give them a darker color. Several products exist that will let you change or restore the color of your hardwood floors. Tinted topcoats, varnishes, and various types of polyurethane can give you a darker color.

Caveats to Glazing or Coating

The main issue with adding a coating comes from coating's tendency to wear and fade quickly. As the coating fades, the coloring below it will come through. This process can leave your floor with a patchwork unevenness. Glazing or coating can be a great temporary solution, but it's no substitute for sanding and refinishing the floor properly.

3. Whitewashing

Whitewashing your hardwood can give you a brighter color that helps your furniture or décor stand out. Whitewashing or bleaching the wood can give it a softer look without hiding the character of the wood itself.

You'll find many products specifically designed to whitewash a hardwood floor. Many people have created good results by mixing their own whitewash solution of white paint and water.

Caveats to Whitewashing

Whitewashing works best on lighter wood. If you try to whitewash or bleach darker wood, you can end up with a grayish, brownish, or muddy color you probably won't find too appealing. To maintain the whitewashed look, a seal or finish should go on top as well.

4. Speaking to Professionals

You can change the color of the hardwood yourself if you know what you're doing. However, you can easily damage or ruin your hardwood floors if you go about the process haphazardly.

In almost all cases, you should speak with a professional hardwood flooring service about your options. No two hardwood floors are the same. Each floor will take to staining or other coloring methods differently.

At K & Z Hardwood Flooring, we can help guide you towards the best option for changing the color and character of your hardwood floors. If you have questions or need professional hardwood services, contact us today .

Refinishing and Restoring Hardwood Floors: What Homeowners Need to Know

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 22:18:53 GMT

Natural wood floors add beauty to a home. If your natural wood flooring looks dull, drab, and kind of dirty, learn what you can do restore and refinish it.

The beauty of your hardwood floors needs to shine through. But your natural wood flooring looks dull, drab and kind of dirty. Even with regular DIY maintenance and cleaning, your floors may need something more.

Before you consider replacing or covering old, worn, stained or lackluster hardwoods, take a look at the professional-level services that can save your floors. Not only can these expertly offered options change the look and feel of your floors, but they can also save you time and money.

Instead of spending your entire weekend or every evening buffing and polishing or investing in a completely new install, these processes provide plenty of opportunities to keep your existing floors and relax as someone else does the work for you.

Sanding and Buffing

Sanding your hardwood floors removes more than just the surface coating. This type of restoration process goes down deeper, stripping the outer polyurethane sealant as well as the top layer of underlying wood.

If your floors only have surface damage, such as scratches in the sealant, buffing (and not sanding) may suffice. Buffing removes the top coat, giving the pros the chance to re-seal it with a shiny, fresh layer of sealant. But if your floors have stains, deep scratches or other damage that extends below the clear surface, sanding may be the way to go.

While it's tempting to rent a sander and try to remove the top layers of your floor yourself, a DIY job might not end up saving you money. Uneven sanding can cause obvious imperfections that may ruin the look of your floors. Unless you have expert knowledge/training and the correct machinery/tools, a professional is the best option for this job.

Staining and Sealing

After sanding your floors you're left with a pristine, smooth surface. But the rich color that you're used to and the high shine that adore are all but gone. What can you do to remedy the situation and get the décor back that you're looking for? A professional staining and sealing process can completely transform your old or sanded floors.

Start by choosing a stain that matches the room's décor or the overall design scheme of your home. Keep in mind, you may decide to paint walls, change out wallpaper or switch up the room's aesthetics later on. A neutral stain may last longer and serve you better if you aren't sure about keeping the décor.

Again, like sanding, staining is a job that's best left to the professionals. An uneven coating can create dark and light patches or a streaky. This means that you may have to re-sand the floor, wasting even more of your time and your money.

After staining the floor, sealing it can add shine and protect it from everyday wear and tear. This doesn't mean that your floor won't scratch again. A clear polyurethane coating will help your floor to resist some stains, moisture and light wear. But it's still possible to get deep scratches with this type of coating.

Whitewashing Wood

Whitewashing isn't for everybody. But it is an option that may fit into some décor schemes. If you want to go lighter or brighter, whitewashing cab achieve that look - without having to cover your floors with a white rug.

Like the name says, this process involved 'washing' (staining) your floor with a white/light color. This isn't the same as painting the floor white. A coating of white paint completely covers the wood grain, creating a solid surface. Whitewashing allows the wood's natural texture and pattern to show through.

Similar to staining and sealing, whitewashing is a job that requires a professional's touch. Even though it's possible to brush on the light stain yourself, the experts know the correct techniques and methods that will give you the look you want.

Do you need help refinishing or restoring your floors? K & Z Hardwood Flooring offers sanding, sealing, staining, whitewashing and other similar services.

How Humidity Can Affect Hardwood and Laminate Flooring

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 22:08:35 GMT

High indoor humidity can cause issues for hardwood and laminate floors. Understand these issues before they arise so that you can address and prevent them.

High humidity levels can have a huge effect on a number of different surfaces within your home, not the least of which is your floor. Hardwood and laminate flooring are two of the most common residential flooring materials available on the market, and high indoor humidity levels can cause a number of issues for each of them.

Understanding the effects that high humidity can have on your laminate and hardware floors can help you identify issues as they arise and address them before they can cause permanent damage or require floor replacement.

What Humidity Does to Your Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood flooring is made out of natural wood that is treated to resist moisture. However, over time wear and tear can slowly erode the surface of your floor. Older or scratched-up hardwood floors that have not been stained or sealed in several years can absorb moisture.

High levels of humidity in the air can cause your floor to absorb moisture. If enough moisture is absorbed into your hardwood flooring, planks or tiles, the individual pieces can begin to swell. This causes them to push against each other, eventually causing warping, cupping or other instances of structural change that can create an uneven surface and even cause your hardwood to split.

What Humidity Does to Your Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring isn't made out of pure wood; instead, it is made out of a wood veneer or a plastic print designed to look like wood that is then sandwiched between a clear protective layer and a thicker core layer of fiberboard.

Similar to hardwood flooring, laminate flooring will swell up if exposed to extensive humidity levels, which can create an uneven flooring surface. However, unlike wood, it will also contract if it is exposed to extremely low levels of humidity, which can expose gaps between individual flooring tiles and boards.

This means that if the humidity levels in your home fluctuate between extremely high in the summer and extremely low in the winter, your laminate floors can begin to split and crack.

How to Protect Your Hardwood and Laminate Floors

For hardwood flooring, one of the most important things that you can do to protect against high humidity levels is to make sure that it is properly sealed and stained once it becomes worn. Wood stain can help prevent the wood itself from absorbing all kinds of water, in addition to refreshing the appearance of your floors.

Laminate flooring can resist humidity in the air only if it is properly installed. This means that you should let your laminate flooring sit in the room that it is going to be installed in for a day or two before you actually install it to allow for the material to get used to the room's humidity level.

Then, during the actual installation process, a quarter-inch gap should be left - usually under the baseboard so that it's not visible - around the edge of your floor to give the laminate room to expand and contract.

However, beyond individual treatments that you can use for both types of flooring, you can also take steps to reduce the level of humidity in your home. You can invest in a hygrometer, or an instrument which measures humidity levels in your home, to determine what your humidity level actually is.

Alternatively, some thermostats attached to residential HVAC systems have a built-in humidity measure. In general, you'll want humidity levels to be somewhere between 35 percent and 55 percent. You can correct high and low humidity levels by using portable dehumidifiers or by installing humidifiers throughout your home as needed.

For any questions about the effect of humidity on your home's flooring, feel free to contact our team at K & Z Hardwood Flooring.

Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Floor

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 21:17:47 GMT

Choosing a floor is a big decision. Even the least durable flooring should last you anywhere from five to ten years, and more durable types can last well over fifty years with the best care. Everyone lives differently, and your lifestyle also factors in. So what are the major things you should consider when you're shopping for a floor?

What Is Your Installation Budget?

The cost of installation and the cost of materials can be very important when choosing a floor. If you have a limited budget, engineered hardwood is often faster to install and more affordable than solid hardwood. But solid hardwood can still be fairly affordable depending on the type of wood.

Ceramics or tiles may have lower material budgets, but they also tend to be fairly costly to install — especially with harder installations, such as large format tiles.

What Is Your Maintenance Budget?

There are two factors when you consider the cost of flooring: installation and maintenance. Consider laminate flooring. It's cheap to install, but you'll probably need to install it again within a few years. The true cost over ten years may be the cost of multiple installations and material purchasing.

When it comes to hardwood floors, the maintenance budget usually involves buffing or resurfacing the floor, perhaps once every decade. Other than that, hardwood floors will generally be easy to maintain.

Likewise, with tile, the floors themselves will probably be fairly durable, but there will be some costs associated not only with maintenance but also with removing it when it needs replacing.

How Highly Trafficked Are Your Floors?

There are a couple of important considerations when it comes to traffic. Traffic can damage floors over time. But also, some types of flooring can become uncomfortable in areas that see a high amount of traffic.

Tile floors tend to be the most durable for highly trafficked areas. Ceramic tile specifically, as natural stone can be delicate and porous. But tile is also very hard and has no give. For areas like a living room, tile floors are going to be loud. For areas like a kitchen, tile floors are going to be difficult to stand on for long periods of time.

Thus, hardwood floors are often the best option for highly trafficked areas, because though they are very durable, they also have some amount of give and also some sound dampening.

Do You Have Pets and Children?

Pets and children can do a number on floors. Cheap vinyl or laminate will often get scratched and scuffed, and unfortunately, they really can't be repaired — when laminate is damaged, it has to be replaced.

Options such as tile and hardwood are usually better for homes with pets and children. Tile and hardwood are both easy to clean (easier than carpet) and durable. Tile will resist most scratching, but when it's chipped, you need to replace it. You can refinish solid hardwood many times.

How Important Is Resale Value?

Some people intend to keep their homes in their families for many decades. Other people intend to sell their home within a few years. The resale value of your home is important when considering the type of flooring you're installing.

For instance, laminate flooring can be convenient and cheap, but it doesn't improve the resale value of your home. In many areas, hardwood flooring is extremely competitive and makes it far easier to sell a home.

As you can see, there's quite a lot that you need to consider when choosing a floor. A professional can help. Contact K & Z Hardwood Flooring to explore your options and find what works best for you

Make Your Hardwood Floors Last With 4 Simple Maintenance Tips

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 20:58:32 GMT

With the high cost of hardwood flooring for your home, it's vital to know what you can do to make your hardwood floors last as long as possible. If you're just now looking into getting hardwood floors installed at home, you should ask a professional installer what you need to do to preserve your floors.

The following tips, along with the insight of a professional, can ensure that your hardwood flooring remains a great investment for years to come.

Avoid Wearing Shoes Indoors

While you may be used to wearing shoes indoors, either due to habit or previously having tile floors that are easy to keep scratch-free, it's not a good idea to continue wearing shoes with hardwood flooring. If you're simply used to the feeling of shoes when indoors, you can look into getting a pair of slippers that are safe to wear on hardwood floors.

The main reason to avoid wearing shoes indoors, besides the floors getting dirtier quicker, is that the shoes can track rocks and other grime inside. Debris from your shoes can scratch your floors and ruin your hardwood flooring's beautiful finish.

Keep Pets' Nails Trimmed Short

If you have any pets that are allowed indoors, you need to be aware that their nails can be an issue for the floors. Long nails can cause light scratches on the hardwood flooring and be difficult to remove on your own. Luckily, keeping your pets' nails trimmed is as easy as visiting a groomer monthly to get them cut short.

Another option for protecting your floors from your pets' nails is to use claw coverings that can prevent sharp claws from scratching the floors. Claw coverings can be a smart choice if you want the best protection for your hardwood flooring without having to make monthly appointments to the groomer. Your pets are likely to prefer this option too!

Lay Down Mats in High-Traffic Areas

Along with preventing scratches and gouges in your flooring, it's a good idea to lay down some mats. Thick mats or rugs can add some cushion to the floors and make it easier to protect the hardwood flooring from damages. In addition, they can liven up a dark or drab room by adding a pop of color. When checking out different mats, look for ones that have an anti-slip backing and can stay still during regular wear.

Use Cleaning Solutions Safe for Wood

As you look into how to keep your flooring looking its best for years, you'll see that hardwood floors require specific cleaning solutions. While you may be used to using just any cleaner for tile or carpeting to keep it clean, specific solutions will be needed to prevent damage to the hardwood flooring. For example, using undiluted ammonia or alkaline cleaners can fade or damage the finish.

Understanding what finish your hardwood flooring has can allow you to pick out the right cleaning solution that will give your flooring the deep clean that you want. Whether you use liquid or paste wax for the flooring, you can get rid of some of the wear on the hardwood flooring and ensure that it looks like new again.

As you look into replacing the hardwood flooring, you're likely already thinking of how to extend the lifespan of the floors so that you make the best purchase possible. Contacting us at K & Z So. Calif. Remodeling Inc. can help you get matched with the kind of finish and style of hardwood flooring you want and ensure that you understand how to keep the floors clean and in good condition over the years.

4 Reasons to Save Your Home's Old Hardwood Floors

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 20:10:11 GMT

You may have bought an older house and realized the carpet covered beautiful but worn hardwood flooring. Maybe you've been living with hardwood flooring, but it needs some attention. Many people wonder if it's worth refinishing the hardwood flooring if it's historic but has seen better days.

Don't cover your old hardwood with tile or carpet. As long as there are no wide sagging areas, extensive squeaky spots or moldy boards, you should be able to salvage even the scruffiest looking hardwood floor, and here are four reasons why you should.

Natural Hardwood Floors Are Realtors' Dream Floor Covering

If you intend to sell your home, those hardwood floors are a major selling point. Millennials and other home buyers favor hardwood floors for a number of reasons.

Wood flooring is hypoallergenic and can be finished with a number of people-friendly stains and waxes. The unique worn finishes on hardwood floor planks also make a beautiful contrast to minimalist and Euro-style furnishings.

Today's home buyers love buying homes that are sustainable and have character. Refinished hardwood flooring can last at least as long as 20 years and even longer than 100 years with the proper care. That's about as green as it gets. As for character, individual hardwood floors are one-of-a-kind without even trying.

Hardwood Floors Make Decorating Easy

Not only do hardwood floors lend themselves to any kind of decor, they also allow you to easily change color schemes and styles over the lifetime of your home. Easily swap out area rugs under dining tables and in living areas whenever you update the interior decor of these rooms.

In contrast, wall-to-wall carpeting or tiles may look dated or clash with new color schemes and furnishing styles down the road.

If your hardwood floors are solid wood that hasn't been sanded too much, you can sand the floors several times if you ever want to change your floor stain color. Hardwood floors can be stained, painted, stenciled or bleached.

Your hardwood flooring professional is a great source to learn the pros and cons of choosing various colors when you have kids, pets and other challenges with your flooring.

Old Hardwood Floors Are Easily Patched

The straightforward, reliable construction of older floors makes them easy to repair. Whether there are old pet stains, holes in your flooring or warped boards, qualified flooring experts will take out the damaged wood planks, replace them and stain the floor to match the existing flooring.

If most rooms in your home have hardwood floors but the floor in one room is beyond repair, it's easy to replace the flooring in the one room to match the rest of the home's flooring. Reclaimed wood and wood of similar species and size can be installed and stained to look nearly identical to the flooring in the rest of the home.

Hardwood Floors Can Be Sealed and Cleaned Your Way

You decide how much shine your floors will have. You can opt for an unvarnished hardwood floor that you routinely buff with wax. Or go with a varnished or urethane-finished surface that you mop with a silicone floor shine product to make it gleam.

Some people use mineral oil or specific natural waxes on their floors. They clean their floors with specialty products that have no toxins. Oil-based finishes can be used in kitchens and dining rooms, while tung oil and water-based finishes can be used in bedrooms and seating areas.

Contact K & Z Hardwood Flooring to learn more about repairing and refinishing your hardwood floors. We can custom finish your floor with precision sanding, stripping, staining, sealing and more.

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4 Options for Changing the Color of Your Hardwood Floors

1. Sanding and Refinishing ﻿

2. Glazing or Coating ﻿

3. Whitewashing ﻿

4. Speaking to Professionals ﻿

Refinishing and Restoring Hardwood Floors: What Homeowners Need to Know

Sanding and Buffing ﻿

Staining and Sealing ﻿

Whitewashing Wood ﻿

How Humidity Can Affect Hardwood and Laminate Flooring

Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Floor

What Is Your Installation Budget? ﻿

What Is Your Maintenance Budget? ﻿

How Highly Trafficked Are Your Floors? ﻿

Do You Have Pets and Children? ﻿

How Important Is Resale Value? ﻿