Refinish or replace: what to do with worn or damaged hardwood floors
Updated · KeystoneProGuide editorial team
Should you refinish or replace a worn hardwood floor?
Refinish it if the wood itself is sound and there is enough of it left to sand; replace it, or the damaged part, if the boards are failing. The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the hardwood industry's association, lays out a ladder of options, from a fresh coat of finish to a full sanding, and the published price surveys show a large gap between the rungs and new flooring. The question to settle first is what is wrong with the floor.
What are the options, from lightest to heaviest?
- Maintenance coat, or recoat. The NWFA describes cleaning the existing finish, lightly sanding it and applying a fresh coat. It suits a floor that has gone dull without damage. It does not change the color or remove scratches that go into the wood.
- Full sand and refinish. Sanding to raw wood, then staining if wanted and applying new finish. The NWFA recommends it for deep scratches, dents and other damage, or where the finish has worn through to bare wood, and notes that it is the moment to change the floor's color.
- Board repair or replacement. Taking out and replacing damaged boards while keeping the rest of the floor.
- New flooring. Removing the old floor, or in some cases covering it, and installing a new one.
What limits how many times a floor can be sanded?
Mostly, how much wood is left on top. The NWFA says solid wood flooring, one piece top to bottom, can be sanded and refinished many times. Engineered wood, which has a real-wood top layer over other layers, can be sanded and refinished but not as many times. Composite engineered wood has real wood only on its wearing surface.
The NWFA says the number of sandings any floor will take depends on the skill of the contractor, the equipment, the thickness of the wear layer, the flatness of the floor and its condition. So the useful questions for a refinisher are: how much wear layer is left, and how much will this sanding take off? If the floor came with a factory-applied aluminum oxide finish, which the NWFA describes as extremely durable, ask the refinisher how it would deal with that finish before you book a recoat.
When is replacing the better answer?
When the problem is under the finish rather than in it:
- Moisture damage. The NWFA says floors that gain moisture cup, with raised edges and lower centers, and that gaps that are large or do not close in humid months need a professional. A floor that has been soaked or keeps cupping needs its moisture source found before anyone decides between sanding and replacing.
- Structural problems. If the framing under the floor has to be cut or replaced, Pennsylvania's building code regulation says removing or cutting a load-bearing support is not an ordinary repair, so ask your municipality about a permit.
- Not enough wear layer left for another full sanding.
What does each option cost?
These are national figures; none of the surveys gives a Pennsylvania price.
| Option | Angi | HomeGuide |
|---|---|---|
| Screen and recoat, per square foot | $1 to $2.50 | $2 to $5 |
| Full sand and refinish, per square foot | $3 to $8 | $2 to $7, or $3 to $8 with stain |
| Typical refinishing job | $1,107 to $2,681 | $800 to $3,200 for 400 square feet |
| New solid hardwood installed, per square foot | $6 to $25 | $11 to $25 |
| New engineered wood installed, per square foot | $4.50 to $16 | $7 to $20 |
Angi prices replacing individual boards at $6 to $12 a square foot and general floor repairs at $200 to $600. It also puts the national average refinishing job at $1,892, against an average of $3,153 for a flooring installation of any kind. On new flooring, Angi prices removal of the old floor at a further $1.50 to $3.50 a square foot, and HomeGuide notes minimum charges of $200 to $500 or more for small jobs.
Species and stairs move refinishing prices. Angi gives $3 to $5 a square foot for oak, cherry and engineered floors and $6 to $8 for maple and mahogany; HomeGuide puts stairs at $25 to $85 a step.
What if there is hardwood under the carpet?
Then the first cost is getting to it. Angi puts carpet removal at $120 to $720 for a typical refinishing job. Once the carpet is up, the questions are the same as for any floor: how much wear layer is left, whether there is damage, and whether the boards were ever painted. In a house built before 1978, a painted floor raises the lead questions covered in sanding floors in an older home.
How do you get a straight answer from a contractor?
Ask each one to look at the floor and tell you, in writing, what they think is wrong, which option they recommend and why, how much wood the sanding will remove, and what it would cost to replace instead. Two contractors who recommend different things are giving you useful information. The full price ranges are in the cost guide, and the signs that point one way or the other are in signs your floors need work. Businesses that refinish and install wood floors are listed on the flooring contractors directory page.
Sources
- Refinishing Your Floors, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)
- Types of Wood Floors, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)
- Problem Prevention, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)
- Finishes, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA)
- How Much Does It Cost to Refinish Hardwood Floors? [2026 Data], Angi
- How Much Does It Cost to Refinish Hardwood Floors? (2026), HomeGuide
- How Much Does Flooring Installation Cost? [2026 Data], Angi
- How Much Does Flooring Installation Cost? (2026), HomeGuide
- 34 Pa. Code § 403.62. Permit requirements and exemptions., Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Code)