Dustless vs Sandless Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Dustless hardwood floor refinishing and Sandless hardwood floor refinishing are not the same thing! Dustless wood floor refinishing should really be recognized as the convenient wood floor restoration. Floors are sanded to bare wood removing the old finish, deep scratches and stains leaving the old wood to appear as new again. Once a new stain color and floor finish is applied, the result is a restored or for the point of this blog… Refinished Hardwood Floor.

Sandless Floor Refinishing…

…is a sham, and not a restoration at all. While researching hardwood floor refinishing, one will find different phraseology about the process making the decision on who to hire confusing. The biggest play on words pertains to dustless sandless hardwood floor refinishing because nobody wants their house to get covered in toxic dust. Since the invention of the floor sanding machine, the normal was to tie a dust collection bag on the machines exhaust pipe; the exhaust blower fan would then blow the dust into the bag. This is not a vacuum like some will tell you, and is terribly inefficient.

Dustless Hardwood Floor Sanding…

…is accomplished by removing the machines dust collection bag, and attaching hoses to which the other end of the hose is connected to a vacuum. The concept is simple and works better than your expectations. Professionally engineered truck mounted equipment is superior to portable vacuums because they are more powerful; more importantly they are engineered to produce maximum vacuum CFM proportionate to the diameter of the hoses.

“Dustless” is in the industry spotlight in CT!

Dustless floor sanding is now in the industries spotlight, and is separating the professionals from the amateurs. Beware of this and make sure the contractor you hire has made the investment in proper equipment before you make an investment in them.

Sandless is exactly what is says

There is no sanding to bare wood so there obviously is no sanding dust to worry about…but your floors are not being restored. This is terribly misleading and doesn’t belong categorized as wood floor refinishing. Typically the sand-less method includes what’s called ‘wet burnishing’. They place an abrasives disk like a screen or wet 3M scrubbing pad under a waxing machine and run it over the surface of the floor. Sometimes mineral spirit is used to remove wax dirt, or residual build up from cleaning products like Murphy’s Oil Soap. Once the surface is prepared they tint the finish a color you select and apply it to the floor.

Sand-Less Method is a waste of money

The bottom line is you’re getting a good cleaning and a re-coat of tinted finish. I personally haven’t met anybody that has been happy with the service. In fact, I get the calls from irate people who wasted their money and want to have their floors restored properly. The usual complaints are: The finish peels, the floor slats are not flat, scratches or stains in the wood itself were not removed, the finish is cloudy, oxidation out-lines from where an old area rug was not removed (this is a big complaint) and the floors don’t look new. Frankly, I don’t understand how anyone can not realize the difference between a full blown floor sanding and this so- called Sand-Less method, so I have tried to make it perfectly clear. Beware!!! Take the time out to educate yourself before you make a decision.