Replace Or Refinish—What Should It Be For Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors have a beauty and elegance rarely found in any other type of flooring. But they also become prone to wear and tear over a period of time thus losing their beauty and becoming lacklustre and stained,

warped and squeaky and even chipped and scratched. It then starts to look old and loses its character completely if nothing is done to regain the beauty.

There are two ways in which the timeless elegance of the hardwood floor can be brought back. They are:
By refinishing an old hardwood floor or
By replacing the old floor by a new one.
But how does one decide on the best option for the hardwood floor present on his house. This can be done on the basis of certain features and characteristics which differ between them. While both have their own qualities, advantages and uses, they have their differences too. Certain factors on which they differ are:

• Expenses concerned: Replacing a hardwood floor is an expensive option since the costs involved include both buying the materials and using the services of professionals to install the same. This is because the installation of a new hardwood floor is a complicated process requiring a lot of precision and hence cannot be done at home by the homeowners. On the other hand a hardwood floor can be easily refinished at home by the homeowner himself. Thus it involves much less costs than those incurred in replacing old hardwood floor with new ones.
• Time required: Time required to refinish a hardwood floor is much more than it takes to replace it. Refinishing is a cumulative process involving processes like sanding, buffering, caulking, staining, brushing etc. If there people staying in the house when the refinishing is being bone, it will be a hassle to compete the job on time. Thus the time required would automatically close down. On the other hand, replacing would require much less time since the work involved is much less.
• Beauty: Refinishing old hardwood floors is a means of recreating the old beauty and charm of the same. On the other hand, replacing the hardwood floor means the setting up of a new design pattern thereby making the room look like new. Hence refinishing recreates the old look while replacing the same ensures a new look to the room.
• Condition: The condition of the old hardwood plays one of the most important features of the same. Typically if the hardwood floor has been damaged extensively and has become warped, it needs to be changed immediately since refinishing if done will not stay for more years.
• Age: As the hardwood floor grows old, it tends to resist instances of refinishing and should therefore be changed or replaced. In these cases refinishing is both extremely expensive, time taking and a purely cosmetic task which would thus have no durability.

It is a matter of personal choice whether a man wants to go in for refining of his old hardwood floors or replacing them altogether. But the decision needs to be taken only after considerable thoughts have been given to the above written factors.