Machinery & tooling

Most of the difference between a good floor and a bad one is decided by machines you never see.

Dust-free sanding is a claim about an extraction system. Matching a repair is a claim about a moisture meter. A stair that does not move is a claim about anchorage. These pages turn those claims into things you can check before you sign anything.

What this section is

A specification of what each class of work requires, written so you can hold any quote — ours included — against it. It is not an asset list, and it does not claim a particular machine sits in our shop. Where our published method already implies a capability, the page says which practice it follows from and links it.

Sanding

The machines that take a floor back to bare wood.

Belt sander (the big machine)

The primary cutting machine that takes a hardwood floor back to bare wood across the open field of a room.

Without itA rented consumer drum sander, or a shop that skips grits to save a pass on the big machine.

Also called: drum sander, floor sander, big sander

Edger

A hand-held disc machine that sands the six inches around the perimeter of a room that the big machine physically cannot reach.

Without itEdging at one grit and going straight to finish, or skipping the blend entirely.

Also called: edge sander, perimeter sander, corner sander

Multi-disc sander (buffer)

A machine with several counter-rotating heads that blends scratch patterns and abrades an existing finish without cutting into the wood.

Without itSelling a full sand to a floor whose finish is merely dull.

Also called: planetary sander, floor buffer, screening machine

Dust control

What makes an occupied refinish possible.

Dust containment and HEPA extraction

The extraction and isolation system that captures sanding dust at the machine and keeps the rest out of the house.

Without itA shop vacuum on the machine and a sheet taped over the doorway.

Also called: dustless sanding, dust free sanding equipment, HEPA floor sanding

Measurement

The instruments behind every band on this site being a band.

Moisture meters and hygrometers

The instruments that decide whether a floor can be installed at all, and the reason this shop will not give a firm number over the phone.

Without itQuoting from a photograph or a phone call and starting on the scheduled day.

Also called: wood moisture meter, hardwood moisture test, concrete slab moisture test

Installation

How the floor is fixed to the building.

Flooring nailer and cleat gun

The pneumatic tool that drives fasteners through the tongue of each board at the angle the assembly needs.

Without itWider fastener spacing to save time, or the wrong fastener for the board width.

Also called: floor nailer, cleat nailer, flooring stapler

Adhesive system and notched trowel

The urethane adhesive and the specific notch profile that together decide whether a glue-down floor stays down.

Without itA general-purpose adhesive chosen on price, the wrong notch, or spreading half a room ahead of the crew.

Also called: glue down hardwood, flooring adhesive, moisture barrier adhesive

Finishing

What goes on top, and how long you are out.

Finish application: T-bar, roller and cut-in

The applicators and the sequence that put a two-component waterborne system on the floor without lap marks, and the cure schedule that follows.

Without itSingle-component finish sold as equivalent, or coating a large open plan short-handed.

Also called: waterborne floor finish, two component finish, polyurethane floor coating

Stairs & railings

The bench work, and the anchorage.

Stair fabrication: saws, jigs and templates

The bench work that makes a staircase millwork rather than flooring laid on steps — templates, a mitre saw, a table saw and a tread jig.

Without itA leftover plank cut to length on site and glued down, with a strip of quarter round at the open side.

Also called: stair tread jig, custom stair fabrication, returned tread ends

Railing anchorage: through-bolts and structural fixing

The hardware and the method that make a guard resist a real lateral load instead of merely standing there.

Without itScrewing the newel through the finished floor, or gluing it to a tread.

Also called: newel post anchoring, wobbly railing fix, handrail bracket

Which machines your job depends on

Each service page lists the equipment classes its work runs on, so you can start from the job rather than from the machine.

Price your job How the work is done