refinish engineered wood floor?

3 years ago

Is it possible to refinish engineered wood flooring?

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

3 years ago

OK...let's have a look at what you are playing with. First off, the top layer is where the brown colouring is sitting on...your penny is sitting in the wrong place. It is currently sitting against one of the plies of wood.

Your 'microbevels' are not micro. They appear to be regular bevels = quite deep. It can be hard to sand PAST the bevels...it takes more wood off the floor than normal. And with a 2.5mm wear layer (I guess it depends on the option you choose?) you run a big risk of 'blow through' (which is when the sanding machine digs too deep and exposes underply.

Regardless of the finish on top, you must have 3mm of hardwood (top layer) to get a full sand/refinish. With a deeper bevel, as I said earlier, it can be tricky. If you leave stain/finish on the bevelled edge you run the risk of adhesion failure with the new finish.

Now there is the finish itself. Aluminum Oxide (AO) is notorious for being difficult to grind off. It takes most pros twice the effort (every bead of sweat has a price) and up to 3x the amount of sanding pads....that all adds up.

I would 'guess' the hardwood on top ends where you see the 'light stripe' of wood is just above the penny in the photo. That looks to be enough to get a full sand/refinish AND get most of the bevels off. The AO finish is going to be your biggest barrier.

A traditional sand/refinish = $5/sf. An AO finish can add as much as $2/sf. But the pro will only be able to give you an 'estimate'. Your particular floor might be easier ($1.50/sf) or it could be much harder than the pro anticipates ($3/sf). You won't know until the sanding has been completed.

If you REALLY want to be able to sand/refinish a floor, make sure you work with a traditional urethane/polyurethane finish over a 4mm+ wear layer with a true microbevel.

Be aware that regular urethane finishes leave homeowners rather disappointed and can lead to 'want to refinish' occurring 5 years EARLIER than anticipated (around year 7-9 versus years 12 - 15).

It's up to you to decide which is more important to you. Get the floor you want TODAY at a great price (without much hope of easy refinish) OR add in more cost today so that you can be guaranteed you can achieve the floor you want tomorrow.

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Comments (9)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
It depends on how much wood layer you have left. Was it refinished once before ? The only way to get an answer is get some quotes for refinishing from pros.
sicalvert
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for the response. It’s never been refinished before. My challenge is finding a pro that is familiar with refinishing engineered wood flooring. All I’ve contacted only redo hardwood.
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Thanks for your tips everyone! I decided to take the advice and bring in a professional. I pulled open the phone book, and looked for wood flooring company that specialized in refinishing. They just came by and had a look. Screen and recoat was not possible due to the scratches were too deep. He said he refinishes floating engineered wood floors all the time, and never had a problem. I have a cork underlay, and concrete below that. They use a very delicate sandpaper. I think he said he starts with 80 grit, then finishes with 100 grit. So now I am just waiting for the quote... *gulp*. I hope it is not too much. The neat thing though... We have very light oak wood floors, and they have faded to yellow. He said when he recoats it he can use some sort of UV protection, so that the floors will stay the original wood colour. That sounds pretty great! I'll post when I have the quote, and when the job is done to let you all know how it goes. Thanks again for the tips!!!!!!!!!!
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Don't do it! It definitely sounds like an engineered floor to me...and though engineered floors can be as beautiful as a solid wood floor WHEN NEW, you can't really refinish them in the "traditional" way. They can only be screened and sanded - and then, usually only once. Our home had beautiful brazilian cherry floors but because they're engineered, we're living with them dull and a bit scratched, so we can use that one time sanding before we sell. And believe me, it is driving me NUTZ doing that because I had the "real deal" before and was very used to refinishing when ever the floors looked a bit worn! Get what you ordered and don't settle for anything else.
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https://www.thespruce.com/laminate-vs-engineered-wood-flooring-comparison-1822247 There's a good chart there that explains the difference in laminate and engineered. And yes some engineered can be refinished if the top wood layer (veneer) is thick enough. This link will explain about refinishing engineered wood floors. wear layers and more here Personally though, I'd never have floors refinished in a home I was living it. Way too much of a mess. But that's just me. I cannot imagine how you have escaped the LVT madness. It's EVERYWHERE. :-) LVT or LVP means Luxury Vinyl Tile or Plank. It's a different animal that the old vinyl of yesterday. This blog goes over the differences of the types, though be aware that the products mentioned there are older, and you would want to look at more recent ones. SO many acronyms now it is hard to keep track. Some of them have no actual "vinyl" in them at all, but often "LVP" is used to refer to the entire category of flooring now. Types of LVT/LVP A couple of new ones - WPC & SPC link. There is a thread here in HOUZZ on a new WPC floor - tons of pictures and experiences with it. Check it out.
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1968 construction isn't older. I grew up in a pre WW I home that had actual wood parquet floors that I imagine were installed on site from pieces of wood. FWIW, engineered wood is hardwood - it is just not solid hardwood but has a layer of wood on top which is what is called the wear layer. The thicker the wear layer, the higher the quality of the wood would be and theoretically you would be able to refinish the wood two times approximately. I remodeled in a high rise condo and you should check what kind of rules there are for soundproofing of solid floors - e.g. wood or tile. My condo has very specific requirements so that I had to instll a sublayer of cork plus a sublayer of plywood and then the engineered boards. Not an expert but I think engineered wood is the preferred choice for installation on cement subfloors but a flooring expert could determine that as well as whether you woud install new floors over the old floors. I had wood floors and they were all ripped up and the new flooring was not just installed over the old wood floors.
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millworkman
3 years ago
Thickness of the wear layer will dictate whether it can be refinished, Is the surface flat or does it have microbevels? Aluminum oxide finish? If it has microbevels probably not up for a refinish as there will not be enough wood to get past those.
Freya Henry
3 years ago
Yes, Of course it is 100% Possible Man. If you agree then tell me...I can send you the website. I can use this for refinish wood flooring.
PRO
Norwood Architects
3 years ago
As other have posted it depends on the wear layer (the topmost layer). Floors with a thin (less than 2 mm) wear layer can probably tolerate a light sanding provided they haven't already been worn down too much from everyday use. Are you planning on staining them. This is possible especially if you are going darker. You might also be able to use a translucent glaze to change the floor color. Hoping to hear back from you so we know how it went.
sicalvert
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks so much for the feedback. I have a sample from the flooring company which says their floors have “2-3.5mm wear layer” and a “SuperDura aluminum oxide and ceramic finish.” They are primarily flat but do appear to have some minor microbeveling in places. I’ve attached a few pics below as well as one showing the thickness compared to a penny. Any suggestions for how to find a pro that is familiar with refinishing engineered wood?
Timothy Winzell
3 years ago
There are no special skills to finishing engineered flooring, but there are a few special practices. One cannot thoughtlessly grind with too heavy of a grit of sandpaper. It likely has aluminum oxide in the finish which does require a special technique. One can either buff it quickly with a Diamabrush, apply paint stripper the day before sanding or make the first sanding pass with a finer grit of paper than usual, like 80 or 100 grit. There are special lines of sandpaper one can buy to deal with it also.

I probably wouldn't run a Trio sander (or similar) on the floor, especially if it has any subfloor variations as it would be more likely to cut through to the second layer of veneer.
sicalvert
Original Author
3 years ago
I’m overwhelmed with appreciation for the time you’ve taken to help me. Your comments were all very helpful. Thank you very much

refinish engineered wood floor?

SJ McCarthy

Comments (9)

Patricia Colwell Consulting

sicalvert
Original Author

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millworkman

Freya Henry

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refinish engineered wood floor?

SJ McCarthy

Comments (9)

Patricia Colwell Consulting

sicalvertOriginal Author

Related Discussions

millworkman

Freya Henry

Norwood Architects

sicalvertOriginal Author

Timothy Winzell

sicalvertOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

sicalvert
Original Author

sicalvert
Original Author

sicalvert
Original Author