new home owner questions hardwood floors

[mach03one]

I recently bought a new home. I had a few questions for people who might have some experience in the area of hardwood floor refinishing.

Long story short, I'm looking into getting the hardwood floors sanded, stained and sealed. I have about 800 sq ft (3 Bed rooms, dining room, hall and living room.) I'm having a company come out tomorrow to give me a quote.

1. What is an average cost per sq foot to do something like this?

2. Are there any extra costs that they might try to tack on?

3. What questions should I be asking them?


To the people who tell me to do it my self, I don't feel comfortable using my floors as a test bed. I don't have enough time before I move in to get it fixed if I fudge it up!

old pic of the living room


since I painted and ripped up carpet

[shadowmaker]

When we looked into doing ours a few yrs back, about 400 sq feet was going to run me around $400-$500. Going off that figure, I d say you re looking at $1000-$1500.

Heres a link I found as well.

http://home.costhelper.com/refinishi...ood-floor.html

We ended up putting the laminate hardwood over top of it. The reason I went that route is we had 2 small kids, a dog and 3 cats. We only had 1 bathroom which is in the middle of the house. The recommended dry time was 24-48 hrs and I just couldnt do it without being in a motel for 2 days. And no where to take the pets.

[devous1]

I've done two floors myself, the new sanders are virtually foolproof but take more time. I need to get the floors redone in our house as well.

[mach03one]

I had read that the new rotary sanders were easier than a traditional drum sander, but that in turn they take MUCH longer.

Had they guy come out today and take a look, they quoted me around 1800-1900 for all the space. It is extra for the stain. The floors are white oak, I was originally thinking about a stain and non gloss epoxy. But after looking at some pics on the web think no stain looks pretty good.

The last owners had cats and they let their "mark" through the carpet an onto the wood. The guy said that sanding won't take out the dark stains, I need to rip up those couple areas. extra $$

Good thoughts/comments on the edge molding, is this purely for cosmetic reasons? I know that my flooring ends flush with the base boards and not under them.

I plan on getting a second quote from another person, just to check to compare the first one to. And defiantly getting a written quote on every thing that is included before any work starts.

[birdman941]

Lumber Liquidators.
Holmes on Homes.

[shadowmaker]

Depending on the stains, you can bleach the wood. If you go with a darker color, it can cover it and not be noticed.

[mach03one]

Originally Posted by shadowmaker

Depending on the stains, you can bleach the wood. If you go with a darker color, it can cover it and not be noticed.

I asked about putting a darker stain after sanding, and was told that it would just make both the dark portion darker so it would still be noticeable. The floor guy didn't seem fazed about pulling the old and putting in new, made it seem easy.

how do you bleach the dark portion? clorox? hydrogen peroxide?

Im running out of time before my move in date. I wish I had more time, the more I read online the easier it sounds!

[shadowmaker]

Lowes, Home Depot, etc will have the bleach in the same section as the floor stain.

Depending on the spot, size and location will play a part. You maybe the only one to notice it. And I guess would also depend on how dark you stained it.

[mach03one]

UPDATE! if anyone cares....