This is a question I hear a lot from clients. Most of the time people are worried about refinishing being a dusty, smelly and toxic project in their home. There’s been many stories from the past of clouds of dust filling your home. Smelly toxic finishes being applied that fill your home with noxious fumes and force you out of your home. Also because of the off gassing these finishes were known to make you stay out of your home for long stretches of time so you couldn’t move back in for a week after. These are all a thing of the past.
Let’s talk about some advancements made in floor refinishing.
Vacuums
- A vacuum is attached to every sander that will be on your floor. These catch 95%-98% of the dust
- We vacuum the floor multiple times throughout the day
While vacuum systems are becoming more standard, what isn’t as well known is how well they work. They capture about 95% to 98% of the dust created from the sanders. Of course that means they do not catch 100% of the dust. So we vacuum the floors multiple times a day to capture any dust left on the floor. We can also put up some plastic around some sensitive sections, although this practice is hardly needed anymore. So those dust storms from refinishing you may have heard about are a thing of the past. We also do a final clean up and wipe down of any excessive dust from the project.
Advanced floor finishes
- Non toxic, no more nasty fumes
- Dry faster
- More durable
The industry has definitely heard the client loud and clear and non toxic durable finishes are at the forefront. There are many options to choose from but it seems the standard now a days is water based finishes. You can get single component are two component finish if extreme durability is your need. These are all low VOC, non toxic and low odor. Also since they are water based they dry and cure much faster than finishes from the past. 
So what you get are finishes that won’t stink up your home for a long amount of time and you can move your furniture back into place much quicker.
So through a few meaningful changes there has been a lot of progress made. The clouds of dust that find their way into every nook and cranny of your home are non existent nowadays. Your home being filled toxic fumes and not being able to be in your home for a week are long gone.
The truth is that with vacuum systems and water based finishes, you can live in home through out the whole project. Like any renovation project it will be nosy and somewhat inconvenient, so you may choose to leave your home but I never tell my clients that they have to leave. At the end your floors will look like new and you’ll have made a good investment into your home.