Most floors we’re called to replace don’t need replacing. Before Daniel quotes anything, he spends five minutes on his knees with a coin, a moisture meter and a torch. Here is that check, step by step, and what each answer usually means for your budget and your week.

The coin test

Find a worn spot near a doorway, in front of the kitchen sink, or wherever the dog waits for dinner. These are the places a finish fails first, so they tell you the most about the rest of the room.

Drag the edge of a coin across the worn patch. If it skates over a dull but sealed surface, the wear is still in the finish. If it catches on bare, grey or rough-feeling wood, the finish is through and the timber itself is taking the traffic.

Do the same test somewhere nobody walks, like under a sofa. The difference between the two spots tells you how far the wear has travelled.

When a recoat is enough

Dull traffic lanes, light scuffs and fine scratches that sit only in the top coat can be fixed without touching the wood. We clean the floor, abrade the old finish with a fine pad, and lay one or two fresh coats over it.

There is almost no dust, the furniture only moves once, and you can walk on it in socks the same evening. Most rooms are done in a single day.

A recoat every five to seven years is the cheapest way to keep a good floor from ever needing a full sand.

“If a floor can be saved, we save it. If it can’t, we’ll show you why.” — Daniel, founder

When to refinish

Grey patches, deep scratches, pet marks and water stains that have reached the wood need a full sand. We take the floor back to clean timber in three passes, fill the gaps, and build the finish up again from bare wood.

It is also the moment to change colour. A tired orange oak can come back pale and matte, or go darker, with samples laid on your own boards before you choose.

Solid oak can take five or six full refinishes in its life. Most engineered boards can take two or three, depending on the thickness of the wear layer.

When it’s time to replace

Some floors have simply run out. Cupped or crowned boards, soft spots underfoot, black water stains that run deep, or a wear layer sanded paper-thin all mean sanding will make things worse, not better.

Before we say the word replace, we show you the moisture readings and lift a board at the edge so you can see its thickness for yourself. The decision is yours, with the evidence in front of you.

If only one room has failed, we can often weave new boards into the old floor so the join is invisible.

What each one costs

Prices below are for Portland in 2026 and include materials, prep and finish. Every quote we write is per room, with any extras listed before we start.

The cheapest option is the one you catch early. If the coin still skates, book a recoat now and you may never need the other two.