Should You Hire A Pro To Refinish Your Hardwood Floors Or Can You DIY It?

Even if you do a great job keeping your hardwood floors clean with daily sweeping up and routine mopping, they may become dull, scratched, and worn. Refinishing hardwood floors can become necessary not only to protect the wood itself from the day-to-day use of the surface, extending its life, but also to ensure the natural beauty of the wood can continue to shine through. You can refinish hardwood floors yourself with the right tools and time commitment, but there are some benefits to hiring a professional as well, including a higher level of attention to detail and not having to rent all of those sanders (and lug them into your home) on your own.

Well-maintained hardwood floors can last decades and continue to add value to your home. If your flooring hasn't been finished in some time, doing so could provide you with a way to protect the wood from scratches, spills, and damage.  Before going further in determining if you should DIY refinish your hardwood floors or let a professional do the work, consider if your floors have a warranty on them. Some residential warranties carry limited protection for refinishing if you do the work yourself instead of using a professional. This is often dependent on factors like the type of hardwood and who placed it (most are not transferrable with the sale of a home).

Hiring a professional to refinish your hardwood floors offers the benefit of professional-looking results. Hardwood refinishing requires sanding and careful attention to detail, which is often hard to do when you're new to the process. If your floor has many dents or scratches, you can expect the professional to get the job done properly so it looks nearly new. A professional may also be able to offer more than just the refinishing project, including any repair work, stripping the floor of older wax products, and providing various color and style options. That means it could add a substantial amount of flexibility to your project.

The higher quality finish may translate into better value for your home, too, especially if doing it yourself reveals splotchy areas, uneven damage to the wood, or splintering. Newly refinished floors may be a nice selling point for your home, but only if they look like someone did a great job with the process. Also, note that having a professional do the work will help improve overall safety during the job itself since it often involves the use of heavy machinery and preventing small splinters that can cause injury to anyone walking along the area. Typically, floor refinishers cost between $3 and $5 per square foot in labor alone. Keep in mind that this doesn't include the purchase of materials for the job.

It may be possible to rent the necessary equipment from a home improvement store and spend a few days doing the work yourself. Note that the time it takes to refinish hardwood floors may range from a few days to a week or longer, depending on the size of the space. If you have the time to put into it, consider the advantages you may see.

One benefit is that, by doing the work yourself, you control every facet of the process. For those handy DIYers who want to learn and put the time into the process, it can be very rewarding. Of course, it also means you can save that $3 to $5 square foot in labor costs. If you live in a historic home or have stunning floors, and you want to work on the project slowly, DIY can be a solid choice.

As long as you find and use the right equipment for the job, refinishing hardwood floors doesn't have to be too challenging, especially if you watch a few tutorials and take your time with the details. It can be a messy project, but when you're doing the work, you have better control over cleaning up that mess. There are certainly numerous tips for refinishing hardwood floors out there that you can apply to the project. If the project isn't too difficult, it is a great way to save money and get a result that's your own artisanship.