5 DIY Tips to Lime Wash your Wooden Flooring
Wood floorings can be considered as one of the most elegant and beautiful option to give a new life to your home. A majority of the people go for hardwood flooring options because of its long lasting and robust properties. However, most of the hardwood floorings have darker shades, and it can be quite frustrating to watch the same coloured flooring for years. Floorings are not just like any other decor item in your house that can be replaced and changing the flooring of your home can definitely dig a hole in your pocket. Well, there’s no need to worry as we will introduce you to a magical process that can bring a drastic change in the colour of your flooring without affecting its properties.
The process that we are talking about is called lime Washing which was mainly invented to protect wood but over time has been used to make wood look brighter and create a light coloured effect. Below is a 5 step DIY guide which will help you in transforming your wooden floorings effectively.
Know Your Flooring
It is essential for you to first figure out the type of flooring that you use. A few kinds of hardwoods already have a lighter shade which can make it easier to achieve the desired results. However, many hardwoods species are darker and denser and could increase the duration of the process.
Smoothen the Surface
It has been said that ‘you need to empty your mind to learn something new’. Well, the same ideology can be applied here, and you need to smoothen the surface by filling any unwanted gaps. You can fill the gaps created by nail heads with the help of a wood filler and then smoothen it with glasspaper. You need to sand the floor until you remove all of the old varnishing and finishing. It can be a quite tiring process, and it’s your hard work that will transform it into a bright and shiny surface.
Bleach it Out
Bleaching is the process to remove the original colour of the wood, but it has also long been used to remove stubborn stains and to balance the surface. Directly applying paint on your flooring can have adverse effects on the colour scheme that you were expecting. Further, you need to select the type of bleach that you want to use and create a solution out of it. You need to make sure that the floors are perfectly sanded and these are chemicals that you are dealing with, so don’t forget to cover your hands, face and feet before starting the bleaching process.
Choose your Coating
Finally, you have done a lot of hard work to get to this stage, but it is imperative for you to select the coating very carefully as all of your hard work can turn out to be vain following a poor choice. Firstly observe the impact that the bleaching process has had on your flooring and what kind of colour have you finally received after the procedure. This will help you in determining the colour shade that you actually want and then you can eventually move forward with the type of coating that you want to apply.
Sounds Too Much ‘Take Help’
There is a misconception that ‘DIY’ is a relatively cheaper option than hiring a professional and many people choose to lime wash floors by themselves. While hiring a professional might cost you a bit extra, but it will eradicate any risks of damaging your precious wooden floor. You have to look out for floor polishing services in Melbourne, and you will find an array of professionals who have mastered their art and can change the face of any dying floor.