Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Cary, NC
If your wood floors look tired, scratched or gray in the traffic paths, we can sand them clean and give them a new finish.
- Quotes in writing
- 10 areas covered
Is the shine gone from your hallway and the finish worn through by the back door? Cary Hardwood Flooring sands old hardwood down to fresh wood, then lays down new color and clear coats in houses all over Cary.
Full sanding or a lighter touch-up
On our first visit, we work out how much work your floor really needs. If we find only a scuffed top coat, we may suggest a screen and recoat instead. That's a lighter job where we buff the top layer of finish and roll a new coat over it, and we never reach the wood.
If we find gray, worn spots or scratches that cut into the boards, we'll tell you straight that it's time for a full sanding. If you'd like a new color while the wood is bare, we cover that on our hardwood floor staining page.
How a job goes in your house
We start by clearing the room. We carry out the furniture, check for squeaky or loose boards and nail them down. Any cracked or soft boards get flagged so you can decide on hardwood floor repair before we sand.
Then we run a big drum sander over the open floor, with coarse paper first and finer paper after, so each pass takes out the scratches the last one left. Along the walls and in tight corners we switch to a smaller edger and hand tools.
Once the wood is clean and smooth, we vacuum, put on stain if you chose one, and brush or roll on the clear finish in coats. We bring your furniture back once the finish is hard enough to take it.
Cary humidity and the gaps in your boards
The Forest Products Laboratory, the U.S. Forest Service's wood research lab, says wood soaks up moisture from what's around it. It says the water left in wood tends to even out with the humidity of the nearby air.
When we walk your floor, we point out which gaps we plan to fill and which we'd rather leave open, so the boards still have room to move.
Keeping the dust out of the rest of your home
OSHA, the federal agency for job safety, says wood dust turns into a possible health problem once sanding and cutting make the particles airborne. It says breathing them may cause allergy and breathing symptoms, and cancer.
We hang plastic over the doorways of the rooms we're working in and seal the air vents, so the dust stays in that room and out of the air ducts that heat and cool your house.
Painted trim in older houses
The EPA says a house built before 1978 may have lead-based paint, and the older the house, the higher the chance. It warns that a renovation, repair or painting job in a pre-1978 home with lead paint can easily make dangerous lead dust.
When you call, we'll ask the year your home was built. If the trim along your walls, the door frames or stair parts next to the floor are painted, we'll talk through how we'll work near them. The EPA also suggests asking any contractor who works on a pre-1978 home whether they are lead-safe certified, or checking them on its search tool.
Your written quote
We don't price a floor over the phone. We come out, look at the floor, and then send you a quote in writing.
We set our price by how many square feet we sand and how many stairs, closets and tight spots we do by hand. We also add in any stain you pick, the boards we swap out, the gaps we fill and how many clear coats we put on top.
Check that the quote also names the finish brand, whether we move the furniture, and the day you can walk on the floor again.
Questions about hardwood floor refinishing in Cary
Is a building permit part of a refinishing job in Cary?
The Town of Cary says jobs that replace floor and wall coverings, or moldings and trim, don't need a building permit. If you'd like to check your own project, the town says to call its Inspections and Permits Department by dialing 311 inside town limits or (919) 469-4000, on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
How humid should I keep my house?
The EPA advises keeping indoor humidity under 60 percent if you can, and ideally between 30 and 50 percent. It says you can measure it with a humidity meter, which many hardware stores sell.
I have half a can of old floor finish in the garage. Where does it go?
The Town of Cary says flammable materials such as turpentine are household hazardous waste and should not go out with your regular trash. Its website has a Waste Wizard where you type in an item and it tells you how to recycle or get rid of it.
Should I open windows while the finish is going on?
The EPA says varnishes contain organic solvents, and these products can release chemicals into the air while they're being used. It tells you to make sure there's plenty of fresh air, and to keep the products away from children and pets.
Can an engineered wood floor be refinished?
With engineered hardwood flooring, we check how thick the real wood on top is before we say whether it can take a sanding.
Can you sand just one room so it matches the rest?
We can sand one room, and we'll show you where the room meets the next one and tell you if we think the new finish will look different from the old one next to it.
Do you refinish stair treads as well?
We can sand and refinish the treads on your hardwood stairs in the same visit, so the color runs from the upstairs hall down to the first floor.
Do you work outside Cary?
We do. We also refinish floors in Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs and the other nearby towns on our home page.
Book a look at your floor
Call us, or fill in the quote form with your ZIP code and the rooms you want sanded. We'll come and look at the wood, talk through stain and finish choices, and send a written quote. You can see the rest of what we do on the Cary Hardwood Flooring home page.
Ready to talk about your hardwood flooring job?
Call us or send the quote form with your ZIP code and what you need. We will get back to you with a written quote.