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New Bona finish chosen to restore hall floor
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Floor Restorers of Cheltenham, who specialise in the renovation of natural floors such as stone, marble and wood, have renovated the hardwood floor in the Princess Hall at Cheltenham Ladies’ College. The floor was installed in 1952 and is constructed from Gurjun planks, a warm, pinkish brown species which was chosen to tone with the woodwork of the stage and balconies, and which is particularly silent to the tread.
Floor Restorers have carried out work at the renowned school premises before, but it was the first time this particular floor had been sanded back for 16 years. Consequently there was considerable surface damage to deal with including scratches and scrapes, a build up of maintenance products and some water damage.
Floor Restorer’s Paul Biver consulted Bona’s Tony Peak over the most appropriate finish for the floor. Tony recommended new Bona Traffic HD would provide the most durable finish for a surface that was subject to constant traffic from pupils and the public attending a wide range of events and performances. Traffic HD is a new waterborne formulation from Bona that is 40% more hard wearing than classic Bona Traffic and with a VOC content that is 40% lower. A key feature is its fast development time which means a floor can be put back in to use just 24 hours after application of the final coat.
The magnificent organ, installed in 2006, is a prized feature of the Princess Hall. The College was very concerned to protect this visual and aurally inspiring instrument from possible sanding dust contamination. Floor Restorers were able to guarantee a completely dust free procedure by using a Bona DCS dust containment system. This powerful vacuum is designed to be connected to Bona Belt and Edge sanding machines during sanding and removes and stores every speck of dust from the air and the machines, eliminating contamination from sanding dust as well as resulting in highly effective sanding and clean, safer working conditions for the team.
Some parts of the floor were so heavily scratched that Paul had to start sanding with 24 grit abrasives. And, after working through to 100 grit quality, he used the Bona Scrad system to deliver a fine finish before applying a coat of Bona Prime Intense. Bona Prime Intense is designed to produce a rich colouration to the surface as well as providing increased build to help improve wear resistance. When the primer coat had dried Paul used Bona’s Scrad System again to deal with any grain raising and to produce a really fine, flat finish ready for the first of three coats of Bona Traffic HD. The three coats were applied over a three day period with the Scrad System being used again to key the first two coats back when dry.
“Traffic HD is really great to use” said Paul “it’s got very good self-levelling properties and the long open time is useful when working in a large area like the Princess Hall. Everyone is delighted with the floor and the room looks totally different now it’s finished.”
