The new floors in our kitchen can be easy to overlook amid the other major changes—a reconfigured layout, a widened doorway to the living room, new cabinets, and new countertops. But every so often we’re reminded that the floors are a huge reason the entire first floor now feels fresh, open, and updated. Here’s a clear recap of the process, timing, and cost for anyone considering a similar upgrade.
This before photo shows how dramatically different the space feels with the new floors. The shot below was taken from the same spot as the after photo above, and yes—we do not miss that faux brick linoleum.
From another angle, taken from the front door, you can see how choppy the downstairs flooring had been. We had hardwoods in the living room, dining room, and office, but they weren’t connected because the foyer had slate and the kitchen had linoleum. There were five doorways transitioning between different flooring types—often with metal strips that were a hazard for toes.
Now the first floor flows as one continuous expanse of hardwood—no transitions, no steps, and no color changes. We love the warmth hardwood brings to a kitchen and how cohesive flooring makes connected rooms feel larger. Getting there wasn’t fast or painless, though.
We hired professionals for the project because even with pros it was a multi-week effort, and we couldn’t get the kitchen fully functioning until it was complete. While we had installed prefinished hardwoods ourselves upstairs in another house, blending new boards with existing ones and then sanding and staining to match was something we preferred to leave to experienced installers. We worked with a local company we trusted from previous projects, which eased our nerves.
Demo
The first step was removing the old linoleum and foyer slate. Although we considered doing the slate demo ourselves, the flooring company quoted the job and said their team could remove everything in about a day, including removing and reinstalling quarter round and plumbing fixtures in the powder room. After factoring tool rental, the time, and how loud and dusty the work would be, hiring the crew was the right call. They were able to finish in a day and a half, leaving exposed plywood subfloors throughout the foyer, half bath, and kitchen. Thankfully the subfloor was in good condition so no replacement was needed.
In some areas you can see remnants of the original hardwood where built-ins or a wet bar had once covered the floor. Achieving a seamless patch was a main reason we didn’t attempt this as a DIY project—any visible mismatch would have been right in the middle of a high-traffic doorway.
The installers carefully removed some existing planks so they could install the new boards in a staggered pattern. This prevented an obvious straight cut line between old and new flooring and helped the final result look original to the house.
Installation
After demo, the crew patched in new boards and used wood putty to fill any gaps or nicks. Once the new boards were feathered into the old floor, two installers spent a day laying the remaining flooring in the kitchen.
New wood was delivered a week in advance to acclimate to our home’s moisture level before installation—important to prevent later gaps or buckling. The installers finished the kitchen on day two, then moved on to the foyer, half bath, and closets on day three.
Because the direction of the new boards can’t be guaranteed to line up perfectly with existing rooms, we chose to use turnboards at some thresholds—two planks placed perpendicular at the doorway. They sit flush, feel smooth underfoot, and, once stained, became an attractive detail that replaced the old metal strips.
The crew recommended installing cabinets before sanding and staining. It sounds counterintuitive, but cabinet installation can be rough on floors and could scratch fresh stain. Installing cabinets first also allowed counters to be templated and produced simultaneously while the floors were stained, shortening the overall timeline.
Moving Out
Once cabinets were in, we moved entirely off the first floor while sanding and staining took place. Moving out is a hassle and a big reason we hadn’t pursued seamless refinishing in prior homes, but ultimately it was worth it. We consolidated small items upstairs, put appliances in the garage, and rented a small storage pod for larger pieces. Most of the heavy lifting we did ourselves with a dolly.
We also discovered wear marks from rolling office chairs that we hadn’t noticed until refinishing. We address how we fixed those below.
Sanding
Sanding removed the old stain and finish and created a lot of dust. The crew used a containment setup so we could stay upstairs while sanding happened. Sanding was a two-person job: one ran the large drum sander and the other used a hand sander for edges and tight spots. The result was a smooth, bare wood surface ready for stain.
Staining & Sealing
We tested several stain colors near the stairway—Jacobean, Special Walnut, Provencial, and a Jacobean/Provencial blend—and chose Provencial because it matched the existing stair color most closely. Once staining began we stayed away from the house for several days because the crew applied three coats of polyurethane sealer, sanding lightly between coats. After the sealer cured (we waited the recommended 48 hours before walking on it), the color evened out and gained the right amount of depth and sheen. We chose a satin finish to match the stairs.
Moving Back In
After staining we waited another ten days before bringing in heavy furniture or rugs to avoid imprinting the sealer. We spent extra time dusting surfaces, caulking, and touch-up painting quarter round so the finished floor looked crisp. From demo to walking on the floors again was about 16 days, with another 10 days before heavy furniture returned.
The finished result is seamless—the transition between the kitchen and living room is undetectable unless you reference older photos. The foyer now feels warmer and safer underfoot versus the old slate, and the turnboards at thresholds look intentional and polished.
To prevent future wear from rolling chairs, we removed the casters and added furniture pads to the base of each chair. They still roll and rotate smoothly and no longer create donut-shaped gouges in the floor.
In total, materials cost about $3,400 for 3/4″ solid oak (covering three rooms) and labor was about $4,100. Labor included demo, removal and reinstallation of quarter round and plumbing, laying and patching hardwoods, sanding, staining, sealing, and final reinstall. Our entire first floor is roughly 1,300 square feet, with about half (~650 sf) existing hardwood and the other half (~650 sf) replaced with new hardwood.
It was a significant time investment and inconvenience, but the result made the whole first floor feel more finished and cohesive. We’re glad we did it and appreciate that next time we won’t have to move out to refinish floors elsewhere.
More Hardwood Floor Refinishing Projects
If you want to read about other hardwood projects we’ve done—matching original hardwoods to new prefinished flooring or restoring historic pine floors—see the posts below.
- Refinishing Mid-Century Oak Floors in Our First House
- Refinishing Historic Heart Pine Floors in Our Beach House
- Repairing Historic Oak & Pine Floors in Our Duplex
- Clear Sealing Our Refinished Floors in Our Florida House