Refinishing a typical Lynnwood main floor takes 3 to 4 working days for a natural finish, 4 to 5 days with stain, and a single day for a screen-and-recoat. Add 24 hours before you walk on it in socks, 72 hours before furniture goes back, and about two weeks before rugs and full cure. The size of the floor matters less than you think; the number of coats and their dry times set the schedule.
The question behind this question is usually "how long do we have to live somewhere else?" In Lynnwood that often means a family in an Alderwood or Martha Lake rambler that just pulled up 40-year-old carpet, found oak underneath and now needs to know whether to book a hotel, stay with family in Everett or camp in the bedrooms. Here is exactly what happens each day on a Wills Flooring refinish, and what stretches or shortens it.
Day by day: a natural sand and refinish
- Before day 1 · Estimate and prepWe measure, check wood thickness and moisture, and give you a firm price. You clear the rooms. If carpet is still down, we pull it, pad and staples the morning we start.Ramblers with oak under carpet: add half a day for tear-out
- Day 1 · Rough and medium sandingVacuum-connected drum and edge sanders take the floor to bare wood in two or three grit passes. Old finish, gray boards and most stains disappear today. Loudest day; most people go to work and come home to a raw floor.
- Day 2 · Fine sanding, repairs, sealerBoard repairs, filling of nail holes and gaps, final buff, then the first coat of Bona sealer. From this point the floor is off limits to everyone, including pets.Stain jobs: stain goes on today instead and dries overnight
- Day 3 · Second coatLight abrasion between coats, vacuum, tack and the second coat of water-based finish. Water-based Bona dries in 2 to 3 hours, which is why we can finish in days, not weeks.
- Day 4 · Final coatThird coat goes on in the morning. Socks-only walking is fine after 24 hours. Furniture with felt pads after 72 hours. Rugs, rolling chairs and wet mopping wait two weeks.Stain jobs: this is day 5
What changes the clock
| Factor | Effect on schedule | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stain | +1 day | Stain must dry overnight before the first clear coat can go on. Dark colors sometimes need a second day in damp weather. |
| Screen and recoat instead of full sanding | Done in 1 day | No sanding to bare wood, one coat of finish. Only possible if the old finish is intact. $1.99 per sq ft. |
| Floor size | Small effect | 500 or 1,500 sq ft, the coats still need the same dry time. Very large floors may add a sanding day. |
| Stairs | +half a day to 1 day | Treads are sanded and finished by hand, usually alongside the main floor. $55 to $75 per tread. |
| Board replacement | +half a day to 1 day | Damaged boards are cut out and new ones woven in before fine sanding. |
| Humidity and temperature | +0 to 1 day | Water-based finish cures slower in a cold, damp Lynnwood house in January. We run heat and air movement to keep the schedule. |
| Oil-based finish | +3 to 5 days | Each oil coat needs 24 hours or more. We use Bona water-based, which is why our timelines are short. |
| Dust containment | No change | Plastic sealing and the air scrubber are set up on day 1. +$250. |
Price and schedule your Lynnwood refinish
Refinishing Calculator
Real Wills Flooring pricing. Pick the service, enter your area, and see the number before anyone visits.
Can you live in the house while it happens?
Refinishing one floor of a two-story or split-level
Usually yes. Bedrooms upstairs stay usable, and you route around the work through a garage or back door. Many Alderwood split-levels work this way. The kitchen is the hard part if it is part of the job.
Refinishing a whole single-level rambler
Plan to be out from the sealer coat on day 2 until the final coat has 24 hours on it. That is three nights for natural, four for stain. Most Lynnwood families stay with relatives or book a hotel by the mall.
Pets and kids
Off the floor from day 2 until 24 hours after the final coat, no exceptions. Paw prints in a fresh coat are the most common callback we see, and they mean a re-sand of that area.
Smell and dust
Bona water-based finish has low odor and is dry to the touch in hours. Our sanders are vacuum-connected; the $250 containment option seals doorways and runs an air scrubber for occupied homes.
Three Lynnwood homes, three schedules
Martha Lake rambler, 850 sq ft
Oak under carpet, natural finish, no stairs. Carpet out Monday morning, sanded by Monday night, final coat Wednesday. Furniture back Saturday.
Alderwood split-level, 950 sq ft + 13 stairs
Stained a light natural-oak tone. Stairs sanded with the floor. Stain Tuesday, coats Wednesday through Friday. Back on it in socks Saturday.
Meadowdale townhome, 600 sq ft
Ten-year-old finish, dull but intact. Screen and recoat, in at 8 a.m. and out by 3 p.m. Furniture back Wednesday evening.
The Lynnwood scheduling reality: Because the work sits ten minutes from our showroom on 196th, we can often start Lynnwood jobs on short notice in fall and winter. Summer is different; May through September books three to five weeks out. If you are planning around a move or new carpet upstairs, call early and lock the dates.
Mistakes that add days
- Rooms not cleared when we arrive. Every hour spent moving furniture is an hour not sanding, and it can push the final coat to the next day.
- Unfixed leaks. A floor with a dishwasher or window leak must dry to normal moisture before sanding, or it will cup after finishing. We test on day 1 and will not sand wet wood.
- Picking stain color on the day. Choose from samples at the estimate. We can test two colors on your floor on day 2, but a third or fourth means the stain slips a day.
- Moving furniture back early. Water-based finish feels dry at 24 hours but is soft for about a week. Dragging a couch across it on day 2 leaves marks that only another coat fixes.
- Not checking for a recoat option. If the finish is only dull, a one-day recoat at $1.99 per sq ft beats a four-day sanding at $3.99. Our refinish or recoat guide explains how to tell, and the refinishing page lists what every job includes.
Refinishing timeline questions from Lynnwood
The scheduling questions we answer at every estimate.
How long does it take to refinish 1,000 sq ft of hardwood floors?
How long after refinishing can you walk on hardwood floors?
Do I have to move out while my floors are refinished?
Why does stain add a full day?
Can floors be refinished in winter in Lynnwood?
How long does a screen and recoat take?
Lock in your Lynnwood refinishing dates
We measure, check the wood and hand you a firm price and a start date on the spot. Free in-home estimate, ten minutes from our showroom.
Wills Flooring serves Lynnwood, Everett, Seattle, Sammamish, Edmonds, Kirkland, Snohomish and the rest of Snohomish and King County from our Lynnwood showroom. See our hardwood refinishing in Lynnwood, WA, hardwood refinishing service, published price list, when you can walk on refinished floors, whether you need to move out and refinishing cost in Seattle.
.svg.svg){kind=small}
.svg.svg){kind=small}
.avif){kind=small}