Refinishing Hardwood Floors Before Selling Your House: What Is Worth Doing and When

When people are getting a house ready to sell, the floors come up early in the conversation. Worn traffic lanes in the entry, a gray patch in front of the kitchen sink, and dog scratches down the hallway are among the first things a buyer sees, and they show in listing photos too. Refinishing hardwood floors before selling is often one of the better pre-sale projects, but only if it is the right amount of work and it is done in the right order. Here is how we think about it with sellers.

Start With What the Floor Needs

There are really three options, and the right one depends on the condition of the finish, not how old the floor is.

Clean it and leave it. If the finish is intact and the floor just looks dull, a proper cleaning with a product made for finished wood may be all it needs. What it should not get is a mop-on shine restorer. Those look good for a few weeks and then streak and scuff, and if a buyer later wants the floor recoated, the residue causes the new finish to peel. Why the finish peels off a hardwood floor explains why.

Screen and recoat. If the finish is worn and scratched but has not worn through to bare wood, a recoat brings back an even sheen across the whole floor. It is the quickest and least expensive option, and for a lot of pre-sale floors it is enough. Screen and recoat covers which floors qualify.

Full refinish. If there is bare, gray wood in the traffic lanes, deep scratches, stains, or the color is badly dated or uneven, the floor needs to be sanded to bare wood and finished fresh. That is the bigger job, and it is the one that makes a tired floor look new.

We will tell you which one your floor actually needs. If a recoat will do the job, there is no reason to pay for more.

Fix the Things an Inspector Will Notice

Buyers' inspectors look at floors with a different eye. Dark stains near a sink, dishwasher, toilet or exterior door raise questions about water, and dark spots in a bedroom raise questions about pets. Even when the problem is long over, those spots invite a conversation you would rather not have during a negotiation. Sanding removes surface stains, and boards stained too deep to sand out can be replaced with matching wood before the floor is refinished. Pet urine stains and water damaged hardwood floors cover how we handle both.

Loose boards, squeaks in the main walkway and wide gaps are worth looking at too. Most are small repairs that are easiest to do during a refinish anyway.

Choose a Color for Buyers, Not for You

If the floor is being sanded, it is a chance to change the color, and the temptation is to pick what is popular this year. For a sale, the safer choice is a natural or mid-tone finish that works with any furniture and any paint color a buyer might bring. Very dark stains show every footprint and scratch at showings, and strong trend colors can make a house feel dated to the next buyer just as fast as the old orange finish did. Our staining guide covers how different colors behave on oak.

Sheen matters too. A satin finish is the one that suits the widest range of buyers. It looks clean and fresh in photos without the glare of a high gloss, and it hides the wear of a stream of people walking through in shoes. Matte, satin, semi-gloss or gloss compares the options.

Hardwood Under the Carpet

If the house has carpet over hardwood, it is worth finding out what is underneath before listing. Many buyers in this area specifically look for hardwood, and an original oak floor under tired carpet is an asset hiding in plain sight. Pull back a corner in a closet first. Found hardwood under your carpet covers what to look for and what refinishing it involves.

Timing Is the Hard Part

The most common mistake we see with pre-sale floors is calling too late. Work backward from the listing date:

• Painting first. Paint walls and trim before the floors, not after, so ladders and drop cloths are not sitting on a new finish. Plan for baseboard touch-ups after the floor work.
• Floors next. Allow for the job itself and then for the finish to cure. How long it takes to refinish hardwood floors breaks down both parts.
• Staging and photos last. Furniture, staging pieces and rugs go back only after the cure time we give you. A rug laid on a fresh finish can leave a visible outline, and a staging company dragging a sofa across the room can scratch a floor you just paid to refinish.

An empty house is the easiest one to refinish. If you are moving out before listing, the gap between the moving truck and the photographer is the ideal window, because every room can be done at once with nothing to move around.

Keep It Looking Good Through Showings

Once the floor is done, a few habits keep it that way until closing. Felt pads under every furniture leg, a mat at each exterior door, and shoe covers or a shoes-off sign for open houses in bad weather all help. A quick dry dust mop before each showing keeps a fresh floor looking fresh.

Get an Honest Read Before You List

We work with sellers across the metro, including Kansas City, Leawood, Lee's Summit and Parkville. See our hardwood floor refinishing and recoating pages for how each job works. Get a free estimate, tell us your listing date, and we will tell you straight what the floor needs and whether it fits.