Refinishing hardwood floors

I used this guy http://romanflooring.com/
He is in and out the same day, no need to have two/three days to sand seal and polyurathane with two coats and all the toxic fumes. He uses TechPlus urethane finish which can be applied hours apart with no smell and you can walk on floors 2/3 hours later after final coat. A little expensive but worth the short downtime and floors are immaculate.

Not saying that the McHale isn't valid but to sand, apply a sealer then 2 coats of semi-gloss followed by a final coat of satin in one day? All while sanding and cleaning each layer before the next coat? It would be interesting to see

I used Jerzy Flooring for 3 jobs - excellent work every time. Phone # (718) 591-5926.

Use Marc at Floorworks

http://www.floorworksny.com/Floor_Works/Floor_Works_New_York__NYC_Wood_Floor_Installation_refinishing_and_repair.html

I used him twice myself, and a few times for clients. I think its like $2.25/sft for refinishing or so, but dont quote me exactly. Work is quality

should take 2-3 days though...if you sand, stain, 2 coats water based poly

Be prepared to repaint the baseboard moulding when it is over. No matter how careful they are, the machines bang and scrape the baseboards a lot. FWIW, I think I just paid around $2200 for about 850 sq/ft including application of wood filler to cracks, etc in some areas.

And while even water-based coatings will dry quickly, they will not fully cure for a couple of weeks. Be very, very careful dragging boxes and furniture around on the floors as soon as the floor people leave. Lift things--don't drag. Or you'll end up with scratches everywhere.

I need to have the wood floors in my dining area (8x10) sanded and stained. Should that take more than one day? And what should I expect in terms of clean-up? The floor company says that it will use plastic sheets to seal off all of the other rooms that surround the dining area. There is no door between the kitchen and living room and dining areas, while the bedrooms, bathroom and closet are located off the dining area but separated by doors.

The time to do one room or ten doesn't really change. Stuff needs to dry between coats. I'd leave 2-3 days.

I dont' care what kind of plastic sheet set up the do. You'll have fine, powder like dust in at least all adjoining areas to some degree. Have a top to bottom cleaning crew on the ready to tidy up when they are done--that means ceilings and walls cleaned and every nook and cranny.

I think floors take a week -- you need AT LEAST a 24-hr dry per coat, and you need 3 coats, and then you need a couple of days on top of that.

Get the company to give you tarps with zippers in them -- kylewest is right that there will still be dust, but it helps.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Thanks for all the tips...A friend recommended Sullivan so I am going with them, because they can start tomorrow (I have to move in on the 15th). Though now I am wondering if I am getting ripped off, b/c it is costing about $3.50/sq ft - does that sound right? At this point I just want to get it done!

Also, can anyone recommend a cleaning company to come in afterwards? (and what it would cost approximately for an 800 sq ft apartment)

thanks again!

We used nyMasterpiece.com and were quite pleased with their work and price. Great hand-holders too. They also painted our apt. and installed molding.

So based on the responses, refinishing/resurfacing takes about 5-6 days in total (1 day per coat, with 3/4 coats + a couple of extra days at the end) - is that right? I gather you can't walk on the surface to do other jobs during that period (paint walls for example).

What about "screening" the floors - how long does that take? Is it right to assume that screening is more of an option if there are specific patches of floor that need work but generally the floor is in good condition?

Cornellwop,

Way too any days. It also depends on how many sq ft we are talking about. Let's take a 2 bedroom apt about 1500 sq ft. One day to sand, one day to stain. 2 days to poly. You can put more then one coat a day. Sometimes you can sand and stain in one day. If you waterpop that will take longer.

Screening just takes off the poly which is fine if the floor is in very good condition

Primer, I'm talking about a small 2 bedroom with ~ 600 sq ft of flooring to resurface (600 sq ft excludes entrance area and bathroom which are tiled). So are you saying this should take about 4 days in total? If I don't stain (i.e. like the natural color as is), does that cut down time?

My issue is I have slightly less than 7 days between closing on my apartment and having to move out of my current rented apartment to i) do floors and ii) do so some plaster work and paint. I don't think I have enough time to do that work.

From what you've noted, screening isn't an option as the poly is already gone in some spots.

Cornwell,

You can do it in two days without stain. Probably 3 with stain. You can walk on the floor the day after. I would plaster first, it has to dry, then do the floors, once the floors are done you could move in. Worst case, apt gets painted when you are in it. I have done much bigger projects with the owner living in the apartment. Not the best scenario but it can work

You are asking for aggravation. Try to "buy" a few extra days in your rental and do this right. Until you sand the floors, you may not know that you do not want to stain them--raw wood can be very uneven in tone and stain evens things out.

After all is dry, it does not fully cure for a week or more. It will be very susceptible to scratches if you are moving furniture in and having a ton of people walk on the floor with shoes on. So if time is compressed, see if masonite boards can at least be spread to cover the hallways and areas movers will walk over the most. Or heavy paper.

If it helps to know, many movers can store your things for a few days at minimal expense (after all, you are buying a place worth hundreds of thousand of dollars--what's a few hundred more?). Flatrate for example can pick your stuff up, store it for a week, and then deliver it all. In the scheme of things MUCH MUCH better than moving in and having workmen struggle to paint around all your stuff.

There is no fixed rule on paint first, floors second or the other way around. I did floors first, then had the little stick mouldings put in around the baseboards and then had the walls/mouldings painted. I thought the floor guys would get closer to edge of floors this way and not damage the sticking at the foot of the base boards.

I painted first. this way I didnt care what spilled on the floors because they got sanded anyways.

What we do is prep, prime and apply one coat of paint prior to the floor. We apply the last coat of paint after the floor is finished.

Kyle is right, the floors should be protected after finished.

I used Inti Renovation (www.intirenovation.com) for my wood floor refinishing project. Contact Carlos Salazar at 646-281-2659 - he's their floor guy. Good Luck - Adam

Adam I really like your wall color. What brand paint and color did you use?

No one has talked about the difference between oil-based and water-based floor finishes. Personally, I think oil is the superior product, but you should really look into it for yourself. Noto bene: floor refinishers love the water-based products because they dry more quickly and the work can be done in a shorter period of time. But in my experience water-based finishes don't last like oil-based, and don't provide sufficient protection for your wood floors.

Happy,

Oil is better but:

1. maybe 10% of the buildings in Manhattan let you use it, if that. The management co. just doesnt want to hear all the complaining about the oder that the oil gives off

2. Water based poly is not as bad as it used to be. The problem is that some contractors will not use the brand that is out there.