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Should I refinish hardwood floors before selling?

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  • Jan 24th, 2011 5:05 pm
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Newbie
Jul 28, 2008
90 posts
Ottawa

Should I refinish hardwood floors before selling?

We have a 8 year old townhouse. The majority of the main floor (aside from the foyer and powder room) is hardwood.

We also have a black lab, so you can guess that the floors are pretty scratched up.

My question is if it's worth to refinish before we sell. We're planning on selling in the next 2 months. Would it be worth the cost? It would be around $2000 to refinish the main floor. Would I get this back with the sale of the house, or would it be a wash?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
17 replies
Deal Addict
Mar 12, 2008
1655 posts
209 upvotes
Toronto
2,000 to sand an varnish a floor?

man im in the wrong business...

its not to hard to do on your own if your up to it.
Deal Guru
Dec 10, 2004
13194 posts
7650 upvotes
Kanata
mcleanap wrote: We have a 8 year old townhouse. The majority of the main floor (aside from the foyer and powder room) is hardwood.

We also have a black lab, so you can guess that the floors are pretty scratched up.

My question is if it's worth to refinish before we sell. We're planning on selling in the next 2 months. Would it be worth the cost? It would be around $2000 to refinish the main floor. Would I get this back with the sale of the house, or would it be a wash?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

What are other homes around your area selling for?
IMO, adding $2000 to the price of the home should be easy assuming you're not already overpricing the house and area.
I would do it if the floors really need it. First impressions are important and if there is that much hardwood on the main, having it in pristine condition is a great feature.
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
Depends on the house and the market place where you live.

Around us, this would not do anything for buyer interest and selling price. Now, what was a key selling point was that there was hardwood throughout the house (and ideally covered with carpet for the past 50 years or so...). We just accept that there will be things that you need to do first: full or partial rewiring, finish he floors and replace the boiler are three very common issues with most houses...

As for finishing, are you sure that they will like the stain? Right now very light blonde is very trendy...but I cannot stand it. I also don't live very dark browns, at least in the house styles we are looking at....So finishing in a god awful colour would be a turn off...
Deal Addict
Apr 24, 2007
2712 posts
1058 upvotes
$2000 for the main floor? What are they charging per sq ft?

I would say it would be worth it, but it depends on how much floor you are talking about.
Deal Fanatic
Jun 11, 2005
8633 posts
2399 upvotes
Mississauga
mcleanap wrote: We have a 8 year old townhouse. The majority of the main floor (aside from the foyer and powder room) is hardwood.

We also have a black lab, so you can guess that the floors are pretty scratched up.

My question is if it's worth to refinish before we sell. We're planning on selling in the next 2 months. Would it be worth the cost? It would be around $2000 to refinish the main floor. Would I get this back with the sale of the house, or would it be a wash?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
If the floors are that bad, i would do them. One of the first things a prospective buyer is going to look at is the condition of the floors. I would not spend $2000.oo dollars to have them done. I would rent a sander and do it myself. There is alot of how to advice online.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 18, 2004
1149 posts
57 upvotes
Before selling my 5 year old condo last year, I decided to rip out the carpet and replace them with new laminate flooring. In my opinion, it did nothing to increase the value of the home and was money not well spent. I suspect people realize that replacing carpet or hardwood flooring is easy so they don't even take this into consideration when purchasing a home.
Deal Expert
Jan 27, 2006
21844 posts
15620 upvotes
Vancouver, BC
As one poster stated, first impressions are important.

Of course, you are going to get those buyers who don't like the hardwood and want to replace it regardless of the condition. But you also want those buyers who just want to move in without needing to do a whole lot of renovation. It's like applying a new coat of paint to a spot that might be discoloured. Anything you can do it increase the appeal to more buyers will increase the speed (and the price) that you sell the house for.
Deal Addict
Dec 8, 2009
1208 posts
67 upvotes
First impressions can make or break a deal. If the floors look neglected I'd walk to the next house as god only knows what I can't see that has been neglected as well.

Also $2k for the ENTIRE main floor of hardwood may not be that bad of a deal if he has 1000sq/ft of hardwood... $2/ft to sand and re apply stain is a deal. 500sq/ft @ $4/ft still isn't bad IMO for time and material. I probably have 6-700 sq/ft on my mainfloor of hardwood so its possible its not near as bad of a deal as people make it sound. Also what is expensive to some RFD'ers is quite normal for other people who value personal time, appreciate professional service/skills etc. (Not point the finger at anyone in this thread, but some RFD'ers are silly cheapskates! LOL).
Usually there's a reason a company is "cheap". Value and cheap are different. Value means best product/service for the dollar spent. Cheap is just that. Cheap.
Member
User avatar
Dec 4, 2010
277 posts
21 upvotes
toronto
Yes!
A gorgeous well kept shiny floor is a huge selling factor in today's market. (please don't do parquet) It may not increase the selling value, but most definitely it will sell your home much faster vs. another home. Something like unkempt flooring is obviously very visible to the potential buyer. If it is a first time buyer, it will be seen as extra money that has to be put out immediately.....not exactly an appealing thought for most as it is a huge investment to begin with.
Spend the money. You'll be glad you did.
Deal Fanatic
Nov 2, 2005
5355 posts
2721 upvotes
WFH
Hmmm, an 8 year old townhouse. I'm guessing that when you come to sell there will be at least 10 almost identical houses for sale within walking distance. As a buyer I would give the one with the scratched flooring a miss unless the vendor is prepared to discount the price, compared to the competition, by as much as it would cost to refinish the floors.
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
leorah wrote: Yes!
A gorgeous well kept shiny floor is a huge selling factor in today's market. (please don't do parquet) It may not increase the selling value, but most definitely it will sell your home much faster vs. another home. Something like unkempt flooring is obviously very visible to the potential buyer. If it is a first time buyer, it will be seen as extra money that has to be put out immediately.....not exactly an appealing thought for most as it is a huge investment to begin with.
Spend the money. You'll be glad you did.

What do you think is today's market? I know the OP is listed as Ottawa, but in Toronto many areas of the city are still on fire. First impressions mean far less as many people prefer less to be done so it can be finished how they want. In fact, the overbidding is greatest on houses that have the least amount of work done. Now, maybe in other areas the housing market has slowed (even in other parts of the GTA maybe)...but not where I live. Really one should know your market, what does a local RE agent say...not just random people on a board who know little about a specific market.
Member
User avatar
Dec 4, 2010
277 posts
21 upvotes
toronto
nalababe wrote: What do you think is today's market? I know the OP is listed as Ottawa, but in Toronto many areas of the city are still on fire. First impressions mean far less as many people prefer less to be done so it can be finished how they want. In fact, the overbidding is greatest on houses that have the least amount of work done. Now, maybe in other areas the housing market has slowed (even in other parts of the GTA maybe)...but not where I live. Really one should know your market, what does a local RE agent say...not just random people on a board who know little about a specific market.

Why are you assuming this is based on "random" ppl's knowledge or info? Second, the OP asked for opinions.....they are going to vary.
Imo, the concept of first impressions will never change....doesn't matter what the circumstance is, be it business or personal.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Apr 17, 2005
11038 posts
1546 upvotes
Brampton
janaka wrote: First impressions can make or break a deal. If the floors look neglected I'd walk to the next house as god only knows what I can't see that has been neglected as well.

Also $2k for the ENTIRE main floor of hardwood may not be that bad of a deal if he has 1000sq/ft of hardwood... $2/ft to sand and re apply stain is a deal. 500sq/ft @ $4/ft still isn't bad IMO for time and material. I probably have 6-700 sq/ft on my mainfloor of hardwood so its possible its not near as bad of a deal as people make it sound. Also what is expensive to some RFD'ers is quite normal for other people who value personal time, appreciate professional service/skills etc. (Not point the finger at anyone in this thread, but some RFD'ers are silly cheapskates! LOL).

+1 I totally agree :)
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Member
User avatar
Dec 4, 2010
277 posts
21 upvotes
toronto
Just had a look at some of the photo's in ur link. Stunning!
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
13306 posts
750 upvotes
leorah wrote: Why are you assuming this is based on "random" ppl's knowledge or info? Second, the OP asked for opinions.....they are going to vary.
Imo, the concept of first impressions will never change....doesn't matter what the circumstance is, be it business or personal.

my point is that there a many factors....

Also first impressions are varied....what makes a good impression. For all of the houses we viewed, the key first impression that was a major turn on was that it was untouched: a tiled floor in the hallway (or marble/slate vs the original hardwood), painted gum wood, removal of archways (making open concept) were all negatives the RE agents had to spin against in each of the last houses we looked at... It all depends.

If the OP is in an area where there is still demand, then spending 2k will probably not net back the 2k. So do you need to spend the money to drum up interest? I'll argue that it is not as cut and dry as people suggest.

We had similar discussions around selling our house: Should we do the kitchen (vintage 1940's plywood and decade old appliances)? Should we do the floors? The comments from our RE agent:
Kitchen: definitely not. Also, keep the old appliances as the wrong appliances are a definite turnoff. Let the new owners pick.
Floors: definitely not. Clean them yes, but not refinish.
For us, the key will be to highlight what makes us unique: a basement with 7' (unheard of height), high end boiler and HW w/ infloor heating), extra long yard (140') and large deck 16x16.

Again depends on the market.
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User avatar
Dec 4, 2010
277 posts
21 upvotes
toronto
I hear what you are saying. Differentials of what appeals to one and not another varies as much as the people viewing. However, we are speaking of a damaged floor here. I can't imagine that would appeal to the masses.
It's one of those things stay uppermost in your mind in spite of other appealing factors. I'm not saying the house won't sell, but I'm betting it's slower selling.
It's like looking at two identical porsche's.....same year same style, same price. One is covered in dirt inside and out....the other is spotless. Which one sells faster? Sure you can clean up the dirty one, but the overall care factor /appearance prevails.
Edited to add: Bet that vintage flooring in the kitchen is awesome. I wouldn't change that either. :)
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Apr 17, 2005
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Brampton
leorah wrote: Just had a look at some of the photo's in ur link. Stunning!

Thanks ;)
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