Wood Floor Refinishing Costs
We are looking to redo a floor wood floor on a relatively new condo. The price we’ve been quoted is nearly $3 a square foot. I should note that we are NOT even looking for a full refinish– no sanding, just screening, sealing, and three coats of poly. I’m willing to pay a premium to…
We are looking to redo a floor wood floor on a relatively new condo. The price we’ve been quoted is nearly $3 a square foot. I should note that we are NOT even looking for a full refinish– no sanding, just screening, sealing, and three coats of poly. I’m willing to pay a premium to have someone trustworthy do it, but the prices I’ve seen batted around on the internet for professionals are closer to $1.50 to $2 a square foot for a full refinish.
So, two questions for anyone with experience:
1. Is there a significant price difference between screeing and sanding?
2. Is the price of 3 a square foot reasonable (note, it’s a pretty big place, more than 1500 sq ft, so no problems with it being a very small job?)?
And a bonus question:
3. There are two spots on the floor in the entrance to one of the rooms where the finish has worn through and the bare wood is exposed. Can these be refinished while leaving the rest of the job as just screeing?
Thanks for the help!
It was a couple years ago, so I don’t remember exactly what I paid per sq. foot, but i had some parquet floors that were in rough shape and some 110 year old pine floors that were in rougher shape. I hired Burt (917-754-9680) and he did a wonderful job on them for really, really cheap! This was my first renovation and I was dealing with tons of subcontractors. He was a bright spot: friendly, calm and cheap. In the midst of all of the stress of renovating he was such a relief.
Andrew
Jimmy:
There is something I thought about after saying have them remove the radiators:
you or they, provided they are competent, had better make sure the steam valves are holding before removing rads, particularly now that heating season is on us. very few of the valves can be capped (the old ones in my house can be, most cannot). Often the valves have to be changed. Better to get them all changed if they are old as its nice to have working valves when you need to isolate a radiator.
Steve
Check with your heating people first before removing radiators. Ours said absolutely not. We have a hot water system.
jimmy:
make them remove the radiators. There is no point in doing the floor unless the radiators are moved or they have that machine that reaches underneath. The best floor places will have that machine.
Steve
Thanks, Steve, this is really informative.
Jimmy, they don’t remove the radiators. What exactly they use I do not know. The hand edger thing they also use to get at that black stuff underneath the baseboards in the edges of closets and such, maybe?
Call Carlos from Inti Interior – he can probably answer your questions once he sees the floor. His number is 646-281-2659. He’s done numerous jobs for me and is extremely experienced and capable. Tell him I recommended you.
Allan S.
It’s a pretty easy job, relatively speaking. No furniture, elevator building, only one tough spot (about a 2 square feet in an awkward spot). The floor is only 5 years old, a little worn in a couple of spots, but otherwise fine.
Based on what Mopar wrote, $3 a square foot sounds like it’s a bit much.
So anyone know if screening is cheaper than sanding? Based upon what tinker wrote (thanks for a really helpful comment!) I think we may want to go for a full sanding…
If you want to do just a screening, be careful about how much poly you put on the floor afterwards. Screening does not remove all of the old poly; even the most aggressive screening with a 60 grit screen will leave plenty of finish behind; screening it off with 80, 100 and 150 before coating is not going to remove much more finish.
Generally this would only call for a (one) coat of high build oil base poly. If it is water base poly, I would say two coats is ok. I am not sure I would use a sealer after screening; the sealer was what was first used on the bare wood to pop the grain and is not needed between coats.
The reason one wants to be cautious about applying too much poly is it chips easier when it is applied too thick.
to answer the question about what the difference is between screening and sanding: screening is the use of a round abrasive which looks like a window screen with grit on it. It is done with a slow speed buffing maching. It only braids the surface and is done to freshen a urethaned floor that otherwise has sound finish and no scratches into the wood. It is also done between coats when finishing a sanded floor to give the smoothest possible finish. Sanding removes all finish and takes some wood with it. The great thing about screening is, it can be done to floors that really can not take another sanding.
Screening is also done when a repair has been made on a floor – either in the finish or changing a board. One would first finish the repaired area by sanding it (try to sand it to 100 grit as that is probably what the finishing guys stopped at) and staining and/or coating it with at least two coats of urethane. Now, when the urethane has dried, this repair will show. To hide it, screen off the entire floor and then coat the entire floor; this should hide the repaired area.
Steve
this brings up a question i’ve wondered about for a while: if you hire contractors for a floor job, what do they do when it comes to radiators? do they remove them, or somehow work under them?