floor refinishing estimates

[ClearWaterMS]

I am going to be getting some estimates to have the first floor of my home's bamboo floors refinished. i have already taken a spare piece of flooring and confirmed that it is not laminate and also applied a few oil and water based stains to it to give my wife an idea of the finished product. SO I know that the flooring I have can be re stained, my question's are the following:

When I had this done at my last home, they did it before we moved in.

What types of prices should I expect to pay to have somebody sand the floors down to bare wood, stain to an appropriate color and cover in the appropriate amount of polyurethane? Around 12 years ago; I had a home done (entire house) including a flight of stairs it was around 1100 sq ft and they charged around $1/ft. I assume the prices have gone up since then; and was wondering what market rate was today.

What prep work will I be expected to do prior to arrival? I assume I will need to relocate all of the furniture, do I need to remove baseboards, floor vents, etc.? What about doors? One of the rooms I want done is a powder room, should I remove the toilet and sink? Another is a kitchen; will I need to empty cabinets of dishes and what not?

Lastly; for a variety of reasons I would prefer to stay in my home, is this possible?

 

[mike93lx]

I'm paying about $4/ft next week to have about 600 sq ft plus a staircase sanded and coated with 4 coats of water based Bona sealer. The water based is a lot more expensive than oil based

My flooring guy said with water based, we could stay in, but poly, we had to move out. I am still moving my family out for the week due to to the furniture and mess.

Work with your contractor on prep. For me, i am moving the furniture and covering some stuff in plastic. He is putting additional plastic up to contain dust.

 

[ClearWaterMS]

I'm paying about $4/ft next week to have about 600 sq ft plus a staircase sanded and coated with 4 coats of water based Bona sealer. The water based is a lot more expensive than oil based

My flooring guy said with water based, we could stay in, but poly, we had to move out. I am still moving my family out for the week due to to the furniture and mess.

Work with your contractor on prep. For me, i am moving the furniture and covering some stuff in plastic. He is putting additional plastic up to contain dust.

Thank you, this is very helpful and gives me an estimate on how much to budget for.

 

[mike93lx]

I'm not sure what your area is like, but i am in a high COL town and region, so that is certainly impacting the price. I got a couple quotes, which were comparable

 

[rlitman]

You have wood floors in a bathroom? Interesting. You'll have to talk to your contractor about how to best handle the toilet, but if either the toilet or sink are wall hung, then an edger sander should be able to get underneath them.

Around here, it's about $4.50 a square foot for sanding and three coats of nothing special poly on a flat floor (refinishing stairs would cost MUCH more because of all the hand work required). If you want to step up to the Bona product that Mike is using and get 4 coats, it would certainly cost more. But labor pricing varies widely by your area, and I live in an area where labor is sky high.

Sanding produces ridiculous amounts of dust, even when you have a sander that collects dust. Your contractor should be sealing off any rooms being worked in, and should also be removing all baseboard so that he or she can sand closer to the wall. Doors aren't an issue if they can be taped shut, since the threshold (which was removed with the baseboard) will cover the spot that the sander misses. Floor registers should be removed, but I'd suggest also sealing the duct work to protect it from dust.

If you plan to leave stuff in your kitchen cabinets, then use painters tape to seal the doors so that dust cannot get in. Also, I wouldn't sand in a room with a working refrigerator, as the dust will be sure to clog the condenser.

 

[jdsac]

The process will take the best part of a week with dry times between coats, that plus the odors will make it unpleasant to be in. Consider taking you valueables and leaving for a week

 

[mike93lx]

The process will take the best part of a week with dry times between coats, that plus the odors will make it unpleasant to be in. Consider taking you valueables and leaving for a week

Water based sealer addresses dry time between coats and odors. Two huge wins for me

 

[Shiftless]

What would it cost to yank up the old stuff and replace with brand new factory finished flooring? No fumes, no dust. No damage to your refrigerator and maybe even live there while the work was being done room by room.

 

[bzinsky]

If you plan to leave stuff in your kitchen cabinets, then use painters tape to seal the doors so that dust cannot get in. Also, I wouldn't sand in a room with a working refrigerator, as the dust will be sure to clog the condenser.

Lol what?

i just refinished floors last week, for about the 25th time, and that is absurd. The sanders do a good job of containing it. Maybe if your contractor lost his dust bag for the sander.

 

[bzinsky]

What would it cost to yank up the old stuff and replace with brand new factory finished flooring? No fumes, no dust. No damage to your refrigerator and maybe even live there while the work was being done room by room.

Factory finish looks like laminate since there is no poly in the seams

If I was buying fresh hardwood floors, I’d without a doubt get unfinished. Traditionally finished wood floors look so much better than pre-finished

 

[rlitman]

What would it cost to yank up the old stuff and replace with brand new factory finished flooring? No fumes, no dust. No damage to your refrigerator and maybe even live there while the work was being done room by room.

There’s still dust. Just from all the cutting.

 

[mike93lx]

Factory finish looks like laminate since there is no poly in the seams

If I was buying fresh hardwood floors, I’d without a doubt get unfinished. Traditionally finished wood floors look so much better than pre-finished

This. Finished in place is much nicer

 

[CGT80]

There’s still dust. Just from all the cutting.

X2 on dust with a new floor. I just installed laminate in my place, with a farmhouse color. It looks rustic and has many colors but was cheap at $1.59 per foot plus underlayment. It is very easy to install floating laminate and also very easy to remove when you want to update or happen to have a flood. I have refinished floors for customers and on housed we have flipped. They were old oak floors. Its a bunch of work and can be quite messy. It just depends on what you like and want and if you can do it yourself.

One customer moved out and we did paint, flooring, electrical, and some plumbing work to clean up the entire small house. Doing an oil finish with people in the house would be very time consuming and tough.

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[ClearWaterMS]

What would it cost to yank up the old stuff and replace with brand new factory finished flooring? No fumes, no dust. No damage to your refrigerator and maybe even live there while the work was being done room by room.

I am estimating right now that the cost of the project will be around $4/ft and replacement flooring (manufactured hardwood) would probably be another $4 or $5 extra per foot. This would change the cost of the project from around $4000 to $9000.

 

[musgofasta]

$4-5/sq ft quotes to refinish in So Cal - just did it myself for less than $1/sq ft.

1952 Red Oak floors - 750 square feet got refinished.

 

[Bretny]

Geez you guys are really paying $4sqft just for refinishing?

I put unfinished red oak flooring in, sanded it and used toungue oil for under $3.50sqft. I did do the work my self. I guess if your going to move out for a floor refinish your just going to pay someone to do it.

I highly recommend looking into a toungue finish if your having to refinish your floors. It can be touched up very easily but after 8 yrs and 2 puppys/dogs im still on the initial coating. It looks nearly new too.

 

[mike93lx]

Geez you guys are really paying $4sqft just for refinishing?

I put unfinished red oak flooring in, sanded it and used toungue oil for under $3.50sqft. I did do the work my self. I guess if your going to move out for a floor refinish your just going to pay someone to do it.

Yeah. Is labor free where you live? The $4 i mentioned includes a staircase and expensive materials. It is going to take a couple guys a week to do the work. I think its a pretty good deal

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Yeah. Is labor free where you live? The $4 i mentioned includes a staircase and expensive materials. It is going to take a couple guys a week to do the work. I think its a pretty good deal

$3.5/sqft DIY vs. $4/sqft PRO... seem like a no brainer to me. When we installed new oak flooring in the house the brazilian guys charged ~$1.6/sqft to sand/stain/poly (3x coats).

 

[oldguyfl1]

Just got one today in epoxy for 6200 for 1780 sq ft. I will be doing it myself.