Refinishing hardwood floors is a process that needs to be done properly. Since your hardwoods are a lifelong investment that make your home feel more like home, taking proper care of them is the best way to get the most out of them. Refinishing is one of the best ways to take care of your hardwood floors and to ensure that they will last a very long time. Hardwood floors can often be refinished 5-10 times during their lifespan. But, how long does it take to refinish hardwood floors?

How Long Does Hardwood Floor Refinishing Take?

Most of the projects we work on take between 3-6 days to completely refinish them. There are multiple factors at play which we will go into deeper below. The main things that take the most time are sanding the floors and waiting for the new coats of polyurethane to dry. We need to ensure that we first sand down below the deepest gouges and smooth out the floor completely so that the final finish is flawless. Then, depending on what type of finish you choose, it make take more or less time to dry and be ready for every day life. Oil based finishes take longer but are more durable than water based finish. So, there are pros and cons to both.

What are some factors that affect the time it takes to refinish hardwood floors?

Prep Time

Prepping the room and your home for the process is crucial. We keep the dust down as much as possible by using vacuums and staying on top of it. But, dust is extremely fine and gets away from you no matter how hard you try. Prepping the room takes a few hours to ensure that all of the vents, doors, windows, sockets, and light fixtures are properly sealed to keep all the dust in the room we are refinishing. If you have 4 or 5 rooms that need to be prepped before we sand them, it may take us the better part of the morning to get all of them ready for the job.

The Sanding Process

Sanding the floors is one of the most important parts of the project. We need to take our time when sanding the floors to ensure that we have gotten the entire surface perfectly smooth and flush. Factors that will cause the sanding time to take longer include the type of finish on the floors, the depth of the scratches, surface area, and the number of tricky corners and obstacles. Oil based finishes will take longer to sand through, and if there are many obstacles and difficult areas of the room, then we may not be able to fit the drum sander and will need to hand sand some of the areas. It is important that we take our time with the sanding process so it's done right. Generally we can sand about 1000sq feet per day.

Surface Area

Of course, the amount of space you want refinished will play a part in how long it takes to refinish hardwood floors. If you have multiple rooms that we need to prep, sand and finish, then we will be spending more time with all of these steps.

Condition of The Floors

If the floors are still in relatively good condition, then we will be able to sand and refinish them within a few days. However if there are broken boards and they require a ton of filling, replacing, sanding, and recoating, then the hours start to pile up. If the floors only have light scratches like dog scratches, then it will take us less time to get through the original surface and get ourselves to the point where we can begin recoating.

Type of Finish

As previously stated, different types of finishes will take longer to cure and to allow you to go back to regular life after they have been refinished. Oil based finishes have benefits to them. The include durability, beautiful natural finish, long lasting life span. Their cons include long drying time, extra odour, takes longer to refinish, can be more messy if you're not careful. Many people still decide to go with oil based polyurethane finishes but you need to be prepared for at least 24 hours of drying time between coats, and then a few weeks of breathing time to allow the floors to soak in the oil. It is advisable to keep area rugs and pets out of the room for a few weeks after the project is finished.

Water based finished are a little easier to work with and will cut down on the time. They will still give you the beautiful finish that you want, but water based products are a little lacking in durability. However, the time saved in the refinishing process, as well as the fact that it just makes refinishing easier is worth it for many homeowners. Generally, we apply at least 2-3 coats of finish to the floor. Water based product dries within a few hours, but we don't like to apply multiple coats until they are completely dry. The humidity in the room plays a large role in the drying time as well. We leave ourselves a day in between coats just to be safe, but often can apply more than one coat of water based product on the same day.

Conclusion

As previously stated, it will usually take 3-6 days to fully refinish the hardwood floors. Between the quoting process, prep, sanding, recoating, and cleaning up, with drying times in between, it can take a bit of extra time depending on the condition and the lengths that we're going to with the project. However, in the end, it is all worth it to invest in your home and reinvigorate your hardwood floors.