Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Missouri: Costs and When It Wins
Refinishing is the one option that works with the floor the house already has rather than asking a new one to sit flat over it — which in a state where the ground moves is a real advantage, not just a cheaper one.
What it costs
Sanding and refinishing runs roughly $3 to $8 per square foot in Missouri, against $6 to $22 to install new hardwood. Most of the spread is how much repair the floor needs first — replacing damaged boards, filling, dealing with old adhesive — and whether you want a site-finished oil or a waterborne finish.
An estimate, not a quote. These are planning ranges for Missouri, not a quote. What you actually pay depends on your rooms, your subfloor and the material you choose.
Why it suits this state
An existing floor has already followed whatever the structure did. It may sit out of level, but it is flat relative to itself: the boards are all lying on the same subfloor and have been for decades. Refinishing does not reintroduce the flatness problem that laying a new bonded floor does, which is why in the older half of Missouri it is frequently the best value available rather than merely the cheapest.
The prospects are where the prewar housing is: St. Louis at 57.9% pre-1940, St. Joseph at 27.5%, Kansas City at 21.3% concentrated in the older neighborhoods.
Three options, not two
- Screen and recoat. The finish is dull and lightly scratched but the wood is not stained or worn through. Abrade the existing finish, lay a new coat, done in a day, no wood removed. The cheapest way to make a whole floor look new and the option most often skipped.
- Full sand and refinish. Gray or water-stained boards, deep gouges, pet damage that reached the wood, or a change of color.
- Replace. The floor is past saving, or it is engineered with a wear layer too thin to sand.
How to tell which
- Water on the finish. If a drop beads, the finish is intact and a recoat will bond — though some factory finishes need abrading first.
- Color of the damage. Surface scratches that do not catch a fingernail are a recoat. Gray or black staining has reached the wood and needs sanding.
- Thickness above the tongue. Measure at a floor vent. A 3/4 in solid floor has four to six sandings in it; a 0.6 mm engineered veneer has none.
- Movement underfoot. Softness is a structural question, not a finish one, and it is worth answering before spending anything on the surface.
Common questions
Can a floor that is out of level be refinished?
Yes, and that is often the point. Sanding follows the plane the floor is already in; it does not level a room and it is not meant to. If you want the room level as well, that is a separate leveling job underneath a new floor, and it costs accordingly.
How long does it take?
A screen and recoat is usually a day. A full sand and three coats is several, and waterborne finishes are walkable sooner than oil-based ones.