Professional hardwood floor refinishing.

Floor Refinishing vs. Restoration


Professional Hardwood Floor Refinishing

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So you know your floors need help—but how do you know if they need to be restored or just refinished? There are several factors to keep in mind when making this decision and finding professional hardwood floor refinishing. Understanding the needs of your hardwood floors can save you thousands of dollars and a good deal of stress.

Determine What Your Floors Need

There are three main factors to consider when determining if you need floor refinishing or restoration: the condition of your floors, the age of your floors, and the type of hardwood.

Hardwood floors in homes built after the 1940s with light scuffs or scratches, some wear from foot traffic and have lost a bit of shine probably just need to be refinished. Floors installed before the 1940s with more significant signs of damage (deeper scratches from furniture, or floorboards that are warped or cracked, for instance) will likely need to be restored instead.

If you’re not sure what your floors need, consult with a professional hardwood floor refinishing company like Footprints Floors. We’ll be able to advise you on whether your floors need to be restored or just refinished and provide you with a free estimate for the work.

Footprints Floors providing beautiful, professional hardwood floor refinishing.

The Refinishing Process


Broken down, the steps to refinish a hardwood floor are very simple.

  • 1. Strip the floor of its current finishing.
  • 2. Sand or “screen” the floor to remove scratches or other signs of wear and tear from the surface.
  • 3. Give the floor a brand–new finish!

Refinishing a floor is not just a weekend project. Weather, the type of wood and the size of the floors you need refinished are all factors that play into how long a refinishing project takes. Also, despite the simplicity of the steps, a lot can go wrong. Uneven sanding or incorrect application of a finish can make your floors look worse than before.

As a professional hardwood floor refinishing company, the licensed contractors of Footprints Floors can get the job done quickly and correctly, so you aren’t inconvenienced in your home for long. And you can feel confident about the work done, so you don’t have to refinish your floors again for a long time.

The Restoration Process


Restoration of a hardwood floor is more labor intensive than refinishing. Hiring a company that understands different types of wood and how different kinds of damage will impact the restoration process is essential.

Some restoration steps are similar to refinishing—both require stripping away a current finish, sanding and applying a new finish. However, floor restoration involves more significant repairs and may even need patches of complete replacement. Depending on the depth of restoration required, these projects can take more than a week to complete.

Both refinishing and restoring floors are time–intensive, labor–intensive processes involving heavy, dangerous equipment. It is generally much more cost–effective and time–efficient to hire an outside contractor rather than attempt to do the job yourself.

The Best for Your Floor—and Your Budget Professional Hardwood Floor Refinishing

Professional flooring refinishing near you - Footprints Floors.

There are many things that homeowners can do to care for the hardwood floors in their homes. For instance, regular cleaning of your floors can help keep them looking nice and prevent long–term damage. Sweeping with soft–bristled brooms, regular vacuuming to remove dirt, and mopping with specialty hardwood floor cleaning solutions can all work wonders on your floors.

Of course, even with care, hardwood floors are not impervious to damage. Your pets might scratch the surface. Water damage might cause a section of the floor to warp or have a loose board that wobbles. You might notice gaps appearing between planks over time and as the weather changes, causing the wood to expand or contract, or you might have dents in the wood from high foot traffic areas. Perhaps your floors just don't look as shiny and new as you'd like. When your own cleaning and maintenance doesn't go as far as they used to, it's time to refinish or even restore.

While it is possible to DIY hardwood refinishing and even restoration, someone without experience can easily damage a hardwood floor. Instead of paying for a costly repair, get it right the first time by calling a professional hardwood floor refinishing company. They'll get the job done right the first time.

Footprints Floors has years of experience working on all kinds of flooring in all types of conditions. From beautiful, rare mahogany floors in Victorian homes to the stunning red oak floors of a mid–century modern suburb house and everything in between, Footprints Floors can do the job right.

We're committed to providing high–quality finishes at the lowest possible rate in a reasonable amount of time. We work to save our clients stress (and money!) as we work to give them floors that look brand new! We won't offer you services you don't need and are confident you will be satisfied with the finished project. Contact us today for a free estimate on your hardwood floor refinishing or restoration project.

This beautiful spiral staircase was refinished by Footprints Floors.

Great Floors & Great Impressions Are What We Are All About!

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What Our Customers Say

I would confidently give the flooring experience a 4/5 for an overall great experience between quote and outcome. However, Jonatan brings the score up to a 5/5 easily with his incredible customer service and project management.
Chandler Johnson 03/27/24 — google
Footprints floors was very professional and everything was done in a timely manner. Very happy with home my floors came out!
Lauren Metherell 03/27/24 — google
Thanks for all the great work restoring our damaged floors!
John Lindquist 03/27/24 — google
Great experience with Jared and his crew. Quality work, honest pricing, and great customer care. 10/10 would recommend if you're looking to get your floors done. Quoted and floors refinished within 4 days with no fuss or hassle.
Anthony Ware II 03/27/24 — google
Scott is a great guy, a real gentleman, and really knows his business. He listened to what we needed done. He gave us the estimate then & there. He put n our floor three years ago, but now decided to floor closets. Thank goodness we kept left over planking. Jonathan Gonzalez was our project manager. He kept in touch with me during the weeks before our scheduled time. On the job date he let me know when he & his crew would arrive & they were right on time. They installed flooring beautifully & cleaned up after they were done. All the crew was professional & courteous. My husband and I highly recommend Scott and Footprints Flooring.
Lauren Clark 03/27/24 — google
I had a small job, I changed out the vanity in the powder room leaving dark marks where the stain had not been updated. I spoke with several floor companies and was told it might not look good unless the entire room was redone. Footprints floors was the only company that mapped out a plan to make sure the floor would turn out great. They came yesterday, and were able to knock out the job in a timely manner and it turned out GREAT! You can’t see where the old floor was at all.
Connie Latta 03/27/24 — google
New Shaw LVP was installed in 1200 sq ft of our house. Sales Consultant Grant was easy to work with and knows his product lines. Installer Douglas is a gifted craftsman of flooring and baseboard. Floors look super.
Road Runner 03/27/24 — google
Kwan and his crew were nothing short of fantastic. Right on time and with a great attitude. They went above and beyond to get the job done. Would highly recommend them. David Dries
Dave Dries 03/27/24 — google
Personalized care and attention to detail is what Rebecca and her team bring to your home. She has many options and pricing that will fit your budget. No job is too large or too small.
Candace Liebner 03/27/24 — google
Footprints did an excellent job changing my shower tiles out.
Ciara Ward 03/27/24 — google
Mike and his team were awesome - easy to work with and did a beautiful job. After discussing the project with a few potential partners, Footsteps instilled a high-level of confidence at the right price point and I wasn't disappointed.
Heidi Lofton 03/27/24 — google
Finished everything on time and efficiently. Other than a few minor inconsistencies with spacing, everything came out great
James R H 03/27/24 — google
My experience with Footprints was fantastic from beginning to end. I needed an estimate appointment ASAP since we had a limited window of time before we were moving into our new home and the Footprints team got someone out next day to measure my project. Our project manager Jesse was SO helpful throughout the entire process, helping me with a specific shopping list for all materials needed (advising me on what i didn’t need and was trying to be sold at retailers!), helping me with delivery and even talking with me about how to stay on track with my budget every step of the way. The finished results of my floors are perfection! LVP and engineered hardwood on two different levels and all done within a a week and a half!! Jesse made sure any imperfections were replaced and corrected before ever discussing payment, and was consistently available for communication regarding the project the entire time. I couldn’t be happier with my experience, highly recommended Footprints Flooring!
Judith Feenstra 03/27/24 — google
Grant and his crew were really professional. The floor repair and refinishing was amazing. The floors looked better than I would have expected. I would not hesitate to rehire them in the future.
Ken Bernardo 03/26/24 — google
These guys are wonderful. Hard working and caring. Jesse and Freddie are top notch. I won’t hesitate to refer them. My floors are fantastic!!!
Bev Hellwig 03/26/24 — google
If I could leave more stars, I would. Footprints did an amazing job on our house and the price was amazing compared to three other companies I had come look at the floors. The color and finish were perfect! It was a bit dusty during and afterwards, but that's to be expected when you're sanding indoors.
Brian Evanoff 03/26/24 — google
First off, I am an Architect who is a bit hands-on when it comes to work in my own residence. I hired Footprints Flooring to replace failing sheet vinyl with new Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) in our laundry room and two bathrooms. I chose Footprints primarily because Owner Nate (himself) visited our house to prepare estimate; he is highly communicative and responsive (rare for contractors these days). Like myself, Nate is also detailed oriented and thoroughly covered demo, subfloor, LVT installation, transitions and schedule and was the only one who researched availability of the LVT we wanted before coming out to prepare estimate. Footprints' price was competitive and Nate was more than fair on charges for unforeseen subfloor overages. His installer David did a fantastic job, was polite, respectful and responsive to my comments - making sure his finish work met or exceeded my standards. We couldn't be happier with the finished result and their final clean up was thorough. I highly recommend Footprints Flooring.
Rick Tolleshaug 03/26/24 — google
Tim and Davíd were great! Totally recommend!
Yusuf Sharp 03/26/24 — google
The Footprints team was amazing. They were knowledgeable, trustworthy, and respectful in my home. The floors look fantastic and I will be having more work done by them in the near future.
Kelly Remondino 03/26/24 — google
We had a great experience with Carson! He was helpful during the estimate and we are very happy with the product he recommended. They demo’d our old hardwood/carpet from the main floor and replaced with LVP. The existing subfloor was in bad shape, but their team was able to level everything out, fix soft spots, and got most of the squeaky areas. Our house has a weird layout with many areas to cut around and connect again, and they were able to make the entire floor seamless with no transitions. It was impressive! Their team was efficient, professional, and did really great work. We love the results and would absolutely recommend!
James Horne 03/25/24 — google

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