We have about 300 sq. ft. of site finished oak strip flooring in the front hall and family room. Aside from the finish needing redoing, there was some past water leaking that affected a hall section but the cupping has pretty well leveled out.

A good refinisher took a look, said the remaining cupping was ok, but that this was the last sanding possible. The original wood was only 3/8". The house is about 25 years old and we bought from the original owners and I don't know if they had it resanded in that time or not. The quote for sanding, early American stain, and two coats of Woodline satin oil is $750, which I was pleasantly surprised with.

The quandry is to do this or put the $$ towards some pre-finished micro-bevel that I would install myself.

Some considerations:

- These are high traffic areas - hall to the main entrance, family room has the outside patio door to the deck and pool. Some dirt and grit on the floor are unavoidable. (Outdoor changeroom so no pool water dripping in the family room)

- With the traffic, I guess that a refinish will be needed in 5 years. Would a good quality pre-finished floor stand up longer than the refinished?

- Is it reasonable to think the floor could be refinished and then perhaps get screened and recoated to stretch the life out to 8-10 years before another sanding (ie. replacement is needed), or is it more likely that a full resand (ie replacement) should be expected instead of a recoat in a few years.

Any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated, this is a new situation for me.

Durability is variable. If you choose a brand like M*****, then yes, it could last longer. But if you get the finisher to use a better finish and more coats, the refinished floor will last longer as well.

Yes, quite reasonable. That's what we finishers have been trying to educate the public about for many years. Doing maintenance recoats every 5 yrs. or so will drastically prolong the life of the floor, assuming it's not abused. Maintenance is EVERYTHING when it comes to a finish's longevity. I refinished my dad's floors 30 yrs ago with 3 coats of Dura Seal Polyurethane. While the floors have some dents and scratches, the finish is completely intact, not worn through at all and overall, the floors still look good. They are fairly well cared for (cleaned) often.

My advice is, if you like the kind of floors you have now, and your finisher says there is enough wood there to sand and refinish once more, then do that and save your money. Plus ask the finisher to apply more coats (at least one more) and/or use a more durable finish like Traffic or IDRO 2K. Even if the refinish price jumps to $1,000.00, a new Mirage floor will cost 3X that much, even installing it yourself! Not to mention the hassle of removing the old flooring.

Regarding the finish, Traffic pushes it up by over $500 more and the refinisher knows and uses the Woodline. From reading the forum, Woodline is a pro quality finish I believe. Perhaps not Traffic tough, but still a pretty good product? I will inquire about a 3rd coat.

As far as recoating then, I guess the important point is that once it is getting scratched up too much get it done before the finish is worn down to the wood.

Thanks very much Gary. I feel that I can make an informed decision and not be panicked that I would be spending $$ for short-term nada.

$500.00 MORE to use Traffic on a 300 sq.ft. floor? That's outrageous. two gallons of Traffic cost about $200.00. Two gallons of Woodline poly about $50.00. That's a $150.00 price difference. Your finisher simply does NOT want to use Traffic or he is inexperienced with waterbased. But if you want to Woodline OMU, it is a fine poly. I've used it many times. But yes, recoat before it's very worn.