Most solid hardwood floors (3/4″ thick) can be refinished 3 to 5 times over their lifetime. Each sanding pass removes approximately 1/32″ of wood. We check the remaining thickness during your free estimate to confirm it’s safe to proceed. Engineered hardwood has a thinner wear layer and may only support 1–2 refinishes depending on the product.
A single room typically takes 2–3 days from start to finish: one day for sanding and stain (if applicable), then one day per finish coat with drying time in between. A whole-home project might take 4–7 days depending on square footage and finish type. We’ll confirm the timeline during your estimate so you can plan accordingly.
You don’t need to leave overnight, but we do recommend being out of the house during the sanding phase — it’s loud and produces dust even with containment. The finish coat phase is quieter. With water-based finishes, you can return to light foot traffic (in socks) within 24 hours of the final coat. We’ll walk you through the timeline so you can plan.
Stain is completely optional. Many homeowners choose to refinish without stain to restore the natural color of the wood — the sanding removes the old finish and oxidation, and the new polyurethane brings out the wood’s original warmth. If you’d like to change the color — go darker, lighter, or try a gray-toned or whitewashed look — we can do that too, using a test patch in a low-visibility area first.
Water-based dries faster (24 hours between coats), has lower odor, and stays clear over time. Oil-based takes longer to cure but adds a warm amber tone that many homeowners love on older hardwood. However, California restricts the use of most oil-based polyurethane due to air quality standards.
Sanding removes surface-level scratches and most moderate scratches. Very deep gouges — ones you can feel with your fingernail — may not fully disappear, but they’ll be significantly less visible. During the estimate, we’ll look at the condition of your floors and tell you honestly what refinishing will and won’t fix.
Before our team arrives, you’ll need to clear all furniture, rugs, and items from the floors being refinished. Remove or cover any items sensitive to dust. We handle all the rest — setup, containment, sanding, finishing, and cleanup. We’ll send you a preparation checklist after booking.
Yes. Stair refinishing is more labor-intensive than flat floors due to the individual treads, risers, and spindle areas that require hand work. We include stairs in our estimates and can refinish them to match the rest of your home’s floors.
Buffing (also called screen and recoat) and full refinishing are two different processes, and choosing the wrong one is one of the most common mistakes homeowners make.
Buffing involves lightly scuffing the existing finish with a fine-grit screen, then applying a fresh coat of polyurethane on top. No sanding down to bare wood, no stain changes — just a new layer of protection over what’s already there. It’s faster (usually one day), less disruptive, less expensive, and has no significant dust. The catch: it only works if the existing finish is in reasonably good shape and is chemically compatible with the new coat. If the floors are scratched through to bare wood, stained, or have been cleaned with certain products that leave a residue, the new coat won’t bond properly and can peel.
Full refinishing means sanding all the way down to bare wood, removing the old finish entirely. This is the reset button — it fixes deep scratches, removes stains, allows a color change, and gives you a completely fresh start. It takes longer, produces more dust, and costs more, but it’s the only option when floors are genuinely worn out or when you want to change the stain color.
As a rule of thumb: if your floors still have a decent finish but are losing their sheen, a buff and recoat might be all you need. If you can see bare wood in high-traffic areas, feel deep scratches with your fingernail, or want a different color — that’s a refinishing job. When we come out for your free estimate, we’ll look at the floors and tell you honestly which one makes sense for your situation.