the Price of Floor Repair and Refinishing

We had our 50 year old oak living room floor refinished. We hired someone local who came with good references. The room we had done is 366 square feet. We owned this house for 30 years. The floor was covered with carpeting when we bought it. The only attention ever given to the floor was a good cleaning several times when we replaced the carpeting. Our contractor removed the trim around the room and replaced it with new trim, stained to match. The contractor used an upright sander that sanded in one foot widths. He went over the floor two times with the sander. One coat of stain, and two coats of polyurathain. The stain and two gallons of poly cost about $150.00. There was also his cost of sand paper, steel wool, special clothes for the dust, and pads he used to put the poly on with. And of course the new trim, doorway trim and his labor. It took him about 15-20 hours from start to finish.

We were very happy with the finished service. He did an excellent job getting out some dark spots that were caused by water seeping through the carpeting where large plants were sitting. We were also impressed with how he removed the quarter round around the room and how neat the corners were done. Surprisingly there wasn't even a lot of dust in other parts of the room. This man surpassed our expectations.

If you are thinking of tackling this job on your own please get some estimates first. The cost of renting the sander over a two or three day period is expensive. Research your contractor, ask to see his some of his work. If he is good he will be glad to give you a few names of people he serviced. On last note, do not get a high gloss finish it will show every scratch.