Written, itemized quotes across Toronto - no obligation
$4 – $8 / sq ft Dust-controlled sanding Colour change possible Several days, sand to final coat

Hardwood floor refinishing in Toronto

Original strip oak under a tired finish is worth more than a new floor. Ontario Flooring Contractors sands it back, stains it if you want a different colour, and re-coats it for $4 to $8 per square foot.

Cheaper than replacing at $10 to $18 per square foot
Dust-controlled sanding with extraction
Water-based or oil-modified finishes
Stairs refinished to match the floor

Price your refinishing

Tell us the rooms, the square footage and roughly how old the floor is.

What can we help with?

So the right crew reviews your project.

No obligation. Any workmanship warranty is set out in your written quote, job by job.

$4-$8 Refinishing, per sq ft
$6-$8 Heavy sanding or dustless, per sq ft
$3,000-$6,000 Typical 500 – 1,000 sq ft project
30-50% Humidity range to hold afterwards
Strip oak floor sanded back to bare wood with the first coat of finish going on, Queen West
When to refinish

Refinishing wins when there is wood above the tongue

The test is simple. Pull a floor vent or lift a threshold and look at the edge of a board. If it is solid hardwood and there is still a reasonable thickness of wood above the tongue, the floor has at least one more sand in it, and refinishing at $4 to $8 per square foot is half the cost of replacing at $10 to $18. If the boards are thin engineered with a worn-through veneer, if there is water damage through the thickness, or if the floor has already been taken down two or three times, sanding it again exposes the tongue and the nails and there is no recovery from that. We check before quoting and tell you which one you have.

What hardwood floor refinishing includes

Dust control, not dust free

Sanders run under vacuum extraction, rooms are sealed off and traffic paths are protected. Anyone promising zero dust from a full sand is overselling it.

A real colour change

Sanding to bare wood is the only point at which the colour can actually change. Stain goes on before the coats, and the species decides how evenly it takes.

A finish chosen for the traffic

Water-based finishes cure faster, stay clearer over white oak and smell far less. Oil-modified ambers over time and is tougher underfoot in a busy hallway.

Our Process

How a hardwood floor refinishing job runs

1

Check the wear layer

We look at a board edge to confirm there is enough wood left to sand, and check for cupping, nails and previous sanding.

2

Repair and prepare

Damaged boards replaced, protruding fasteners set, rooms sealed and floor vents covered.

3

Sand through the grits

Coarse to fine, edges and corners worked by hand, then the floor is screened before any coating.

4

Stain and coat

Stain if you have chosen a colour, then the finish coats with the drying time each one needs.

Worth knowing

Board repairs come before refinishing starts

Sanding does not fix a damaged board, it exposes it. Anything cupped, split, water-stained through its thickness or moving underfoot gets dealt with before the first pass, because a sander run over a loose board just scallops it and a stain applied to water damage goes darker, not lighter. That repair work is quoted separately from the refinishing rate, so on a floor with a few bad boards you can see exactly what you are paying to keep the original floor rather than replace it.

Hardwood floor refinishing prices in Toronto

Toronto 2026. A typical 500 to 1,000 square foot project lands between $3,000 and $6,000.

Screen and recoat

quoted per area

Finish is dull but not worn through
No sanding to bare wood
No colour change possible
Fastest option by far

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Most popular

Sand and refinish

$4 – $8 / sq ft

Sanded back to bare wood
Existing colour or a new stain
Two or three finish coats
Most common scope

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Heavy sand or dustless

$6 – $8 / sq ft

Deep wear, paint or adhesive removal
Cupped boards flattened
Dust-extraction sanding throughout
Board replacement extra

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Refinishing clients on the finished floor

Reviews collected directly from clients.

5/5

The team refinished our existing hardwood floors and brought them back to life. The colour looks great, and the final finish is smooth and consistent.

Daniel R.

Client direct

5/5

Ontario Flooring installed new hardwood flooring throughout our home, and the results look beautiful. The crew was careful, professional, and kept the work area clean from start to finish.

Michael C.

Client direct

Hardwood floor refinishing questions

How many times can a floor be refinished?

A solid 3/4 inch hardwood floor has roughly three to five sandings in it over its life, depending on how aggressive each one was. Engineered depends entirely on the wear layer – a 4 to 6 mm layer takes one or two, a 2 mm veneer takes none.

How long will I be out of the rooms?

Plan on several days for a sand, stain and coat. The sanding is a day or two, then each coat needs drying time before the next, and full cure comes later than the floor looks ready. Water-based finishes shorten this and are the usual choice when someone is living in the house.

Can you change my orange oak floor to a lighter colour?

Sanding removes the old finish and the ambering with it, which gets you most of the way there on its own. A white or grey wash on red oak fights the pink in the wood and the result is not the same as on white oak. We do a sample area on your actual floor before committing.

Will refinishing fix the gaps between my boards?

No, and filling them usually makes things worse. Gaps open in winter because indoor humidity falls below the 30 to 50 percent wood is built for, and they close again in summer. Filler forced into a winter gap gets crushed out when the boards expand.

Find out if your hardwood floor can be refinished

One look at a board edge answers it, at no cost.

Request a quote Call (343) 842-1450
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