Further questions are answered on the Floors page regarding colouring, staining, repairs and sensitive repairs to period floors. There are very quick answers and more detailed answers.

Should we decorate before or after we sand the floor?
Will there be much dust?
Can you fill gaps? (Would you recommend this? How do you do it?)
What finish options are there?
I want an environmentally sustainable finish, can you advise?
Roughly how long does the job take?
How long before we can use the floor again after you have finished?
What maintenance regime do the different finishes require?
How long should my refurbished floor last?

Should we decorate before or after we sand the floor?

Quick answer: Before

It is up to you and your decorators. We would recommend getting the decorating completed before we start. Whilst we endeavor to take every effort to be careful there may be some slight scuffing or coating residue to the skirting boards which is largely unavoidable as we sand and finish right up to the edge, the skirting may need to be touched up afterwards.
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Will there be much dust?

Quick answer: No

Our state-of-the-art machinery is virtually dust free, some machines being tested to German wood dust standards (the highest in the world) all our hand held sanders are attached to dedicated automatic dust extraction units and we vacuum for several hours a day with an industrial vacuum cleaner. For modern flat and level floors there really is virtually no dust at all, much less than your decorators for example. For older and more uneven floors there is always a little more dust but we use large volume extractor fans to remove the airborne dust and vacuum regularly, cleaning all surfaces including all the walls if necessary. It is very rare if we do not leave the property cleaner than when we arrived.
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Can you fill the gaps? (Would you recommend this and how do you do it?)

Quick answer: Yes. Depends. Resin and sawdust and coloured two part resin.

Yes we can. We advise on gap filling on a job by job basis as there is a lot to consider. As a rule we automatically fill all solid fixed substrate floors, that is floors that are glued or nailed to a solid under floor (sub floor) or tongue and groove boards that effectively have a continuous solid layer below the gaps. That means almost all parquet, finger parquet, block, narrow strip, engineered and tongue and groove board floors get filled as a matter of course unless advised otherwise. Having a solid base underneath virtually eliminates the possibility of the filler falling out.

For square edge plank floors (the majority of old  pine floors in London for example) we discuss this with the client. Wood is a flexible and naturally moving material which absorbs and releases moisture, expands and contracts across its width and deflects under walking which goes for both the boards and the joists underneath. With such a lot of movement it is quite probable some filler will work loose over the months and years. To negate this we take great care to fix the boards firmly, adjust for height differences and use modern specially designed fillers. For smaller gaps we use a modern resin and sawdust mix, for larger gaps we have developed a bespoke coloured two part resin system which can fill any size of gap, as far as we are aware we are the only company who offer this service.

Sawdust and glue does not work, neither does paper mache or string. Wood slivers do not work either as even if they are glued on one side only (to allow for lateral movement) they tend to break up and can cause horrendous splinters. We can not recommend them but will fit them if requested, we have a stock of specially machined slivers made from reclaimed wood stock.

Professionally speaking I think period floors with small gaps look better and more traditional unfilled. For floors with very large gaps or floors which require a large amount of repairs, kitchen or bathroom floors (to make them water tight) would perhaps be better filled.

Minor holes, large cracks, knot holes and unsightly end board joins (damage by previous builders) are filled as a matter of course in all cases.
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What finish options are there?

Quick answer: Very durable lacquer, traditional less durable shellac & wax. Intermediate oil & wax oil.

We finish the majority of our floors with high performance commercial water based floor lacquers from Bona and Blanchon. These are natural looking, virtually odour free, environmentally responsible and give excellent durability with virtually no maintenance, as used in hotels, bars, museums and retail outlets. They come in super matt, matt, satin and gloss finishes. We advise satin or matt as the gloss version does not show as good clarity. We seal all our floors with a shellac base coat which aids adhesion and enhances the clarity and beauty of the wood.

For gloss or semi gloss finishes we advise the use of a two part solvent finish which gives greater clarity and just as low maintenance and high durability as the water based finishes although the smell can be obtrusive during coating.

For older period floors (see our gallery for examples) we recommend a traditional shellac and wax finish, this gives a much less durable finish which cannot be water washed but has a traditional sheen and warmth that cannot be matched. All period "waxed" floors were shellacked first to give them body and stop the wax from drying out, for more detail please see my article The definitive guide to wood finishing. Not advised for high traffic or wetted areas.

Modern oil and wax oil finishes can give a very low build and natural look but their durability lies somewhere between the water based and shellac systems (see below). They bear little relation to their traditional namesakes as they are highly modified for ease of application and speed of drying and are really modified varnishes. The clear finishes can oxidise and go orange/yellow but the coloured finishes can give very unique results. Not advised for high traffic or wetted areas unless applied very heavily in which case they resemble water based lacquers and you would be better off with one of those.
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I want an environmentally sustainable finish, can you advise?

Quick answer: Joint 1st. Water-based lacquer & Shellac & wax. 3. Oil & wax oil. 4. Volotile solvent finish.

Please read carefully as unfortunately there is a lot of disinformation around, what I term "green marketing" which can be misleading.

Water based lacquers. Developed by Bona AB of Sweden in the 1970's less than 6% VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds - normally obtained from fossil fuels) approx. 40% solid content mostly made from refined maize starch, solvent is water, very environmentally responsible, zero fire rating. Virtually no fumes and virtually odour free.

Shellac. Resinous exudate of the laccifa lacca beetle from India and Sri lanka, harvested from the twigs of trees on managed estates, melted, sieved and dissolved in wood alcohol (methylated spirits) approx. 25% solid content organic and natural resin totally non toxic, used to coat smarties, fruit, chocolates and headache tablets. Solvent methylated spirits, 90% ethanol (alcohol) 9.5% methanol (to avoid consumption) ethanol and methanol produced from natural gas or from fermentation of starch and sugar based crops, also from food waste. Mostly and increasingly sustainable as South and now North America adopt the bio production route of ethanol as a bio fuel. Very environmentally responsible. Flammable. Fumes given off during drying may be unpleasant but not harmful.

Traditional wax. Mixture of paraffin wax, beeswax and carnauba wax softened in 10 to 20% naptha (white spirit) or pure turpentine. High quality waxes contain mostly beeswax (from honeycomb) and carnauba wax (from nuts) and little or no paraffin wax (from fossil fuels) and are very environmentally sustainable especially as very little is required for a large area. The cheaper the wax the more refined fossil fuel (paraffin wax) they contain. Pronounced but normally pleasant, sweet odour.

Modern oil and wax oil finishes. 40% to 90% oil content (typically around 50%) naptha (white spirit based) solvent from fossil fuels normally 50% plus. Oils refined from natural plant and nut extracts with some paraffin oil refined from fossil fuels. High solvent content, strong and unpleasant odour (similar to gloss paint) flammable. Although 50% of product largely plant derived, processing required consumes much energy and fossil based solvent is very high. The majority are not very environmentally sustainable (unless at 90% oil concentration) Driers and plasticisers added to aid film formation. Although heavily mismarketed as environmentally sustainable their true environmental impact is medium and lies between water based, shellac & traditional waxes (low) and volotile solvent based (high) Latest technology remarkably uses water as a highly emulsified solvent and thus makes the finish very sustainable but the technology is in its early stages and these are rare and not as durable as the established solvent based wax oils. Contact us to enquire about these new finishes.

Two part (catalysed) solvent finishes. Solvent borne polyurethane or nitro cellulose base with aromatic hydrocarbon solvent. approx. 20 to 35% solid content. Produced largely from fossil fuels, high solvent content, very unpleasant and strong odour during drying. Not very environmentally sustainable and unpleasant to use.
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Quick answer: 2 to 3 days per average size room, more for extensive filling and repairs.

All jobs are different. Almost all jobs take at least two days to complete if you want a high build and smooth finish. Some contractors finish jobs in a day to increase their turnover but quality of finish normally suffers. Repairs can take longer than the sanding and sealing, filling of large gaps can add another day. New or modern floors are a lot quicker, old pine floors always take a little longer. Below is a very rough guideline.

A very small room, bathroom, toilet, kitchen, porch etc. minor repairs (approx. 10sqm): possibly 1 day.
A small room with no repairs (up to 20sqm): 2 days
A small room with repairs (up to 20sqm): 2 to 4 days (normally 3)
A medium room/area with no repairs (up to 40sqm): 3 days
A medium room/area with repairs (up to 40sqm): 3 to 6 days (normally 5)
A large area/multiple rooms: allow 2 to 3 days per room, large open areas of 80sqm plus can be completed in 3 days. Large areas requiring repairs will take longer.
Commercial jobs with minor repairs: Typically we can complete 200 to 300sqm in one area in 2 to 3 days/nights.
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Quick answer: Normally after 5 hours. Heavy furniture preferably after 24hrs.

We will try and work round you as much as we can. We are very clean and our lacquers dry very quickly. Typically you can walk on the finished floor after the final coat in your socks after about 5 hours. (depending on the ambient temperature) Furniture is best left off for another 24 hours as all finishes harden over time no matter what others may tell you. During the job you may have to stay off the floor for 90 minutes to 2 hours at a time during the preliminary coats as they dry much quicker. Shellacked floors can be walked on after an hour or so whilst some oiled floors are best left overnight. (although we can supply the latest environmentally sound oil with a water based solvent which is quick drying)
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What maintenance regime do the different finishes require?

Quick answer: Lacquers - minimal. Shellac - wax every 18 months. Oil - re coat every 18 to 36 months

Commercial water based lacquers: Dry vacuum/sweep as per any hard surface. Mop sparingly with non bleach/caustic floor cleaner as and when required. No polish or maintenance required for domestic use.

How long should my refurbished floor last?

Quick answer: Lacquer - 7 years before re coat. Shellac - regular waxing. Oil - regular re coating.

Longevity depends upon a number of factors and no company can give an honest guarantee. There are two main threats to your floor, minimising these will make any floor last longer.