Floor Refinishing and Repair
Worn, scratched, stained or water-damaged floors brought back where that is the sensible option, and replaced only where it is not.
Refinishing is usually cheaper than replacing
A solid hardwood floor can be sanded back and refinished several times across its life. Most floors that look finished are not. The damage people point at is typically in the finish layer rather than the wood itself, which means the fix is to take the finish off, address what is underneath and put a new finish on, rather than to tear out boards that have decades left in them.
There are real limits to that. A floor sanded repeatedly in the past may not have enough thickness above the tongue to take another pass. Boards that have been wet long enough to cup badly, split or lift at the ends may need replacing in sections. Engineered flooring has a thin wear layer and often cannot be refinished at all. We look before we quote, and we tell you which of those you have.
The floor under the carpet
A good share of this work starts as something else. We pull up carpet for a cleaning or a replacement and find original pine or oak underneath, particularly in older Baltimore and DC rowhomes and in Baltimore County houses where wall-to-wall went down over the original floor decades ago.
When that happens we stop and tell you, because the floor already in your house is often a better outcome than the one you were about to buy.
Reasons people call us
- Sanding and refinishing solid hardwood
- Scratches, gouges and pet damage
- Water-damaged and cupped boards
- Board and section replacement, matched to the existing floor
- Squeaking and loose boards
- Transitions, thresholds and trim
- Repairs to luxury vinyl plank, laminate and tile
- Floors uncovered after carpet removal
If a floor has been wet, start with water damage restoration instead. Refinishing a floor before the subfloor underneath it is dry is work that has to be done twice.
Tell us what the floor is doing
Scratched, dull, cupped, stained or squeaking. A photo helps, and so does knowing roughly how old the floor is and whether it has been refinished before.
Serving Maryland, Washington DC and Northern Virginia, from Ellicott City to Fairfax.