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Hardwood Refinishing

Handis hardwood refinishing brings the existing floor back without replacing it — dustless sand-and-finish, stain and color change, screen-and-recoat buff, water-damage spot repair, and gray or natural modern finishes — HEPA vacuum-shrouded on every sanding day, finished with Bona, DuraSeal, Glitsa, or Loba and cured the full manufacturer-spec window before the room reopens — from $500. The 1948 fir floor that finally came out from under the carpet. The kitchen oak that water-stained at the dishwasher. The dining-room red oak that has gone amber and is scratched where the chairs slide. The 2015 engineered floor that the previous owner refused to mop and now reads dull across half the great room. Five variants below cover everything from a localized water-damage spot repair to a full whole-floor stain change. Same crew, same dust-control gear, same cure-time discipline.

Hardwood refinishing hub image — wide shot of a freshly sanded red oak floor mid-refinish in a Seattle dining room, the first coat of water-based polyurethane drying to clear under soft daylight, plastic-zip wall sealing the doorway to the kitchen, a Lägler Hummel drum sander on a furniture dolly in the corner.

Variants

Wide editorial photo of a Handis hardwood refinishing job in progress — installer rolling on a coat of Bona Traffic HD water-based polyurethane down the length of a refinished oak floor, plastic-zip wall sealing the doorway to the adjacent room, drum sander parked at the wall, edger and screen-buffer staged on a drop cloth.
Pricing

Hardwood Refinishing Pricing

Final pricing depends on square footage, species, existing finish condition, finish chosen, and whether stain or color change is in scope. Each variant page lists detailed pricing. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.

Tell us the room (square footage and species, if you know it), the look you want, and any known water-damage or wear-through spots — we will recommend the right refinishing variant and quote it with the full cure calendar.

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Why Handis for Hardwood Refinishing
Trust

Why Handis for Hardwood Refinishing

The single most common refinishing mistake we are called to fix is the result of one of two shortcuts — sanding without dust control (the homeowner spends a week cleaning fine dust out of every closet and the HVAC return), or rushing through cure to put the dining-room table back for the holiday dinner. Neither shortcut shows up on the invoice; both show up in the year-three call for a buff-and-recoat to fix the scuff marks and the dulled traffic lanes. Handis runs refinishing as a dust-controlled, cure-disciplined finish-carpentry trade. The boring discipline is what makes the floor last another 25 years.

Estimate

Tell us the room (square footage and species, if you know it), the look you have in mind (natural clear, traditional dark stain, gray, white-wash, screen-and-recoat refresh), any known water-damage or wear-through spots, and whether the floor has been refinished before. We send a clear estimate with the variant recommendation, the prep, the cure-time calendar, and the no-walk window — so you know the full timeline before signing.

Service cost estimate illustration
Reviews

Customer Reviews

Recent hardwood refinishing reviews from real Handis customers.

Full sand-and-finish on the original 1948 red oak in our Wallingford bungalow, about 900 square feet across living, dining, and the long hallway. Tech walked the floor, did a sample sand at the closet, confirmed we had wear-layer left for a full refinish. Lägler Hummel sander, HEPA vacuum on the edger, two coats of Bona Traffic HD. The dust really did stay out of the rest of the house.

Halle and Ben T., Whole-Floor Dustless Refinish

Stain change from honey-oak 1990s to a Jacobean dark stain in our Mount Baker dining room. They did stain sample boards in two finish lines on the closet floor first so we could see the color on our actual oak in the actual room daylight. We picked the Jacobean, they applied stain, three coats of poly. Final color is exactly what we picked off the sample.

Marcus and Lin H., Stain and Color Change

Screen-and-recoat across our great room and hallway, about 700 square feet. Floor was dull from 12 years of traffic but no wear-through into the wood. Tech ran an adhesion test patch at the closet first to confirm the existing finish would take a new coat — passed cleanly. Screen and one coat of Bona Traffic HD, 48 hours of cure, room back in service.

Daniel and Iris R., Screen and Recoat

Water-damage spot repair on a kitchen oak floor — the dishwasher had leaked over six months and ringed about 6 square feet of boards. Pulled the damaged boards, found the subfloor was sound underneath, lace-in repaired with matched red oak, then sanded and finished the patch to blend with the existing floor. You honestly cannot see where the repair is.

Pamela R., Water-Damage Spot Repair

Gray-finish refinish on a Queen Anne white oak floor in our Capitol Hill condo. We wanted a custom mid-gray that would not read blue or green in the gray Seattle daylight. Tech blended Bona NordicSeal with a touch of Classic Gray, did three sample boards in the room, we picked the middle one. Final floor is exactly the warm mid-gray we wanted.

Padma and Aiden K., Gray Modern Finish
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Handis hardwood refinishing — variants, pricing, dust control, finishes, stain colors, cure-time, and what to expect.

How much does a hardwood refinishing job cost?
Water-damage spot repair starts at $500 for a single-board lace-in with feathered finish blend. Screen-and-recoat starts at $1,500 for a 250-to-400 square foot room. Full dustless sand-and-refinish starts at $3,200 for a 250-to-400 square foot room. Gray and natural modern finishes start at $3,500 for a 250-to-500 square foot room. Stain and color change starts at $3,800 for a 250-to-400 square foot room. Whole-floor refinishes (1,000+ square feet) typically run $5,800 to $8,500 depending on the variant. Each variant page lists detailed pricing per square footage band. You get a clear estimate after the on-site assessment.
Which refinishing variant does my floor need?
We assess on the first visit. Surface dullness without wear-through into the wood and with the existing finish sound — screen-and-recoat (cheapest, fastest, no dust). Wear-through into the wood, scratches, dings, finish failure, or amber-shift you want gone — full dustless sand-and-refinish. Localized water damage on an otherwise sound floor — spot repair with feathered blend. Light to dark or dark to light or honey-oak to anything else — stain and color change. Contemporary natural or gray look — gray and natural modern finishes. We will tell you on the first visit which variant fits and why.
How do you keep the dust contained?
Drum sanding and edger work generate fine dust at the micron scale that drywall plastic alone does not contain. Handis runs Lägler Hummel drum sanders and equivalent edgers with the dust collected directly at the sanding head into a HEPA-filtered vacuum system, plastic-zip walls floor-to-ceiling at every doorway out of the work zone, HEPA negative-air scrubbers for any zone connected to forced-air HVAC, supply registers and return grilles sealed with plastic and tape, and a daily vacuum-and-trash-out. Some fine dust always escapes, but a dust-controlled job is the difference between cleaning the closet shelves once and cleaning every horizontal surface in the house for a week.
Water-based or oil-modified polyurethane — which finish should I pick?
Water-based polyurethane (Bona Traffic HD, Bona Mega ONE, Loba Supra, Glitsa Gym Seal) reads clear-to-natural, cures 24 to 48 hours between coats, full traffic at 7 days, no amber-shift over time. Best for natural finishes, gray finishes, and any case where the homeowner wants the wood to read as it does on day one for the next 20 years. Oil-modified polyurethane (DuraSeal, Bona Woodline, Glitsa Hardwood) reads amber from day one and warms further over time, cures 24 hours skin and 7 days to full traffic, slightly cheaper than water-based. Best for traditional warm-toned floors where the classic oak warmth is the goal. We recommend the right finish for the look on the booking call.
How long does a refinish take?
Screen-and-recoat — 2 days of work plus 24 to 48 hours of cure (3 to 4 days total to room back in service). Full dustless sand-and-refinish — 4 to 6 days of work plus the cure window (7 to 10 days total). Stain and color change — adds 1 to 2 days for the stain coat and stain cure (10 to 14 days total). Gray and natural modern finish — 4 to 6 days of work plus cure (7 to 10 days total). Water-damage spot repair — 1 to 2 days of work plus the localized cure window (3 to 5 days total to the area being usable). The no-walk, no-furniture, and no-rug windows are named on the quote so you see the full calendar.
Can I stay in the house during the refinish?
Most projects you can stay in the house and live in the unaffected zones — the work area is sealed off with plastic-zip walls, the dust stays contained, and the work hours are weekday daytime. For whole-house refinishes that take the main living level offline for a week, some homeowners prefer to stay elsewhere for the noisy sanding days (1 to 2 days) and the immediate no-walk cure window (24 to 48 hours after the final coat). We will give you the day-by-day schedule on the quote so you can plan around it. Pets and kids stay out of the work zone with the door closed (curious paw on wet finish is a problem).
How do I know if my floor has enough wear-layer left for a refinish?
We measure the existing thickness at the threshold (the gap between the floor and the door jamb gives a quick read on board thickness) and do a small sample sand at an out-of-the-way location to confirm there is enough wear-layer left. A 3/4 inch solid hardwood floor can typically be sanded 5 to 7 times over its lifetime. Engineered hardwood with a 4 mm or thicker wear layer can be refinished, sometimes twice — 2 mm or thinner is at the edge of feasibility and we will tell you honestly if refinish is not a realistic path. If the floor is at the edge, screen-and-recoat may be a better fit than a full sand-and-finish.
Can I change the color of my floor with a refinish?
Yes — that is what the stain and color change variant is for. We sand the floor to bare wood, water-pop for stain receptivity, apply Bona or DuraSeal stain in the chosen color (Jacobean, Ebony, Dark Walnut, Provincial, Special Walnut, Natural, custom-blended), wipe off excess at the manufacturer-spec dwell time, cure the stain coat, then apply two or three coats of polyurethane on top. Stain sample boards on a closet floor before commit — stain color reads completely differently on different wood and in different lighting. The committed color is the one picked off the actual sample in the actual room.
What is the difference between screen-and-recoat and a full refinish?
A screen-and-recoat is a light random-orbital screen of the existing finish with a 120-to-150 grit sanding screen on a buffer, then one or two coats of polyurethane on top — no sanding through to bare wood, no dust at the sanding-the-wood scale, faster cure, lower cost. The work for a floor that is dull at the surface but the wood underneath is sound. A full refinish strips the existing finish down through the worn layer with a drum sander, three-grit sequence, and re-coats. The work for a floor with wear-through, dings, deep scratches, or finish failure. We will tell you on the first visit which one your floor actually needs.
What about the off-gas smell of the finish?
Water-based polyurethane has a mild off-gas during application and the first 24 to 48 hours of cure. Oil-modified polyurethane has a stronger solvent off-gas during application and the first 24 to 72 hours of cure — most homeowners prefer to stay elsewhere for the first 2 to 3 nights with oil-modified. We open windows where the season allows, run HEPA negative-air scrubbers to vent the work zone, and seal off the rest of the house with plastic-zip walls so the off-gas does not migrate to the bedrooms. The no-rug window (14 days) exists because area rugs trap off-gas and can dull the finish under them before it fully cures.
Is the work guaranteed?
Yes — one-year workmanship warranty on every hardwood refinishing job. The warranty covers sanding quality, finish coats, stain application, and the feather-blend on any spot repair — if the finish fails inside a year due to our work, we come back and fix it at no extra charge. The finish manufacturer warranty (Bona, DuraSeal, Glitsa, Loba) stays with the product and we name it on the quote so you know what is covered by whom. Every Handis tech carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first job.

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