Refinishing Mid-Century Hardwood Floors in Randolph, MA

Probably 2-1/4-inch red oak strip. Randolph's median house dates from 1966 and 36 percent of its housing went up between 1960 and 1979, when builders laid oak through living rooms, hallways and bedrooms and owners carpeted directly over it a decade or two later. Kitchens and lower-level family rooms are the exceptions; they often got plywood and vinyl from the start. Pull the register in a hallway and look for a 3/4-inch board edge to know which case you have before anyone quotes a price.

Whole-house refinishing of 1,400 square feet costs $5,600 to $12,600 at $4 to $9 per square foot. Skipping stain saves 3 to 5 working hours per 1,000 square feet and keeps the schedule tight, which matters when the listing date is fixed. A natural Bona Traffic HD floor takes furniture 3 days after the last coat, so staging can follow the same week.

Rosemont Square is a rental community, 503 apartments in 20 buildings put up in phases between 1982 and 2012, so any floor change there is the owner's decision and a tenant should not commission one. Randolph's condominium associations are a different case: under Chapter 183A the master deed usually permits hardwood with a sound-rated underlayment over a neighbor's ceiling and sets the hours sanders can run. Over a concrete slab the workable product is engineered plank, glued or floated, rather than nailed 3/4-inch solid.

Engineered, if that level is even partly below grade. A split-level's family room sits a half story down and often on or near a slab, where solid 3/4-inch oak has no plywood to nail into and swings with ground moisture. Engineered plank, 9/16 inch thick with a real wood face, goes down glued or floated over a moisture barrier. Upstairs, over the original joists and subfloor, solid remains the better long-term choice because it can be sanded three to five times over its life.

Yes, for the trim rather than the floor. Forty-one percent of Randolph's housing predates 1960 and most of the 1960s and 1970s stock also predates the 1978 lead paint ban, so painted baseboards, thresholds and stair risers in those houses may carry lead that an edger will disturb. That makes the trim, not the floor, the regulated part of the job under federal and Massachusetts lead-safe renovation rules. Have every bidder write their certificate number on the proposal, and ask how the trim is masked.

Count backward from the finish. Bona Traffic HD takes furniture 3 days after the last coat, Bona Mega ONE 5 days, and oil-based Woodline 14, so the final coat needs to go on at least that long before the truck pulls up. Sanding a 1,000-square-foot main floor takes 21 to 33 working hours, and water-based coats dry in one to two hours, so the whole sequence for a typical Randolph ranch fits into about a week. Book the sanding for the week before closing rather than the week after.