Hardwood Floor Refinishing Los Angeles ...your old floors new again!
Do you have hardwood floors in Los Angeles that need some care and love? You’re in the right place. Our passion is wood floor installation and refinishing.
We love restoring neglected and worn hardwood floors in Los Angeles back to new. It’s our main specialty, and we’re highly skilled pros in all aspects of hardwood floor refinishing work.
There are many options to choose from when refinishing your hardwood floors.
As far as color choices, you can keep your hardwood flooring’s original look, or you can stain them a different color to completely transform the space (depending on the type of hardwood floor you have). For finish options, you can apply a hardwax oil like Rubio Monocoat, or choose a more traditional water-based surface finish.
Any wood floor you see in those beautiful Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Hollywood, and Malibu homes that grace the pages of decorating and architectural magazines can be replicated. It may even be one of our clients’ homes.
We have many years of experience serving Los Angeles with our wood floor installation and refinishing skills. We would love to use our professional hardwood flooring contractor experience and industry expertise to make your hardwood flooring vision come true.
The sanding and refinishing process...
Below you’ll see the steps involved in a typical residential or commercial wood flooring restoration. At the bottom of the page, we link to the most common questions asked about the process of hardwood floor refinishing in Los Angeles.
STEP 1
Prepare the
rooms, repairs
and setup
Before any floor sanding takes place, the area being restored needs proper preparation. Any nails sticking up are hammered down and any wood flooring repairs are taken care of. The dustless floor sanding equipment is set up. Then the hardwood floors are swept and vacuumed.
STEP 2
Sanding
off the existing
old finish
Once the hardwood flooring is prepped, the sanding begins. We use specialized equipment like belt sanders and edgers. Different sandpaper grits are used depending on the condition and type of hardwood floor. The goal is to remove the existing finish and take the floor back to bare wood.
STEP 3
Detailed
fine sanding
and filler
When the floor has been sanded down to bare wood, the fine sanding stages begin. The rough sanding marks from the first passes need to be removed. Each pass uses higher grits to end with a beautifully smooth, finely sanded surface. If we have done a new wood flooring installation for you, it’s during this stage that we fill the floor with putty.
STEP 4
Finishing
touches and
cleanup
Once machine sanding is complete, the final touches are done by hand. We use hand scrapers under radiators, along trim, and in corners that the sanders can’t reach, then hand-sand to match the final grit. Finally we vacuum and clean thoroughly to get ready for the next step.
STEP 5
Staining the floor
a different color
(Optional)
If you want to change the color of your wood floor, this is where we apply pre-color treatments or stain. You can read about the floor staining process here. When you’re comparing refinishing companies in Los Angeles, make sure they’re competent with custom flooring and staining—this part can go wrong quickly without the proper skills.
STEP 6
Applying
the finish
coats
It’s time to apply the finish. The number of coats and timing depend on the finish system you choose. Multi-coat finishes require abrading between coats, followed by careful tack and vacuum to ensure a clean, contaminant-free surface.
Other important info
It’s important to note all hardwood floors have a limited wear layer.
Your floors can only be fully sanded and refinished a certain number of times before they’re too thin to sand again—usually between three and six sandings.
When that limit is reached, you’ll need a brand-new hardwood floor installed.
As part of our service, we’re happy to check whether your floor has enough life left to be sanded and refinished. Most professional hardwood floor contractors serving Los Angeles can check this for you. The last thing you want is an inexperienced contractor removing more surface than necessary and shortening your floor’s life by decades.
Our installation and refinishing system has been perfected over many years to remove as little of the surface layer as possible, while still providing a great finished product. We use special sanding equipment on floors with a thin wear layer, and we’ll help you choose the best finish for very thin floors.
You get the beautiful finished results you expect, while preserving as much of your floor’s life as possible—so you’ll have plenty of surface left to refinish again in the future if needed.
We have more information about the refinishing process in the links below…
QUESTIONS... and detailed answers
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How long does the hardwood floor refinishing process take from start to finish?
While it would be nice to provide an exact answer, in truth it really is, “it depends.”
A bigger wood floor refinishing project here in Los Angeles, CA will take longer than a smaller one. An average house that needs hardwood floor refinishing in Los Angeles might have a living room, dining room, foyer, hallway, and three bedrooms that need finishing.
A typical oak flooring project like this, done by a quality licensed contractor in Los Angeles, can be completed in three or four days.
Factors that add time: custom flooring installation; removal of old coverings (solid hardwood, carpet, ceramic tile, damaged bamboo or laminate); extensive subfloor prep; larger homes or complex layouts (corridors, closets, several long hallways); sanding and refinishing stairs; floor staining and custom color pre-treatments.
During your onsite estimate, we’ll give you a precise timeline.
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Can we stay at home during the wood floor refinishing process?
It’s possible to stay at home while we refinish your hardwood flooring, but there are a few restrictions.
When we begin applying finishes, you’ll need to stay off the floor for a minimum of 4–8 hours, perhaps more depending on the finish system. If we are working in multiple rooms, access may be limited.
We must keep everyone off the floor for 24 hours after the last coat to ensure a contaminant-free cure.
This can be tricky when several adjoining rooms or entry/exit paths are involved. Many clients arrange to stay elsewhere for a night or two. We’ll plan this during your in-home estimate so it suits everyone.
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What can I expect regarding smell and fumes?
Excellent question—and one you should ask any Los Angeles wood flooring contractor you’re considering.
Old oil-based finishes had strong odors and heavy fumes that lingered for weeks.
In California, those products were prohibited long ago. We focus on three systems: single-component water-based, two-component water-based, and premium hardwax oils.
If you have family members sensitive to fumes/smells, small children, or pets, either system is a good choice. On a 1–5 fume scale (5 = least), both rate a 5 with minimal lingering off-gassing.
Water-based finishes have a mild odor while wet that dissipates quickly as water evaporates.
The hardwax oil we use, Rubio Monocoat, has zero VOCs and a light cooking-oil-type scent.
See our PDF guide Which Finish System Should You Choose? for a comparison chart.
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What types of finish do we use?
Finish selection matters for both residential and commercial projects. We wrote a detailed guide: Which Finish System Should You Choose?
We’ve tested each finish extensively in the field and at home. During your free quote we’ll discuss cost, durability, odor, and appearance to help you choose the best system for your space.
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Do you fill in the gaps in between my floor boards?
Quick answer: No for existing hardwood floors, and maybe for brand-new floors we install.
Wood expands and contracts seasonally in Los Angeles. Filler in older floors will crack or eject and can abrade the finish. We generally avoid gap-filling on existing floors.
Exception: on new glue-down installations with 1½″–3″ boards, we can trowel-fill before finishing. These floors are more stable and rarely eject filler. We can review this option during your free onsite estimate.
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Is it possible to repair damaged areas from pet stains, or fix water damage from leaking plant pots?
Yes. These types of repairs are common. Pot-plant water damage and pet stains usually require board replacement, since deep staining typically won’t sand out.
We’ll assess all areas during your in-home inspection and include repairs in the estimate. If hidden damage is revealed after carpet removal, we’ll contact you immediately with options.
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Do you need to remove existing base shoe and baseboards?
Usually no. Our sanding equipment gets very close, and we hand-scrape what remains.
We do recommend removal if trim is damaged, or if you’re installing new flooring and want new trim. We’ll remove and reinstall at the correct stage for the materials you choose.
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Can you sand under the stove and fridge?
Yes, provided appliances are professionally disconnected and moved before we start.
We’re not licensed for plumbing, electrical, or gas work. Very large built-ins (e.g., Sub-Zero) are often best left in place—we’ll sand and finish around them.
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Can you sand out the deep scratches in my hardwood floor?
Often, but not always. We aim to preserve as much wear layer as possible (most floors have only 3–6 full sandings in their lifetime).
If scratches are very deep, replacing boards before refinishing is usually the smarter choice so we don’t remove too much wood from the entire floor.
During your estimate we’ll advise whether sanding or board replacement is best—and what each option will cost.
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When will we be able to put back our furniture and area rugs?
In a perfect world, waiting a full week before heavy use is ideal. We know that’s not always practical. General guidance:
High-End Residential Water-Based: Walk in socks after 2–3 hours. Carefully place furniture after ~24 hours. Rugs after 7 days.
Commercial-Grade Water-Based: Same cure profile as above: furniture after ~24 hours, rugs after 7 days, socks after 2–3 hours.
Hardwax Oil: Walk carefully in socks after ~8 hours. Furniture after ~24 hours. Rugs after 7 days.
Never drag furniture or appliances. Use felt pads on all pieces. For area rugs, we recommend waiting at least two weeks if possible.
PDFs to download...
Which Finish System Should You Choose For Your Wood Floors?
This is one of the most common questions we get asked about hardwood floor refinishing in Los Angeles, so we wrote a PDF guide to help answer it in detail…
pdf Download PDF ArticlePHOTOS from past projects
HAPPY CLIENT feedback
Marcos and his team did an awesome job on my floors! Marcos was really nice to work with. He came out to give me a quote and was very thorough on what I would need to do and pointed out some issues I might run into. I had several quotes and he was the only one to do that. He and his team were punctual and respectful of my home. Each night they cleaned up as if they were never there! My floor looks awesome and I would highly recommend CMC!Shelly DePalma - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA| 5 Star Review on Houzz
