Art of Clean was recently awarded the work of sanding and sealing the floor of the beautiful Norwich Cathedral. The historical Cathedral has been beautifully designed inside and out, since the start of its construction in 1096.
Cleaning Wood floors at Norwich Cathedral
Inside the building the wood floor is made by the manufacturer Junkers who make top quality hardwood floors. The floor inside the Cathedral had started to show signs of wear and tear, especially in their refectory, so the customer knew that it was time to clean the floor by sanding and sealing, before it got so bad that it needed a complete restoration. They asked us to clean two floors within the Cathedral.
Before sanding and sealing the large floor
Throughout this project we worked closely with Junkers, to make sure that our customers warranty stayed in tact. We followed the following process when cleaning the first floor:
• Stage 1 – First of all we applied Junkers wood cleaner
• Stage 2 – We then screened the floor back with a light sand to ensure that the fresh coating of polyurethane lacquer adhesive to the floor.
• Stage 3 – We then applied two new coats of Junkers Lacquer onto the wood floor.
• Stage 2 – We then screened the floor back with a light sand to ensure that the fresh coating of polyurethane lacquer adhesive to the floor.
• Stage 3 – We then applied two new coats of Junkers Lacquer onto the wood floor.
Sanding the main floor in Norwich Cathedral
Sealing a wood floor
To treat the refectory floor we followed a slightly different process, rather than sealing the floor with lacquer we sealed it with Pallmann oil. There is a lot of traffic in certain areas of the canteen, such as near the till and where the food is ordered, so by doing this process it enables those specific areas of the floor to have localised sanding and re-sealing when required. This is one of the reasons why applying oil as a finish is really practical.
The refectory wood floor was badly stained from through traffic
Stage 1 – We sanded the entire floor
Stage 2 – We applied Pallmann Magic Oil, which gives a great finish for commercial applications.
Stage 2 – We applied Pallmann Magic Oil, which gives a great finish for commercial applications.
After cleaning and sealing with Pallmann oil
If a standard lacquer had been applied, then if certain areas wear more than others the whole floor would need to be sanded. This can be a problem between two rooms if there is not a door break dividing them. One of our other customers had this problem previously, so we advised them to have a brass strip installed between the two rooms. If you require this here are the details of a company we recommended.
