Category Comparison
Refinish vs Replace Hardwood Floors: How to Decide
June 24, 2026 7 min read By Fort Worth Flooring Co
This is the decision we are asked to help with most often, and the answer is refinish far more frequently than people expect. Here is how to work it out before anyone quotes.
The cost gap, first
Typical North Texas market ranges, and these are market ranges rather than quotes:
- Refinishing an existing floor: around $3 to $6 per square foot
- Screen and recoat, where the finish is only worn: $1 to $3
- New engineered hardwood installed: $7 to $14
- New solid hardwood installed: $9 to $16 and up
Refinishing is roughly a third to a half the cost of replacement. That is a big enough gap that the question is really “is refinishing possible”, not “is it better value”.
Check one: how much board is left
This is the only check that can rule refinishing out outright.
A three-quarter inch solid board has roughly six to ten full sandings in it across its entire life, and every previous refinisher spent some of them. What matters is the thickness above the tongue, because that is all a sander can remove before it hits the fastener line.
To check it yourself: pull a floor vent, or lift a board at a threshold, and look at the edge in section. If you can see fastener heads anywhere at the surface of the room, or the wear surface is close to the tongue, the floor is done.
For an engineered floor the equivalent is the wear layer. Around 3mm or more is refinishable. Below that there is not enough timber above the core.
Check two: what kind of damage
Sands out: surface scratches, worn finish, pet marks in the finish, surface staining, most sun fading.
Does not sand out: deep staining that has penetrated the timber, boards cupped or crowned from a moisture event, split or broken boards, and anywhere the tongue has failed.
The important thing is that the second list is a board-replacement problem, not a whole-floor problem. Individual boards get cut out and woven in, matched for species and age, and the whole floor is then sanded as one. That is normal work on an older house and it is far cheaper than replacement.
Cost for that is typically $100 to $400 per board, and the spread is about matching rather than fitting — finding a board that reads correctly beside century-old longleaf pine is the expensive part.
Check three: what the floor actually is
This changes the answer more than anything else, and it is where the pre-war stock in this county pulls hard toward refinishing.
Under the carpet in Fairmount, Ryan Place, Mistletoe Heights, the older streets of Hurst and Haltom City, and the historic core of Weatherford, there is very often original longleaf pine or oak that has never been sanded.
That timber is denser and more resinous than anything milled today, it cannot be bought back once it is skipped, and it comes up better than almost any new floor at the same price. Replacing it is close to always the wrong decision.
We lift a corner on every estimate in those areas for exactly this reason.
Check four: is the subfloor sound
If there is a soft spot, a squeak that moves, or any history of a burst supply line, the subfloor question comes before the surface question.
Refinishing a beautiful floor over failed decking is money spent on the wrong layer. Open it, deal with it, then decide about the surface. It may also change the maths, since a floor that has to come up for subfloor work is a floor that could be replaced at lower marginal cost.
Check five: what you actually want
One honest note. Refinishing gives you the floor you have, in a different colour and a fresh finish. It does not give you wider boards, a different species or a different layout.
If what you want is a seven inch white oak plank and you have two and a quarter inch red oak strip, refinishing will not get you there, and no amount of cost advantage changes that. That is a legitimate reason to replace and we will not argue with it.
What we will do is tell you when the floor you have is better than the floor you were about to buy — which in the older parts of this county is more often than not.
The ranges in one table
Everything above, gathered in one place. These are typical North Texas market ranges rather than our quote.
Refinishing, repair and preparation
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Sand and refinish hardwood — 3 coats Species, how many previous sandings the boards have left in them | $3 to $6 per sq ft |
| Screen and recoat — no sanding Only worth it above bare wood; winter heating also opens gaps a recoat cannot fill | $1 to $3 per sq ft |
| Dustless sanding surcharge Containment matters more in an occupied historic home than an empty one | Usually folded into the sq ft rate |
| Board replacement — matched and woven in Matching a 1920s longleaf pine board is the expensive part, not the labour | $100 to $400 per board |
| Water damage repair — after a burst supply line How long the water sat, and whether the subfloor delaminated | $400 to $1,800 per room |
| Subfloor repair or replacement Joist condition in a pier-and-beam house is only knowable once it is open | $3 to $9 per sq ft |
| Slab grinding and flatness correction How far out of tolerance the slab reads against the material's spec | $1 to $4 per sq ft |
| Self-levelling underlayment pour Depth. A 1/4 inch skim and a 1.5 inch pour are not the same job | $2 to $8 per sq ft |
Typical North Texas market ranges, gathered from published contractor pricing. Not a quote.