Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Lewes, DE

Hardwood floor refinishing

Your floor is probably still in there

How much dust does sanding make?

Far less than you are picturing. The machines run on vacuums, so the dust goes into a bag instead of onto your curtains, and the doorways get sealed off. There is always a little fine dust left over and we clean that up before we finish. Anyone still filling a house with dust is using equipment from another era. The sanding itself is the part that decides how the floor looks: see what the sanding stage involves.

Dust control is standard on our refinishing work.

Can I change the color?

Yes, and this is the moment to do it. Once the floor is bare it will take almost any stain, from a natural clear that keeps the wood's own color through to dark walnut. We put test patches down on your own boards first, because red oak, white oak, pine and maple all take stain differently and a chip in a showroom tells you very little. Borders and feature panels can be picked out in a second color at the same time.

The sequence itself is not ours: the National Wood Flooring Association publishes the sand and finish guidelines this follows.

How long before I can walk on it?

Light foot traffic is usually fine the day after the last coat, in socks. Rugs and heavy furniture wait longer, because the finish keeps hardening for a while after it stops feeling wet, and a rug trapped on a green floor leaves a mark. You get the real dates for your rooms rather than a rule of thumb. If only one room has failed, a repair and refinish is often all it needs.

The stage that decides all of it is how we sand a floor.

What if some boards are past saving?

They come out first. Black pet stains, rot near a leak and boards that have split are replaced before any sanding starts, and the new lengths are woven into the old rather than butted across the room in a straight line. Then everything is sanded and finished together, so the repair disappears into the floor instead of announcing itself. On an old Lewes house matching the grain is as much about the stain as the timber, and we test that on your own boards. That is the same work as our floor repair.

How many times can a floor be refinished?

Solid hardwood takes it several times across its life, depending on how much wood sits above the tongue. Engineered floors depend on the thickness of the wear layer. Mike checks yours rather than guessing.

How long does a refinish take?

A few days for most houses. Sanding is the first day, stain goes on next, then the finish coats with drying time between them. Bigger jobs run longer and you get the dates up front.

Do I have to move out?

Most people stay. Rooms are done in stages where we can and the doorways are sealed, though you will want to keep off the floor being coated and plan around the smell on the coating days.

Will the gaps between the boards close up?

Some will look much better once the floor is sanded and filled, but seasonal gaps open and close with the humidity and no finish stops that. Wide, permanent gaps can be filled with strips cut to match.

What about the stairs?

They can be sanded and finished to match, and worn nosings and loose treads get sorted first. Stairs take longer per square foot than any floor because every surface is hand worked.

Where do you refinish floors?

Lewes and the beach towns around it, including Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Milton, Bethany Beach, Georgetown, Millsboro and Ocean City, MD, and we take commercial jobs across Sussex County.