Wood floors are a beautiful addition to any home, but even the highest quality wood floors will start to show wear over time. Luckily, in most cases, you don’t have to replace the entire floor in order for it to look new again.
Refinishing wood floors will bring them back to life and save them from the further damage that can occur over time as the finish and stain wear away from high traffic and sun, among other causes.
Top Considerations Before Refinishing Your Hardwood Floors
Before you make the move to refinish your hardwood floors, consider:
- Whether or not you’ll be having any other construction work completed in your home in the foreseeable future. If so, make sure to do the hardwood floor refinishing last. You don’t want to spend the time and money refinishing your wood floors if the traffic on them is going to increase due to construction.
- Whether or not you’ll be able to stay off of your refinished wood floors for a couple of days. Once the refinishing process is complete you won’t be able to walk on the hardwood floors for several days while the finish dries. If your hardwood floors encompass the majority of your living space and high traffic areas of the home, you may need to actually make plans to take a short trip or stay with friends and family while your floors are refinished.
Hire a Professional Hardwood Floor Refinishing Team
Unless you are a contractor, or have one in the family, wood floor refinishing is not a DIY job. Attempting to tackle the job yourself will likely cause you to spend even more money in the long run to rent or purchase the necessary equipment to get the job done correctly. Furthermore, if something goes wrong, which is easy to do if you don’t have experience with these types of projects, you will end up having to hire a professional to clean up the mess and finish the project anyways.
There are many companies that specialize in hardwood floor refinishing, which can make it difficult to know which one to choose. However, if you know a little about the process ahead of time it will be easier to evaluate potential contractors to ensure you get the best one for the job. Unless you already have a trusted hardwood flooring team, it’s not a bad idea to ask for bids from multiple hardwood floor refinishers before making a hiring decision. Conducting the proper research and making sure that you are comfortable with your hardwood refinishing team could make a huge difference throughout the course of the project, including the end result.
Questions to Ask a Wood Floor Refinishing Contractor
As you interview potential hardwood floor refinishing teams, make sure to ask the following questions:
- How long has your company been in business performing wood flooring refinishing?
- Do you have any references I can get in touch with about a recent hardwood floor refinishing job?
- Is your company properly licensed and insured to complete wood floor refinishing?
- What kind of dust control systems do you use during the hardwood floor refinishing and sanding process?
- Can you perform sanding and hardwood floor refinishing for just the damaged portion of my hardwood floors vs. the entire hardwood area?
Having your existing hardwood floors refinished can quickly restore the natural beauty of your flooring. If your hardwood flooring is in great condition, consider whether or not wood floor refinishing might be a good choice to update or freshen up your space.
