NHance Santa Fe: Santa Fe Hotel

Situation: This 600 square foot floor was last sanded and refinished five years prior to our arrival. The area is used as a community lounge and features several wood tables and chairs surrounding a central fireplace. Normal usage of tables and chairs by hotel guests caused significant damage to the underlying wood. The finish was intact underneath the central area rug but was worn almost completely through on the unprotected areas. Dirt and erosion are attracted to the scratched surface areas and appear as dark black and gray areas. This floor has perhaps one more sanding that can be done to it without exposing the tongue and groove; after that it would then need to be replaced.

Damage from tables and chairs

Closeup of damaged area

After Renewal

Mission: The NHance mission is to restore the beauty of the wood floor while preserving the existing wood and also providing a minimum impact to the operations of the facility. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being a brand new professionally installed floor and a 1 being a floor that there are no alternatives to replacement, this floor would be perhaps a 3, certainly below average but with some life left to it. Setting the expectation is key as we are not installing a new floor which will get to a 9 or 10. We are also not sanding and finishing which will get to an 8 or 9. This floor we believe can get to a 7 or 8 – by cleaning the old wood, repairing the black and grey scratched areas, applying color where needed, and applying new finish. Note that each of the above methods – replacement or sanding will violate two of the three initial goals – preserving the existing wood and low impact to the operations of the facility.

Another "Before"

And "After"

Execution: We split this process into two days to allow for regular use of the path to the bar and breakfast areas while we worked the other half of the room. Our “No Dust. No Mess. No Odor®” process allowed us to block off the work area but enables use of the pathway without impacting the customer’s access to those service areas. After taping off the work area, a thorough cleaning is performed using NHance Deep Release Cleaner and our buffer. Edges are cleaned by hand. The floor is cleaned twice using this method to ensure all dirt and any broken down finish are removed. Most of the floor at this point is ready to finish but there are still the scratches and some grey remaining. Our attention to these spots will not completely remove the scratches but we use fillers and color where necessary to minimize the damage and provide a good surface to finish. Once satisfied with the repair work the entire floor is sealed with NHance Neutralized Wood Sealer to lock in the color and to act as a bonding agent between the wood and the finish. We perform one final buffing of the surface to eliminate any grain raise from the cleaning and sealing, clean the entire floor twice more, and apply the finish. For this hotel we used our commercial grade finish, NHance Pro-Platinum Semi-Gloss. At the end of the first day we removed all the tools and equipment, removed the taping, and by the time we left the floor could be walked upon. NHance products will typically be “sock foot” ready in as little as an hour but will continue to cure for up to four days. We returned to repeat our process on the other side of the floor.

Results

This floor turned out beautiful. Although faint scratches are still visible in a few areas, the improvement is phenomenal. Compare the before and after! And overall this floor retains its character beautifully and it is well protected for the next several years. The result not seen here is that each time this floor is “NHanced” it will get even more beautiful – without the dust, mess, or odor associated with traditional wood floor refinishing, with minimum impact to the customer, and without removing the floor material and shortening its useful life.