Having your hardwood floors refinished by an experienced professional can make your old, worn, scratched and faded floors look brand new again. Refinishing is the process of sanding off the old layers of finish and stain plus a little of the top of the wood planks to bring the wood back to its raw state. Then, new stain and finish is applied to yield a brand new floor, just like when the builder put it in, but with perhaps a new stain color and a stronger finish.
The cost to refinish hardwood flooring in the Atlanta market is going to be different than in other areas of the country such as New York or California due to multiple factors such as cost of living and availability of qualified labor coupled with demand issues. This article is meant to focus exclusively on the Atlanta market with respect to helping homeowners understand and budget for the cost to refinish hardwood floors.
There are many variables that can affect the cost to refinish, and most homeowners need a qualified professional to consult with them and explain the differences and make recommendations based on a homeowner’s budget, desired look, and lifestyle.
These variables include, but are not limited to:
• Type of stain and finish (such as oil vs water-based polyurethane)
• Quality of finish
• How the floor is sanded and prepared during the finishing process.
• How the stain is applied
• Number of protective coats of finish applied over the stain.
• Size of the project
• Repairs needed
• Type of hardwood floor being refinished
• Furniture to be moved
• Trim such as quarter round or shoemoulding that needs to be replaced.
In order to estimate the typical cost to refinish hardwood flooring, we will use a common scenario that we at Concept Flooring encounter working directly with homeowners in the Atlanta area.
Let’s assume the following for our hypothetical example:
1. The hardwood floors to be refinished were originally site-finished oak floors that are not severely damaged (need no board replacement or have not suffered extreme water damage), just in need of refinishing due to common wear and scratches and perhaps the homeowner wants to change the color. (Site finished hardwood flooring is hardwood that is installed raw and then sanded, stained, and finished on site).
2. This scenario includes sanding and prepping the floors for stain (critical processes to ensure quality final product), applying new stain color with grain pop if needed, and applying 3 coats of Satin gloss oil-based polyurethane (our most popular selection).
3. Concept Flooring will move the normal household furniture (not unique items such as pool tables and pianos) into the customer’s garage and the homeowner will take care of moving all small/fragile/electronic items.
4. Concept Flooring will remove and dispose of the old shoemoulding or quarter-round trim that is installed at the bottom of the baseboard and supply and install new oak shoemoulding. We will not remove the existing baseboards. We will stain the oak shoemoulding to compliment the new floor color. (Customers can also opt for primed white shoemoulding that can be painted to match the baseboards).
5. Includes use of Dust Containment to capture most of the dust from the sanding process so there is very little mess. We will also use plastic sheeting to further contain the areas and reduce dust so you get beautiful floors without all the mess.
Under the above scenario, the estimated cost to refinish hardwood flooring using 1,000 square feet of flooring as an example would be approximately $3,800 and would take approximately 3 to 4 days to complete.
If you have more than 1,000 square feet, take your total and multiply it by $3.80 to get your specific estimate (example: 1,350 sq ft * $3.80 is $5,130).
Every situation is different, so we only present this estimate as a guide. Concept Flooring can provide a no-cost, no-obligation consultation with an experienced flooring professional to give you recommendations and costs for your specific scenario and to explain the entire process from end to end.