Floor Laying and Refinishing: Which is Best in Older Homes?

Floor laying and refinishing are two vastly different processes with the same purpose: to refresh the look of your home. Older homes will, at some point, need to have their floors revived. That’s a fact. What is less straightforward to determine is whether the floor in your older home will need to be completely replaced or just refinished.

As experts in both floor laying and refinishing, we’re here to help you figure out which is the ideal option for you.

There are three main types of flooring found in older homes: hardwood, vinyl, and tile. Each flooring type has unique characteristics that influence whether or not and when you should replace or refinish it. Combine this with your budget, your home and your vision for your space, and you can start determining the best course of action.

Here is everything you need to know about when to replace or refinish your flooring.

Hardwood

Refinish: Typically, refinishing is the way to go with hardwood floors since they can be refinished anywhere between six and ten times before needing to be replaced. This is a budget friendly solution since installing new hardwood floors will cost approximately five times as much as refinishing.

Refinishing hardwood gives you the chance to improve both style and function. It allows you to change or restore colour, repair compromised planks and even silence squeaky boards.

Replace: There are some instances where you may choose to replace hardwood. Perhaps you are wanting a totally new look, different material type or size, or a new directional layout and have the budget to replace your floors. Or perhaps it’s necessary to replace because the floors have sustained too much damage.

You will want to replace the flooring when there is structural damage to the floor or sub flooring. As a general rule, replacement is the best option when more than 30% of the planks are compromised.

Vinyl

Refinish: The deciding factors for vinyl flooring are more or less the same as hardwood. Vinyl flooring is quite durable, but if it is yellowing due to sun exposure and getting worn out it can be refinished with a new stain or some polish approximately two to three times over its lifespan.

Replace: Replacing vinyl floors isn’t quite as expensive as replacing hardwood so wanting a new look is a more budget-friendly reasoning for replacing your vinyl floors. Again, the damages that require replacement are structural damage, moving planks, and 30% or more compromised planks.

Tile

Refinish: Ceramic or porcelain tile floors can be reglazed, but only if they are still in relatively good condition and just need a bit of a facelift. Reglazing should last you about 10 years.

Replace: Replacement is usually the way to go with tile flooring. Refinishing tile floors is not as practical and easy as it is with vinyl or hardwood. There are some situations and spaces where you can relay new tile over top of the old tile to cut down on costs.

At the end of the day, contacting a flooring professional is the best way to know whether your floors should be replaced or refinished. Here at The Brothers Flooring we are more than happy to assist you throughout the entirety of either process. Contact us for a free consultation!