Last week Sherry and I saw the freshly refinished floors at the duplex for the first time, and even though we went through a similar project at the pink beach house last year, we were still surprised by how dramatic the change is. A simple finish on the floors transformed the space from a construction zone into something that feels move-in ready. Below are a few before-and-after moments that really demonstrate the difference.
The new finish makes the whole place look complete. It’s amazing how a single surface can change the tone of a room and make everything else feel finished and cohesive.
This is the same living room (left side of the duplex) when we bought it last September. That yellow residue is old carpet pad that was glued to the floor in many spots and stubbornly refused to come off.
Here’s that view in May during reconstruction. The floors actually looked worse at this stage because everyone knew they were going to be fully sanded and refinished, so they accumulated a layer of construction dust.
Even after drywall work began, the space still felt rough—especially the floors.
So walking into the duplex and seeing this shiny, refinished oak underfoot felt like a huge stride forward. We still need to add quarter round trim along the baseboards to finish everything, but the change is dramatic.
To make comparison easier, here’s the before picture next to the after. Opening up the kitchen and adding an interior transom window above the opening also made the room feel much larger and brighter.
Because adding new hardwoods to bridge large holes and water-damaged zones was beyond our DIY abilities, we hired the same crew who refinished the floors at the pink house last year: ShenValley Floors. They not only sanded, stained, and sealed the floors, but they also handled extensive repair work, sourcing reclaimed oak to match where needed.
The duplex needed a lot of repair work. One major issue was rot in several spots, including an area that used to be the upstairs bathroom. Years of a leaking pipe had rotted through both the original pine floor and the oak layer that had been installed on top, so the crew had to tackle both layers to make the floor sound and level again.
You can see both layers of flooring in the shot below. In some areas our changes to the floor plan had left gaps that needed attention. ShenValley filled those gaps with reclaimed 100-year-old oak from another project so the repairs would blend seamlessly with the existing floor.
After patching, sanding, staining, and sealing, the damaged areas were fully repaired and integrated into the surrounding floor.
Here’s the rotted area after repair. The crew doesn’t just drop a thin strip of new boards into place; they pry up neighboring boards and stagger the replacements so the joints are hidden and the transition reads naturally. This approach avoids harsh straight lines where old and new boards meet and results in a much more authentic look.
That extra effort is worth it in the final result. We documented a similar refinishing process at our own house if you want a deeper look at how these repairs and finishes come together.
Partway through the project we had a curveball: after sanding, the crew found several deep, dark stains that couldn’t be sanded out. They also discovered that two different species of oak—white oak and red oak—had been used in the house decades ago. Clear-sealing would have emphasized both the stains and the color variation between species, so the pros recommended a medium stain to help unify everything.
Old photos reveal subtle color differences that were hard to spot until the finish work began. Part of the upstairs floor had even been painted and covered with sticky tiles at some point, which likely contributed to uneven color in places.
We chose Special Walnut, a medium stain recommended by the refinisher. It helped significantly to blend the variations: the only visible transition we can now find is a subtle one between white oak in the hallway and red oak in a bedroom. In person it’s even less noticeable than in photos, and once furniture and rugs are in place it’s unlikely anyone will notice.
Adjusting away from the light, natural look we had pictured was a bit disappointing at first, but the end result feels right for the house and the improvements are undeniable.
That image shows the upstairs hallway on the right side where sticky tiles used to be. Now it looks renewed and much more welcoming (new railing is still to come).
Here’s the view down the stairs toward the front door when we bought the place…
…and here it is now. We still need to paint the stair sides and clean a little dust around the frame, but the transformation is obvious.
We pulled up an old photo of the back bedroom on the right side and barely recognized it with the carpet and dark walls gone.
We even mixed up a couple of rooms while sorting through pictures because they looked so similar after the floors were refinished. Regardless, the overall improvement across the house is clear.
There’s more to come as we install kitchens this weekend and start moving furniture in over the holiday break. To finish where we began, here’s another before-and-after of the living room on the opposite side of the duplex.
In that spot the floors weren’t in terrible shape to begin with, so the change is subtler. Maybe the staining decision ended up being the house reclaiming a bit of its history and giving everything a unified, lived-in warmth.
We won’t be painting the trim in bright colors, but the floors alone feel like a major win.
More Hardwood Floor Refinishing Projects
If you’d like to read more about our hardwood floor projects, here are other posts that document refinishing, matching new and old boards, and restoring historic pine floors.
- Refinishing Mid-Century Oak Floors in Our First House
- Matching New & Old Hardwood Floors in Our Third House
- Refinishing Historic Heart Pine Floors in Our Beach House
- Clear Sealing Our Refinished Floors in Our Florida House
P.S. We’ve been sharing updates on the duplex as the project has progressed, and there are lots more posts and photos documenting the work and the journey.