Another remodeling question........

cypressgirl · Post by **cypressgirl** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:00 pm

Has anyone ever had hardwood floors refinished? I have LOTS of wood in my home and it's really getting bad in the kitchen and main living area. Should I go through the mess of getting them refinished, or pull them up and start over? There's some pretty good dings and scrapes in places. I've even thought of using a different product like travertine, but I hear there are problems with that too. I really like the look of the wood, but it's so hard to keep up, especially in the kitchen. With my floor plan, there is no way to do something different in the kitchen, from the rest of the house. Replacing the wood is almost twice as expensive as refinishing it, but I can't imagine the mess and I'm a little afraid the end result would not be worth it.

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:08 pm

Believe me when I say a tile or stone floor will kill you over time. It's just too hard of a surface! If I were to re-do my floors I'd go with Pergo or something like that. Lots more "back-friendly" and pretty indestructible.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:29 pm

DELETED

lexi · Post by **lexi** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 8:02 pm

I was in your shoes last year...refinishing or new flooring!?! I decided on just refinishing my existing floors in the bedrooms and living room. For the most part they were in good shape after being covered with carpet for years. I wanted to try the sweat equity route and do some of the work myself. Started small with a bedrooms first, then the living room. Sanding took forever!!! Sure it was a little messy because of all the dust, but it wasn't really too bad to clean up. I'm really a perfectionist and I didn't want to make any mistakes with the varnish. So I hired guys take care of that. Overall, the floors look great I think and it was nice to know that I did some of the work too.

soxfan22 · Post by **soxfan22** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:06 pm

Agree with SJ...Really depends on what type of florring you have and how many times it has been refinished in the past. I had a guy tell me once that you can really only get three or maybe four "refinishes" out of a floor. However, you only need to do it every ten years or so, depending on the homeowner.

If you have red or white 3/4" strip oak flooring there, I say refinish. That's a good hard, durable wood...If they are pine, which is very soft, rip up and lay down something harder. We have oak throughout the house, and australian cypress in the family room...The cypress gives the knotty, rustic look of a knotty pine, but it is harder than even oak, so it hold up well.

I LOVE the looks of 3/4" hickory...Very rustic looking pattern...Not cheap though, and you really have to like the looks of a dark board next to a light board.

And if you lay down new, I wouldn't personally recommend Pergo or any other "engineered" floor. First off, the stuff is really no less expensive than good strip oak...And IMO it just feels funny under the feet. Not the "solid" feel of 3/4" oak.

Oh, and SJ has it right...If you refinish, hire someone! And do it during a week you and the family are on vacation. The smell from the poly and the dust from the sanding is tough!

stjdeb · Post by **stjdeb** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:03 am

We also have oak flooring throughout our house and had to refinish the floors throughout a few years ago. It is messy, but all the furniture was being stored outdoors for a few days, so really just cleaning up the dust out of an empty room, not too bad. We slept in a tent in the back yard for a few days (could not leave because of the dogs). Things will go quickly if using a drum sander with the different grades of paper, however, experience using the sander is a must. We had a BIL do the sanding, it was finished and cleaned up in one day, next 2 days spent applying finish and waiting for it to dry. Floors still look good, kitchen gets beat up first. Our house is small and well over 120 years old, we installed the oak over pine planking, made my house stop shaking when kids ran up the stairs. LOL. I can't say I have never thought of using a Pergo, but why pay for a look-a-like, when you already have the real thing? (I know, easier) At any rate, they sure looked great when finished. Because of pets, ours had to be redone after 8 years. Good luck

cypressgirl · Post by **cypressgirl** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:19 am

Good advice everyone. I have gotton a bid for refinishing........6,000.

A big part of the expense is the day or two it will take to cover, move, or tape off everything. A 1000. of that was the extra charge to use a "dustless" sander, which isn't really dustless, but much better than the "cheaper" sander.

It is a good quality dark oak floor and I like it ok, but I REALLY like the wider plalnk, more distressed looking floors that are so popular now. One thing that I would never do again is get the high gloss finish. It's impossible to keep looking like new, shows every scratch, footprint, dog hair, smudge.....I want something that looks like it came from an old Italian villa. Oh well, the baby daughter is talking about med school. I may need to start playing the lottery.

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 9:39 am

soxfan22 wrote: And if you lay down new, I wouldn't personally recommend Pergo or any other "engineered" floor. First off, the stuff is really no less expensive than good strip oak...And IMO it just feels funny under the feet. Not the "solid" feel of 3/4" oak.

I totally agree. The upper level of our house (kitchen, dining room, living room, 3 bedrooms) has solid oak floors except for the kitchen where we have Pergo. I detest the Pergo...I can't tell you how much I hate it. Other than looking cheap (especially against the oak) it never looks clean (always streaky), it buckles easily if there is any moisture (like near a pet's water dish), and if you gouge it it looks bad.

I would just refinish the floors. I hate to waste good material, and I like saving money, so that would do it for me.

Plus, the popular wood floors you like now might look outdated in 10 years so you might be better off keeping a more classic look. I wouldn't do tile because it is really hard on your legs and back...Dr. Ramirez would probably agree with me on that one

My husband has refinished the floors in a couple of our bedrooms and it is miserable work...I definitely recommend professionals for a large area.

I would get at least a couple more quotes...and you can join Angie's List to look for good companies. We did that this past spring when we replaced our HVAC...I was glad because one of the companies we almost went with had terrible reviews. There is an activation fee and then a monthly charge for Angie's List but I was able to use google to find a code that waived the activation fee. I think it was maybe $10 max to join for a month...well worth it when you're investing thousands of dollars into your house.

Chickadee · Post by **Chickadee** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:06 am

We have wood in our kitchen, 2 halls, foyer, laundry and powder room. We also have 2 large dogs and over time the floor got pretty scratched up. We paid to have someone come and refinish it and could not have been happier with the result. It is good quality wood to begin with, though I don't remember what kind (just that the guy who came to do the work was impressed). He told us that we have enough thickness to have it refinished several more times.

I LOVE wood in my kitchen and would never have anything else. It's easier on our feet and backs when working in there. It's a little forgiving on dropped dishes (unlike tile). It's easy to clean up and we don't really have to worry about stains like I might with tile.

Definitely hire it out and best if you're going to be gone for a few days.

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Another remodeling question........

Another remodeling question........