Refinish or Replace? How to Tell in a Missouri House
Refinishing costs roughly a third of replacing, and Missouri has more houses old enough for the question than almost any state in this group. No calculator can answer it — but four checks can.
Why this question comes up so often here
St. Louis has a median build year of 1938, and 57.9% of its
housing predates 1940 — the oldest stock of any city on this site by a wide margin. Kansas City is
21.3% pre-1940, St. Joseph 27.5%. That is an enormous number of houses with original oak sitting
under carpet that somebody installed in the seventies.
Which is the good news, because the cheapest floor in any house is usually the one already
there.
The four checks, in the order worth doing them
1. Is there wood under the carpet at all?
Lift a corner in a closet. Tack strip comes up with a pry bar and nothing shows afterward. In a
St. Louis house from the thirties the answer is very often yes, and it is oak.
2. How much thickness is left?
This is the one that actually decides it. Solid strip flooring has a wear layer above the
tongue, and each full sanding takes some of it. Pull a floor register or a threshold and look at
the cut edge: you can see how far the surface has already dropped relative to the tongue. Original
boards that have never been sanded have plenty; boards already sanded three times may have nothing
left to give.
3. Are the boards sound, or just ugly?
Refinishing fixes finish. It does not fix rot, insect damage, or boards that have cupped
permanently from a past water event. Stains that go through the wood rather than sitting in the
finish generally do not sand out either — a black ring under a radiator is usually iron reacting
with tannin and it goes deep.
4. Does the floor move?
Walk it in socks. Squeaks are usually fixable from above or below and are not a reason to
replace. Actual deflection — the floor giving underfoot — is a subfloor or joist question, and no
amount of sanding touches it. See what is likely to be
under a Missouri floor before assuming.
What each answer costs
| Route | Roughly | When it is the right call |
|---|---|---|
| Refinish | About a third of replacement | Sound boards, thickness left, damage is cosmetic |
| Repair and refinish | Refinishing plus board replacement | A few bad boards in an otherwise good floor |
| Replace | Full material and labor | No thickness left, structural damage, or the floor was never wood |
Detailed ranges are on the Missouri refinishing cost
guide and the Missouri flooring cost guide. What you
actually pay depends on your rooms and the condition of what is under the carpet.
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.
The Missouri complication
An old floor in a house on clay soil may be out of level, and that is not a refinishing question
at all. Sanding a floor flat that is out of level because the structure moved removes thickness for
no gain, and it can take a salvageable floor past the point where it can be sanded again later.
If the room reads out of level rather than just worn, settle
whether the movement is finished before spending
anything on the surface.
Frequently asked questions
How many times can a floor be refinished?
It depends on thickness left, not on a count. A ¾ inch solid floor that has never been sanded
has several in it; one already taken down near the tongue has none. The register-edge look in check
two is more reliable than any rule.
Can engineered flooring be refinished?
Sometimes once, occasionally twice, depending on how thick the top veneer is. Many thinner
engineered products cannot be sanded at all.
The floor is oak but three rooms are carpet. Does that change it?
Usually in favor of refinishing. Wood that has spent fifty years under carpet is generally in
better condition than the exposed rooms, not worse.
Is refinishing disruptive?
Yes, and it is worth planning for — the rooms are unusable for several days and dustless
equipment reduces dust rather than eliminating it.