Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Minneapolis

Hardwood floor refinishing is sanding an existing wood floor down past the damage, then staining and recoating it, and Top Notch Floors does that work throughout Minneapolis. An old floor comes back looking new. It costs far less than replacing it.

The first question is refinish or replace. It comes down to how much wood is left above the tongue. A solid three-quarter-inch floor can usually take five or six full sandings across its life, so most Minneapolis floors have refinishes left in them. If boards are cupped hard, water-blackened, or already sanded so thin the nails show, replacement is the honest answer and we will say so.

Older houses here are full of surprises under the carpet. Homes from the twenties through the fifties often have oak or maple that has been covered for decades. It comes up dull and stapled, and it sands out beautifully. We pull a corner and look before you commit to anything.

We sand with dust-controlled equipment that pulls the dust into sealed containment at the machine. It is not a perfectly dustless job, and nobody honest claims it is. It is a fraction of what open sanding puts in your house. We also seal off doorways and cover vents so fine dust does not travel.

If the finish is worn but the wood underneath is not damaged, you do not need a full sand. A screen and recoat abrades the old finish and lays a fresh coat over it. It is done in a day and costs a lot less. It will not remove deep scratches, pet stains or gray weathered wood, and we tell you which job yours needs after we look at it.

Stain color gets decided on your floor, not from a fan deck. We sand a test area and put down two or three samples so you see them in your own light. Then comes the finish. Oil-based finishes give warm amber tone and cure slowly. Water-based finishes stay clear, smell far less, and dry in hours instead of days, so the job finishes faster.

Dry times drive the schedule. With water-based finish you can walk on socks in about a day and move furniture back in three or four days. Oil-based needs two or three days before light foot traffic and a week before rugs. Rugs go down last either way, because the finish is still hardening underneath.

Once it is done, keep pet nails trimmed and put felt pads under the chairs, because nails and grit cause most of the scratches we see. Sun fades wood too. Move the area rugs around now and then so the floor ages evenly.