Sanding & Refinishing
Hardwood Floor Refinishing in North Central, Philadelphia
Sand the old finish off, repair what needs repairing, and put a new finish down. The floor you already own, made new. In North Central, Philadelphia the median home dates to 1976 and 21.0% of the housing predates 1940, which changes what Deco Hardwood Floor expects to find before the work starts.
Refinishing where the houses were built decades apart
In North Central two neighbors can own floors with very different amounts of wood left, so a refinishing quote here is only as good as the measurement behind it.
The older houses hold original strip oak that has been sanded before and may have one pass left in it. The later ones hold postwar red oak over a wood subfloor with most of its thickness intact. Both get called a hardwood floor in a listing, and they are not the same job.
Sanding also shows every difference inside a single house. A room added in a later decade takes stain differently from the original floor beside it, so when the color is changing we make the samples on both floors, sanded, and you choose with the two side by side.
Before you get a quote
A floor refinished by a previous owner tells you nothing about how much was taken off. We have measured floors that looked untouched and were at the end of their wear layer.
How the housing in North Central compares
Of the 9,923 housing units in North Central, roughly 2,100 were built before 1940 and approximately 5,200 before 1978.
That makes the housing here newer than the 132 Philadelphia neighborhoods in our data taken together, where approximately 82.8% of 733,961 units predate 1978, and below the 60.5% figure for our whole service area. By the share built before 1940, North Central ranks 99th of those 132. The full table is published as open housing data.
Within Philadelphia, the oldest housing in our data is in Cedar Park, with a median year of 1925, and the newest is in Kensington, Old, at 1997.
| Place | Median year built | Built before 1940 |
|---|---|---|
| North Central | 1976 | 21.0% |
| Sharswood | 1974 | 31.4% |
| Stanton | 1936 | 54.0% |
| Francisville | 1937 | 52.9% |
| Yorktown | 1983 | 9.1% |
| Spring Garden | 1962 | 38.8% |
| West Poplar | 1989 | 21.2% |
For refinishing, the pre-1940 share is the figure to watch. Those are the floors most likely to have been sanded before, and the ones we measure most carefully before quoting.
What is usually under the floor here
Prewar and postwar housing sit side by side, so the right answer changes house to house and sometimes street to street.
Places with this mix were built across a long stretch, and the floors follow. One block holds original strip oak over joists with a thin wear layer left, and the next holds postwar red oak over a plywood subfloor with most of its thickness intact.
That is why we do not quote this kind of address over the phone. The same service can be a straightforward refinish on one side of a street and a restoration decision on the other, and the only way to know is to look at the edge of a board.
Worth knowing here
Additions are the common surprise. A kitchen bumped out in the 1970s often carries a different floor from the rest of the house, and matching the two is its own conversation.
Whether the federal lead rule applies depends on the house
Approximately 52.1% of the homes here predate 1978, so it comes down to the specific address.
This is a place where the housing stock straddles the 1978 line the EPA rule draws. Roughly half the addresses are covered and roughly half are not, which means the answer is per house rather than per town.
Where it does apply, the rule governs how the sander is set up: containment and a HEPA vacuum collecting dust where it is generated. We check the age of the house before deciding how the work is staged.
How hardwood floor refinishing runs
We look at the floor
We measure remaining thickness, check for movement, and find what is under any covering before quoting anything.You get one number
Labor and any material in a single figure, with the finish specified by name.The room comes out
Furniture and coverings out, work area sealed, vents covered.Sanding in passes
Coarse to fine, then edger and hand work at the perimeter.Finish goes down
Coats applied on the cure schedule, not on ours.We walk it with you
In raking light, before anything goes back in the room.
What is included in hardwood floor refinishing
The job covers the inspection, the sanding in passes, the finish in coats and a walk through at the end. Color changes, board repair and moisture problems are separate work, and we say so before the quote rather than after.
Included
- A visit from the owner to look at the floor and measure the wood left above the tongue.
- One figure for labor and material, with the finish specified by name.
- Sealing the work area and covering the vents before the machines start.
- Three sanding passes from coarse to fine, with vacuum extraction at the machine.
- Edger work at the perimeter and hand work in corners, around radiators and under the toe kick.
- Finish applied in coats on the cure schedule, then a walk through with you in raking light.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Stain or a color change. That is its own step, decided on samples, and it adds to the job.
- Replacing rotted, split or missing boards. Board repair is scoped once we see what the floor needs.
- Fixing a moisture problem. Gaps that never close and cupping get diagnosed before anyone sands.
- A sanding job that leaves nothing to clean. Extraction catches most of the dust, not all of it.
What changes the cost of hardwood floor refinishing
We set the price after seeing the floor, not before. What moves it most is the area and how it is divided into rooms, the condition of the wood under the old finish, and which finish goes down.
| What changes it | How it moves the price | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Floor area and layout | More floor is more sanding and more finish. Small rooms, closets and hallways add edger and hand work that one open room does not. | One open living room goes faster per square foot than the same area split across three bedrooms and a hall. |
| Condition of the wood | Cupping, deep stains and boards that need replacing add sanding and repair work before any finish can go down. | A floor found under old carpet often has tack strip holes and staples to deal with before the first pass. |
| Finish type | Oil-modified polyurethane costs less than a waterborne finish. The product is named in the quote so you can compare like with like. | A rental turnover with a hard deadline and a family home with a dog can point to different products. |
| Stain or natural | A color change adds the sample step, the stain itself and its drying time before the first coat of finish. | Keeping red oak natural is a shorter job than taking the same floor to a dark brown. |
| Age of the house | In a house built before 1978 the federal lead rule can govern how the sander is set up, and that setup takes time. | A 1920s row home with painted baseboards gets a different setup than a 1990s house with the same floor. |
The full method, the equipment and what we will and will not promise are on the service page: Hardwood Floor Refinishing.
Also in North Central
Dustless Floor Sanding
Vacuum-extraction sanding
Solid Hardwood Floor Installation
Solid wood, nailed down over a wood subfloor
Engineered Hardwood Installation
Real wood over a stable core
Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) Installation
Waterproof, quiet, and it does not care about a wet basement
Custom Stair Installation
Treads, risers, stringers and skirt board, built to a drawing instead of a catalog page
Stair Refinishing
Stairs take more wear per square foot than any floor in the house, and they are sanded almost entirely by hand
Hardwood Floor Repair
Board replacement, weaving in new wood, squeaks, gaps and cupping
Why homeowners hire Deco Hardwood Floor
Deco Hardwood Floor is owner operated: the person who quotes hardwood floor refinishing in North Central is the person responsible for it, and the material comes with the labor in one number.
Material and labor in one number
We buy the flooring direct from the distributor and pass the store price through, so you are not sourcing wood on your own between quotes.
Samples come to your house
Samples and larger offcuts come to you, so the color gets chosen in your own light instead of under a showroom lamp.
Stairs and railings built in house
Treads, risers, handrails and newel posts are drawn and built by our own crew. Most flooring crews subcontract stair work or decline it.
The owner quotes the job
The person who measures your floor is the person responsible for the work. There is no salesperson in between.
Measured before it is promised
Remaining thickness is measured at the edge of a board before we say a floor can be sanded, and no price is firm before we have seen the room.
Told straight, including the limits
Vacuum extraction catches most of the sanding dust and not all of it. We tell you that before the job instead of after.
More about who we are and what we will not claim on the About Deco Hardwood Floor page.
Questions about hardwood refinishing in North Central
Can you match a new section to my existing floor?
Often, with sample boards made from your actual wood before anything is committed. Species, age and prior finish all affect it. Matching is a promise we make after testing, not before.
Do I have to leave the house?
Usually not, though you cannot use the rooms being worked on. Odor is a real factor with oil-modified finishes and much less so with waterborne, which is one reason the finish choice is part of the conversation.
Should I refinish my hardwood floor or replace it?
Refinish it if the boards are sound and there is still wood above the tongue. Hardwood floor refinishing removes a worn finish, scratches and most surface staining, and the wood is already yours, so the job is labor and finish only. Replacement is the answer when the wear layer is spent, when boards are rotted, or when the damage is structural. Deco Hardwood Floor measures the edge of a board before recommending either.
Full refinishing or a screen and recoat: which does my floor need?
A screen and recoat is enough when the finish is dull or lightly scratched but still continuous. Hardwood floor refinishing is needed once wear has reached bare wood anywhere, when there are pet stains, or when you want a different color. Look at the traffic lanes in raking light. Gray or darkened wood means the coating is gone there, and a new coat over it would seal the damage in.
Can you tell me what my floor needs over the phone?
We can tell you what is likely, and this page is most of that answer. What we cannot do is quote a floor we have not seen, because remaining thickness and what is under the covering both decide the job and neither is visible in a description.
Do you bring the material?
Yes. We buy direct from the distributor and the material lands in the same number as the labor. Samples and larger offcuts come to the house so you choose in your own light.
Hardwood Refinishing near North Central
Send a photo and we will tell you what you are looking at
Hardwood Floor Refinishing in North Central starts with someone reading the house. We quote every job ourselves, with no salesperson in between, and a photo of the floor gets you a straight answer faster than a form does.
