Wood Floors Looking Worn?

Does this sound familiar?

• Scratched, dull or greyed floorboards
• Worn patches in high-traffic areas
• Old, flaking varnish or finish
• Stains or watermarks in the timber
• A floor you want to lighten or change tone

What's usually going on

• Years of foot traffic and cleaning
• Finish that has broken down and stopped protecting
• Sun-fading or watermarks
• A change of decor calling for a new tone

We use dust-managed sanding to take the floor back to bare timber, then apply your choice of finish — matt, satin or gloss, oil or lacquer. It transforms a tired floor and, done properly, lasts for years.

We keep to building working hours and warn porters and neighbours, since sanding is the noisiest stage.

What happens on the day

Inspection first. Before any machine goes on, we check how much wood is left to sand, whether boards move or have gaps, and what the floor actually is. Solid boards can take several sandings over their life; engineered boards have a thin wear layer and a real limit (see engineered vs solid wood flooring). Squeaks and loose boards are fixed in the same visit, because the sander needs a stable surface (squeaky floorboards), and older parquet or herringbone usually needs a specialist approach rather than a drum sander (parquet restoration). This is also when your fixed price is confirmed — not adjusted on the day.

Sanding in passes. A coarse grit strips the old finish and levels the boards, then progressively finer grits remove the scratch pattern. Skipping a stage shows up as swirl marks once the finish goes on. Edges and corners against skirtings and under radiators are done separately with an edging machine — usually where the quality of a job is easiest to judge. Clear curtains, rugs and anything on open shelving beforehand.

Finish and curing. Hardwax oil or lacquer, with or without a stain. Lacquer is typically walkable sooner than oil is fully cured, and both need longer before rugs and furniture go back than before you can walk on them in socks. If a tenancy start, move or sale date depends on it, confirm the timeline at quote stage.

How long it takes

A single room — sanding, gap-filling and one coat — is often a one- to two-day job. A whole flat, staining, or an oiled finish needing several coats with drying time in between runs longer. Board condition and finish move the timeline more than floor area does.

Living with it in a mansion block

Sanding is audible through the floor structure, and finishing can carry fumes for longer than people expect in a small flat. Check before work starts: your building's and the council's working hours for noisy work; any lease clause on floor coverings (floor noise rules in mansion blocks); and, if you are replacing rather than refinishing, the acoustic underlay and licence to alter position.

When sanding isn't the answer

Sometimes the inspection finds a floor already sanded close to its limit, boards too damaged to level, or a subfloor problem no finish will fix. Then the honest advice is new wood flooring rather than refinishing a floor that will need replacing within a couple of years — and we will tell you that before anything is booked.

Set prices

Set prices shown are typical starting points. You'll always get a fixed quote before any work begins — no hourly surprises.

Why call fixmyproperty.ai

Experienced trades, transparent set prices and a fixed quote before we start — never an open-ended hourly bill. We cover Mayfair, Marylebone, St John's Wood, Bayswater and Paddington, and we understand mansion blocks, porters and managing agents.

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