Overview: Hardwood Floor Installation & Refinishing
Wood flooring crews do two different jobs. One is laying new floors, solid or engineered boards, nailed down over a wood subfloor or glued over concrete. The other is rescuing the floor already in the house: sanding off the old finish, replacing split boards, weaving in patches where a wall came out, and putting down fresh coats. Plenty of crews do both, and the one that installs well is not automatically the one that sands well.
Good work starts before any board is cut. The material should sit in the room long enough to match the air it will live in, and the subfloor should be read with a moisture meter and checked for flat spots. Skip that and you get cupping, hollow-sounding spots and squeaks a year later, none of which a finish can hide.
Sanding is the part where skill shows. Ask how they handle dust, what finish goes on, and how long before you can walk on it. Oil-based coatings cure slowly and warm in color over the years; water-based coatings dry fast and stay clear. If the floor is scuffed rather than worn through, a screen and recoat may be all it needs.
Use the state and city lists below to reach the crews working near you. Each city page separates the ones with a local address from the ones that travel in.
Frequently asked questions
Solid boards or engineered?
Solid boards are one piece of wood, so they can be sanded repeatedly and last for decades in a dry room. Engineered boards carry a real wood wear surface over a stable plywood core, move less as humidity swings, and can go down over concrete. The catch is thickness: a thin top layer gives you one sanding or none, so ask how deep it is before you compare prices.
Why does the wood have to sit first?
Wood takes on and gives up moisture until it matches the air around it. Boards delivered from a cold truck and nailed down the same day will shrink or swell in place, which opens gaps or lifts edges. A careful crew stacks the material in the room, runs the heating or cooling as normal, and takes moisture readings of both the boards and the subfloor before starting.
How many times can a wood floor be sanded?
It depends on how much wood sits above the tongue. A solid floor usually has room for several full sandings across its life, which is why old floors keep coming back. Engineered floors depend entirely on the wear layer, and many will take one light sanding at most. If you do not know what is down there, a crew can pull a vent or a threshold and measure the edge.
Full sand or just a recoat?
If the finish is scuffed and dull but not worn through to bare wood, a screen and recoat usually does it: the crew abrades the surface, cleans it, and rolls fresh coats over the same day. It costs far less and makes far less mess. Bare gray patches, pet stains that reached the wood, or deep scratches mean a full sand instead, because a recoat will lock those in.
When can furniture go back on the floor?
Ask the crew for two answers: when you can walk on it in socks, and when it has cured. Walking usually comes within a day. Curing takes longer, and water-based coatings get there faster than oil-based. Put furniture back before then and feet press marks into soft finish. Rugs go down last of all, because they trap solvent and can leave a shadow in the color.
