What in the World is a Harwood Floor Screen & Recoat? And Why Should I Care?

If you have wood floors in your home, you’ll want to read this.

If having beautiful wood floors again with little dust and in half the time as re-sanding interest you, then read on.

The phrase “screen and recoat” describes the process of sprucing up an existing coat of polyurethane on wood floors by top-coating it. This is sometimes referred to as "buff and coat". The use of an abrasive material is vital because in order to get a new coat of polyurethane to adhere to the existing one, you must lightly roughen it. But the use of a ‘screen’ over sandpaper is important. Here’s why…

A screen is just mesh encrusted with abrasive particles making it less aggressive than sandpaper. Why should this matter to you? Well, less particulate airborne matter means less mess for the homeowner. This is desirable because floor screening should only leave enough texture in the floor to allow a new coat of polyurethane to bond; screening should remove only a tiny fraction of the existing finish making this process virtually dustless.

Can any hardwood floor be recoated?

Unfortunately, no. There are several reasons why this process may not work for your wood floors.

1. Some floors are just too far gone to be saved by a simple recoat. If there is damage at the level of the wood on any part of the floor, including dents, deep scratches, UV discoloration around rugs, and pet stains.

2. Floors that have been finished with waxes (even acrylic waxes like Mop & Glo), or maintained with silicon cleaners or oil soaps are impossible to recoat. These floors would need to be stripped of all the wax first.

3. The floor was pre-finished with a modern, aluminum oxide coating.

When should I recoat my floors?

Typically, signs of wear start to appear about three years after floors were sanded or last recoated, except for kitchens and exterior doorways. These areas see more traffic and will wear sooner.

If you are unsure whether your wood floors are a candidate for the screen & recoat process, call us. We’d be happy to come out and take a look and give you some options!

See the process in the video below.