is it worth my money to finish my hardwood floors when i sell my house?

Question

my older home has hardwood floors throughout..i had an estimate on the cost to finish three good size rooms and it was about 2 g..
i would want to do probably about 6 g worth of floor finishing..i bought the home last year for 120,000....the floors now are in ok shape, nothing great, but ok...would i get my money out of beautiful wood floors??

Answer 1

Defiantly...

Answer 2

If you are planning to move soon I would get some advice from a realtor on a cosmetic uplift. If you are planning to stay for a few more years then fix it up to your liking. My personal preference is hardwood. I know it's expensive but it looks really good and shows well. I would not remove the existing wood but if it needs refinishing then get it done and take care of it. It will be well worth the cost and effort. Good carpet is also appealing bedrooms, especially on cold mornings when you first swing out of bed. Housing prices will rebound. There is only so much dirt to go around so existing properties will go up in value. It just may take time. Be patient. Good luck.

Answer 3

According the TV show design to sell refinishing a hardwood floor with net you a couple $1000's in resale.

Answer 4

I wouldn't mostly because people want to do what they want in a new home, If they are in good shape get some good hardwood floor wax and shine them up! Though after looking at others answers perhaps I'm wrong ...Then I've never owned a home.

Answer 5

The best person to ask this question to is the REALTOR. Thats what you pay for. I am a remodeler. I work with a realtor. I get 10 percent of my business from her clients. The realtor will come in, look at your house and give you a list of stuff to do prior to the showing. Some things you can do. Some things you might hire out. Bottom line is, what they have you do will make you more money.

Answer 6

yes and no.
You may not regain the cost of finishing the floors persay. The better floors may help the house sell faster and therefore make you less likely to take less money futher down the road. SO, you can refinish and sell the house for its appraisal value, or not refinish, and take less a few months from now.

Answer 7

Nice hardwood floors are a big selling point.

I don't understand your 2,000/6,000 figures. You got an estimate for 2,000 but want to do 6,000?

Maybe you could just do a good cleaning and oiling.

Answer 8

It depends!

First, there are a few variations on refinishing. Do you want to sand them down to bare/natural wood and restain and revarnish? Or, do you just want to dust off the varnish and apply a new top coat?

If you want to take them down to bare wood, you are looking at a lot of work and mess. I would guess it will take days of sanding to get there, then you stain, urethane, sand, urethane, sand, urethane (and possibly sand and urethane again, depending on how many coats you put on). Doing this would be called for if there are problems that penetrate down to the wood (gouges, water damage, etc.).

If you just want to dust the top coat off with a sander and apply a new top coat of urethane or varnish, that would be much, much simpler. This will probably take care of all minor flaws (light scratches, wear, etc.).

For the first method, $2000 per room seems about right to me; it would be outrageous for the second method. If you can rent a large orbital sander and learn to handle it, you can probably do the second method on your own fairly easily if you have some DIY know-how.

Now, for whether or not you will get return on the investment depends largely on how your home compares in its market, and how fast you want it to move. Refinished floors will mean nothing to people who will just carpet over it (that's blasphemy in my book!), but they will mean a lot to a real wood lover. Hardwood floors are very popular right now, but consult with your realtor to determine the value of the project.

Answer 9

It would be in yoru best interest to refinish your floors!! Buyers these days are very interested in hardwood floors. Carpet is no longer "in style" You would definatly get your money back if you did it!

Answer 10

yes! people will pay more for a move in ready house. However, I think you're getting ripped off if you think its going to cost that much to refinish your floors. you can lay whole new floors forless than that. get another estimate

Answer 11

6000 thousand is a lot of money to finish wood floors. I have a big house and I had all my floors redone and it cost about half of that.