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Aim to refinish your hardwood floors every seven to 10 years, depending on the amount of wear and tear they receive. You can also refinish your floors after removing wall-to-wall carpeting or after significant disrepair from traffic, sun, or water damage. During your hardwood floor refinishing, you might also want to consider refinishing your stairs at an average cost of between $40 and $75 per step. .

At an average cost to refinish hardwood floors of $3 to $8 per square foot, it may cost anywhere between $1,500 and $4,000 to refinish 500 square feet of hardwood floors. The final price you’ll pay for this home improvement project depends on the type of hardwood floor you have, local labor rates, and if you require any additional repairs or other tasks, like buffing and polishing.

Sanding is crucial to refinishing a floor properly, but to see whether your floor can go without sanding, perform a spot test on an inconspicuous, small area. Rub your hardwood with a sanding screen and apply a coat of polyurethane. If there's no residue after 24 hours, you can refinish your hardwood floors without sanding. However, you don't need to sand if you're recoating or polishing floors without underlying damage.

The best way to maintain hardwood floors is to clean them regularly with a push broom and use a mop with a cloth pad. Only use cleaning products designated for hardwood floors. Otherwise, you could damage them by stripping the finish. To remove tough stains, take steel wool and mineral spirits and buff gently with wax. Finally, you’ll want to install window treatments to ensure sunlight doesn’t discolor your hardwood floors.