Apr 16 2009
Hardwood Floor Retire or Refinish
With a hardwood floor now approaching 19 years of age, much wear, about a dozen pets, many spills, scratches and accidents, we had to ask ourselves if we should just put carpet over everything and call it good.
I personally LOVE the look of a solid oak hardwood floor; it is something that can’t be duplicated by tile, carpeting or even the new laminated stuff that “looks” like hardwood.
My spouse feels the same way, and believes that wood really adds something intangible to a home’s environment, or “feel.” She likes to find nice rugs to place in strategic places to absorb the punishment of wood rocking chairs, of which we have two, and the dining table legs, and, or course, the coffee table.
So we looked at the cost of a complete refinish of the hardwood and found it to be a little over $3.00 a square foot, that is $9.00 a square yard, and probably HALF what we would spend per yard for fairly good carpet.
We hired a wood floor contractor and this is his week. After sanding, sealing, and applying a couple of coats of polyeurethane over a period of four days we have a like-new floor! We think it looks terrific and tomorrow we begin to move EVERYTHING back into the house.
Above: the New Floor. Below: the Old Floor
What an Amazing difference, huh? Wow! I can say that we are very pleased with the results. Additionally, we think that we must be helping out the economy by spending money. What a wonderful new excuse!
Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate to show “before” and “after” photos of a section of floor. Note that these are not exactly the same sections, but pretty much show the differences in general.
Oooh-la-la!!! Gorgeous. Now just sit in the rocker and admire it.