The floor and the work
Screen and recoat
A screen and recoat is a way to bring back a worn hardwood floor without sanding it down to bare wood. A buffer lightly scuffs the old clear finish, and then a fresh coat of finish is rolled on top.
Buff and recoat
Buff and recoat is another name for a screen and recoat. The old finish is buffed so a new coat can grip, then a fresh coat of finish goes on, with no sanding to bare wood.
Sand and refinish
A sand and refinish grinds the old finish and a thin layer of wood off a hardwood floor, then stains and coats the bare wood from scratch. It takes several days and makes a lot of dust.
Traffic lanes
Traffic lanes are the paths across a floor where people walk the most, like a hallway or the route from the door to the kitchen. The finish wears down there first, so those paths look dull next to the rest of the floor.
Cupping
Cupping is when the edges of wood floor boards sit higher than the middle, so each board looks like a shallow dish. It is usually caused by moisture, and a recoat cannot fix it.
Gray wood
Gray wood is bare wood that has turned gray because the finish on top wore all the way through. Dirt and water get into the open wood, and a recoat cannot bring it back.
Engineered hardwood
Engineered hardwood is a floor board with a top layer of real wood glued over layers of plywood or other wood below. The top is real wood with a real finish, so it can usually be recoated like a solid wood floor.
Prefinished floors
Prefinished floors are wood floor boards that were sanded and coated at the factory, before they were ever put in the house. Many have a very hard factory finish, so they need a careful check before a recoat.
Cure time
Cure time is how long a new floor finish takes to fully harden after it goes on. A floor can be dry to walk on well before it is fully cured, so the homeowner gets a timeline, not just a "done."
Finishes
Two-part polyurethane
Two-part polyurethane is a floor finish that comes in two containers: the finish (Part A) and a hardener (Part B) that you mix together on the job. The hardener makes it cure chemically, so it ends up tougher than a one-part finish.
Water-based finish
A water-based finish is a clear floor coat that uses water to carry the finish onto the floor, instead of oil-based solvents. It goes on clear and stays clear, and it has much less smell than an oil-based finish.
Oil-based finish
An oil-based finish is a clear floor coat that uses a solvent to carry the finish onto the floor. It has a strong smell, dries slowly, and turns amber over the years, which gives many older floors their warm color.
Aluminum oxide finish
An aluminum oxide finish is a factory floor finish with tiny, very hard aluminum oxide particles mixed in. It is common on prefinished wood floors, and it is so hard that a new coat has trouble gripping it.
Sheen
Sheen is how much light a floor finish reflects, from flat matte to shiny gloss. A worn finish loses its sheen in the busy spots, which is why traffic lanes look dull.
Floor polish
Floor polish is a store-bought product that leaves a shiny film on top of a floor. It is not a real finish, and it softens, scuffs and peels, so it has to be stripped off later.
Tools
Floor buffer
A floor buffer is a machine with a round spinning pad underneath that you walk behind and guide across the floor. On a recoat it spins an abrasive screen that dulls the old finish so the new coat can grip.
Screen grit
Screen grit is the number that tells you how rough or fine an abrasive floor screen is. A higher number means a finer screen, and a recoat uses a fine one because it only needs to dull the old finish.
Tack cloth
A tack cloth is a slightly sticky cloth used to pick up the last fine dust from a floor before the finish goes on. It catches what a vacuum leaves behind.
The business
Franchise disclosure document
A franchise disclosure document, or FDD, is the legal document a franchise has to give you before you buy in. It lists the fees, the startup costs, the royalty, the territory rules and much more.
Royalty
A royalty is a share of your sales that a franchise owner pays to the brand, on every job, for as long as they own the business. Floor franchises like N-Hance and Mr. Sandless list a 6% royalty.
Ad fund
An ad fund is money a franchise owner pays into the brand's shared advertising, usually a percent of sales. It is on top of the royalty and on top of any money spent on local ads.
Territory
A territory is the area a business is set up to serve. Some territories are exclusive, which means no one else from the same program can work there, and some are shared.
Lead
A lead is a person who has asked about your service, for example by filling out a form or calling. A lead is a chance at a job, not a sold job.
Booking rate
Booking rate is the share of your leads that book an estimate. You find it by dividing the estimates booked by the number of leads.
Close rate
Close rate is the share of your estimates that turn into sold jobs. You find it by dividing the jobs you sold by the estimates you ran.
Cost per lead
Cost per lead is how much you spend on ads for each lead they bring in. You find it by dividing your ad spend by the number of leads.
Owner-occupied home
An owner-occupied home is a home where the person who owns it also lives in it. The U.S. Census counts them, and they are the homes most likely to pay to fix up their floors.