Most homeowners we meet in Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, and the greater Puget Sound area ask some version of the same question: "My hardwood floors are old — should I just cover them with engineered wood or LVP, or is it worth refinishing what's already there?" It's a fair question, and the honest answer surprises a lot of people.
After 15+ years of sanding, staining, and resurfacing floors in King and Pierce County homes, here's what we tell every homeowner who asks — the things a lot of consumers don't hear from a sales rep pushing new flooring.
Refinishing can increase home value by about 115%
Original hardwood floors are a selling point. Buyers in the Pacific Northwest are actively looking for them — character, warmth, and the knowledge that the floors can be refinished again and again. Resurfacing existing hardwood is one of the highest-ROI renovations you can do on an older home in this market.
Covering them with luxury vinyl plank (LVP) or engineered flooring often does the opposite. You're hiding a premium feature under a disposable one.
The LVP reality check: it's plastic, and it's going to a landfill
We did some math because it stopped us in our tracks. A typical 1,200 square foot home floored with LVP contains roughly the same amount of plastic as 90,000 plastic grocery bags. In 5 to 10 years, when the wear layer is gone, that entire floor goes straight to the dump — because LVP can't be refinished.
Solid hardwood is the opposite. A well-cared-for floor can last essentially forever — and when you refinish, no trees have to come down. You're reusing wood that was milled decades ago.
How often do hardwood floors actually need refinishing?
Less often than you'd think. In a normal household, hardwood floors can go 20 years without being touched — as long as you take care of them. The trick is something most homeowners have never heard of: the maintenance coat.
The maintenance coat: $2,000 instead of $12,000
If you catch your floors before the finish is fully worn through, you don't need a full refinish. You need a maintenance coat. Here's the difference on a typical 2,000 sq ft Tacoma home:
- Maintenance coat (light scuff-sand + fresh finish coat) — about $1 per square foot → roughly $2,000 for a 2,000 sq ft home
- Full refinish (sanding all the way down to bare wood + stain + finish) — about $6 per square foot → roughly $12,000 for the same home
A maintenance coat every ~10 years adds another decade of life to your finish. Spend a little now and you avoid the full $12,000 job for another 10–20 years. That's the trick the flooring industry doesn't advertise.
How to clean hardwood floors so they last
The number one question we get after finishing a project: "What should I clean this with?" Our answer is always the same — Bona hardwood floor cleaner. Spray it on, wipe it off, that's it. You can find it at Home Depot, Lowe's, or Fred Meyer.
Skip the water-and-vinegar Pinterest recipes, skip the steam mops, and absolutely skip anything with ammonia or wax. A modern polyurethane finish just needs a gentle pH-neutral cleaner and a soft cloth.
Squeaky floors are a structural issue, not a surface issue
One of the biggest misconceptions we run into: homeowners assume refinishing will fix the squeaks. It won't — because the squeak usually isn't coming from the surface. It can be in the plank itself, in the subfloor, or even further down in the framing where the hangers have started to rub against the wood.
Fixing squeaks is a bigger project. We typically have to open up the floor, trace the source, and sometimes go into the subfloor before putting it all back together. Because of that, it's almost always done as part of a full refinish — it's one big coordinated job rather than a quick fix.
Water damage: stop the water, stop the mold
When customers call us about a wet spot or a warped plank, the urgency is always the same: stop the water from reaching the wood. If you stop it quickly, mold doesn't spread and often never appears. If water keeps sitting on the floor, it seeps through into the subfloor — and that's when mold becomes a real problem.
How long does a refinish actually take?
For a typical 2,000 sq ft Tacoma home, a full refinish is about 7 days — Monday to Monday. That assumes the furniture is already moved out of the work area. If we have to work in sections while you shuffle furniture around, the timeline stretches significantly.
For a refinish, the whole floor really needs to be clear. Sanding and finishing is a "one sweep" kind of job — stains need to blend, finish coats need to cure uniformly, and you can't stop in the middle of a room without leaving a line.
What's the right call for your home?
If your floors still have any finish left on the surface, get a maintenance coat quoted before anything else. You may be looking at a $2,000 project instead of a $12,000 one.
If your floors are truly worn down to bare wood, a full refinish is the right move — and it's still less than covering them with LVP in most cases, with a floor that will still be there in 50 years.
If you're not sure which bucket you're in, we come out, take a look, and tell you the honest answer. No pressure, no upsell. We serve Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Seattle, Federal Way, Kent, and everywhere in between across King and Pierce County.
Frequently Asked Questions
A full refinish (sanding to bare wood, staining, and three coats of finish) typically runs about $6 per square foot in the Tacoma area. A maintenance coat — a light scuff-sand and fresh finish coat on floors that aren't yet worn through — is about $1 per square foot. For a 2,000 sq ft home, that's roughly $12,000 vs $2,000.
A well-maintained hardwood floor can go 20 years between full refinishes. Doing a maintenance coat every ~10 years can extend the life of the finish indefinitely — many homeowners never need another full refinish as long as they stay ahead of wear.
We recommend Bona hardwood floor cleaner — spray it on, wipe it off. It's available at Home Depot, Lowe's, and Fred Meyer. Avoid steam mops, wax-based cleaners, ammonia, and homemade vinegar solutions, which can dull or damage polyurethane finishes.
Usually no. Squeaks are typically a structural issue in the plank, subfloor, or framing — not the finish. Fixing them often means opening up the floor to trace the source. Because it's disruptive, squeak repairs are almost always combined with a full refinish.
For an older home in the Puget Sound area, yes — in nearly every case. Refinishing preserves a feature that buyers actively look for, can increase home value by roughly 115%, and keeps existing wood in use instead of sending it to a landfill. LVP has a 5–10 year lifespan and cannot be refinished.
For a typical 2,000 sq ft home, a full refinish takes about 7 days (Monday to Monday) with the furniture already cleared out of the work area. Refinishing requires the whole floor to be accessible at once — it's not a project that can be done in small sections.
