Dustless hardwood floor refinishing

When a floor needs the full sand

• Finish worn through to bare or gray wood in the traffic lanes
• Oak coming out from under carpet, with tack strip and staple marks
• Orange 1970s polyurethane you want gone
• Deep scratches, pet stains, or water marks that a recoat cannot hide
• A stain color change, lighter or darker

If your floor is just dull and lightly scratched, stop before you buy this job. A screen and recoat costs about a quarter as much and may be all the floor needs. We tell you which one you actually need at the quote visit, and the cheaper answer is the one we give when it is true.

What dustless actually means

Our drum and edge sanders connect to high-suction vacuum units that capture dust at the point of sanding. Realistically that contains about 95 percent of it. You will not be wiping oak flour off the china cabinet for a month, which is what older Bay County homeowners remember from refinishes past. We still plastic off doorways to adjacent rooms and do a full vacuum and tack before any finish goes down, because the last 5 percent is what causes gritty finish.

Stain and finish choices

Stain samples go on your actual sanded floor, not a brochure, because sixty year old red oak takes color differently than new wood. For finish, most Bay County families choose waterborne polyurethane: low odor, socks-on by the next morning, and no ambering, so the floor stays the color you picked. Oil-based remains available for those who want the traditional warm tone and do not mind the longer cure.

What it costs

$3.50 to $4.25 per square foot clear, $4.00 to $5.00 with stain, published in full in our cost guide. A typical Bay County main floor runs $2,800 to $4,500. No trip charges anywhere in the county.