Refinish or Replace? Hardwood Floors in Van Nuys

A screen and recoat abrades only the finish, not the wood, and puts a fresh coat of finish on top. It removes light scratches and restores sheen, takes about a day, costs substantially less, and does not use up any of the wood. A full refinish sands through the old finish into bare wood, which is the only way to remove deep scratches, pet stains that have gone into the grain, or to change the colour. The catch with a screen and recoat is adhesion: if the existing finish is waxed, or if a household cleaner has left a residue, the new coat can fail to bond and peel later. A contractor should test a small area first. If your floor is only tired rather than damaged, this is usually the job you want, and it buys years before a full sanding becomes necessary.

Often, in houses built during the post-war expansion of the San Fernando Valley, where oak strip flooring was standard and wall-to-wall carpet was added later. The way to find out is to pull the carpet back in a corner or inside a closet, where the tack strip is easy to lift and the damage is invisible if you decide against it. What you want to see is continuous hardwood running under the carpet, not plywood or particle board. Two things to check next: nail holes from the tack strip around the perimeter, which are normal and end up hidden under baseboard or shoe moulding, and staple holes scattered across the open floor from the carpet pad, which sand out only partially and can remain visible. Also look for adhesive residue, which adds labour. None of these is a reason not to proceed, but all of them change the quote.

Only after the moisture problem that caused it has been found and fixed, and only after the wood has been allowed to return to a stable moisture content, which can take weeks or longer. Cupping means the underside of the boards is wetter than the top: a slab or crawl space with a moisture issue, a slow plumbing leak, a dishwasher or refrigerator line, or an exterior drainage problem pushing water under the house. Sanding a floor flat while it is still wet underneath produces a floor that dries out afterwards and goes concave the other way, which is worse and cannot be fixed by sanding again. Any contractor working on a cupped floor should be taking moisture readings of the wood and the subfloor, not just quoting square footage.

The practical trade-off is between odour and cure time on one side and durability and appearance on the other. Oil-modified polyurethane is inexpensive, hard-wearing, ambers the wood over time in a way many people like on oak, and has a strong smell that persists for days. Waterborne finishes cure faster, smell far less, and stay clearer, so they keep a pale floor pale; the better ones are as durable as oil-based, but they are not all the same and the cheap ones are not. Hardwax oil penetrates rather than forming a film, looks and feels the most natural, and can be spot-repaired without refinishing the whole room, but needs periodic maintenance and is less resistant to standing water. If you have a dog, ask specifically about scratch resistance and about how each option is repaired, because every floor gets scratched eventually and the repair story matters more than the initial hardness rating.

Longer than people expect, and this is where good work gets damaged. As a general pattern, you can walk on a finished floor in socks well before you can put furniture on it, and you can put furniture on it well before you can put an area rug down. A rug traps solvent that is still leaving the finish and can leave a permanent outline. Ask the contractor for three specific dates rather than one: when you can walk on it, when furniture can come back, and when rugs are safe. Cure times vary a lot by product and are extended by cold or humid weather, so the number on the can is a minimum, not a promise. Put felt pads under everything before it goes back, and lift furniture rather than sliding it.

No. They are general ranges for the Los Angeles area, published here so you can tell whether a quote you receive is roughly normal or wildly out of line. Real pricing depends on the species and grade of wood, the size and layout of the rooms, how much of the job is edge and corner work, the condition of the subfloor, and how much preparation and repair is needed before any flooring is touched. Get written quotes from more than one independent contractor, make sure each one lists the same scope, and compare the exclusions as carefully as the totals. Tegula Stone is a connector between homeowners and independent flooring specialists, not the contractor, and does not perform the work or set anyone's prices.