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21030 Victory Blvd, Woodland Hills
Hardwood services · Woodland Hills showroom
Hardwood Floor Refinishing in Woodland Hills, CA
Compare sanding and refinishing existing hardwood with installing new floors. Free in-home estimates for new hardwood and European white oak (CSLB #1005283).
Prefer to talk it through first? Book an in-home estimate and we’ll look at your floor with you.
Woodland Hills showroom
Come See the Floors in Person
Showroom Hours
- Mon – Wed10am – 6pm
- Thursday10am – 4pm
- Friday10am – 6pm
- Saturday10am – 5pm
- SundayClosed
See It in Person
Hardwood, laminate and vinyl on display in Woodland Hills.
Call ahead and we’ll check whether a sample you like is in the showroom; we bring samples to in-home estimates.
Family Business Since 2007
CSLB #1005283
Refinish or replace
Hardwood flooring is one of the best investments you can make in your home. Hardwood flooring adds a classic presence to your home and can be fit into almost any home or interior design.
The lifespan of a hardwood floor depends on many factors including, location, climate, exposure to moisture, wear and tear, and maintenance. It’s common for hardwood flooring to last for 20 years and longer, but a well built and well cared for floor can last many decades longer. In the United States and Europe, there are original hardwood floors dating back to the 19th century.
New hardwood is our main service: see hardwood floor installation, or browse the current flooring sale. Refinishing is one of the services we offer, and an in-home estimate is the easiest way to find out which route suits your floor.
Refinishing Preserves Hardwood Flooring
When treated right, hardwood is an amazingly durable material. The finish used on the wood is not everlasting though. Periodic refinishing is necessary to maintain the beauty of the hardwood floor and to protect the wood. Most hardwood flooring in Los Angeles has an oil-based polyurethane finish. This is the longest lasting finish. Polyurethane can shift with wood panels without cracking immediately. Obviously, when wood panels shift too much, any hardwood finish will crack, but oil-based polyurethane has flexibility to reduce the chances of cracks and breaks.
There are some homes in Los Angeles which use water-based finishes on their hardwood floors. These finishes are not as durable as oil-based finishes so they will require more frequent maintenance. A less common request is Swedish-finish. This is a classic alcohol varnish which originates in Sweden. It has a stronger odor but is very strong and easy to clean. Homeowners comparing hardwood floor refinishing in Los Angeles and Woodland Hills often weigh sanding existing boards against installing new hardwood. The notes below explain the tradeoffs.
Why You Need To Refinish Your Hardwood Flooring
Nothing really stays the same for long, especially when it comes to hardwood floor. After 20 years, more or less, one can expect their hardwood floor to have all the imperfections it can possibly have – from discoloration to scratches to dullness and beyond. These only mean that your floor has aged and that it needs a good refinishing. If you have pets, children, frequent guests or very heavy traffic in your home, your floor may need to be refinished. The type of wood can also affect how often you may need to refinish. Certain kinds of wood like bamboo flooring can appear dirty or be more difficult to maintain a like-new appearance.
Refinishing vs. Replacement
Unless there is severe damage, there is often no need to strip up your hardwood for replacement. Solid hardwood can usually be sanded and refinished several times over its life, depending on how much wood is left above the tongue. In many cases, an expert will be able to bring your floor back to its original beauty. Refinishing hardwood flooring is not an easy job. It takes a lot of knowledge, specialized tools and expertise for optimal results. Hiring the right hardwood flooring specialist with knowledge and experience is essential to get the best result possible. Refinishing can salvage floors that homeowners often thought would need full replacement. Sometimes replacement is still the better long-term option, especially when boards are too thin to sand again or you want a wider plank and a modern color.
Does The Kind of Hardwood Affect The Refinishing Process?
The refinishing process is similar for most woods. During refinishing a very small amount of wood is sanded off the top of the wooden floor panels. So whether you have Oak, Cherry, Maple, Mahogany, or some amazing exotic combination of woods, as long as the wood panels can be sanded without affecting the integrity or structure of the floor, the floor can usually be refinished and restored. Each floor is unique. Although they may start out similarly, each floor is exposed to different levels of humidity, temperature changes, wear and tear, and structural issues. Contact Us for a free in-home estimate. We can help you compare keeping existing boards versus installing new hardwood, European white oak, laminate or luxury vinyl.
Sand · stain · finish
Typical Sanding and Refinishing Process
Solid hardwood, engineered hardwood and parquet floors can often be refinished when enough wood remains to sand. When that is the case, the job typically follows the same core steps:
Prepare the area. Furniture is moved out and the room is protected. If old carpet, linoleum or vinyl is covering original hardwood, we take it up carefully so the wood underneath is not damaged.
Sand the floor. A drum sander handles the open field of the floor, with edging and corner sanders used along walls and into corners so the surface is even right to the edges.
Clean thoroughly. The floor is vacuumed and then wiped with a tack cloth to lift fine dust before any stain or finish goes down.
Stain and finish. Stain is applied if you are changing color, followed by the coats of protective finish.
Let it cure. Allow the floor at least a day to dry before walking on it, and longer before furniture and rugs go back.
The top coat
Finish Options
The finish is what protects the wood and sets the sheen. These are the three options covered on this page; ask about the trade-offs for your floor at the estimate.
Most common
Oil-based polyurethane
The longest-lasting finish and the one found on most hardwood floors in Los Angeles. It flexes slightly as boards move, which reduces cracking. Expect a noticeable odour while it cures.
Lower odour
Water-based finish
Cures faster and smells far less than oil-based polyurethane, but is generally less durable, so it needs maintenance more often.
On request
Swedish finish
A classic alcohol-based varnish that originates in Sweden. It has a stronger odour, but it is very strong and easy to clean.
Slab homes
Can Engineered Hardwood Be Refinished?
This is the question we are asked most often in Los Angeles, and the answer is not the one most people expect. A large share of homes here sit on a concrete slab, which means the floor is almost certainly engineered hardwood rather than solid. Engineered floors can often be refinished — but how many times depends entirely on one number: the thickness of the real-wood wear layer on top.
- 2mm2mm wear layer — usually one light sanding at most, and sometimes none at all
- 4mm4mm wear layer — typically two to three refinishes across the floor’s life
- 6mm6mm wear layer — comparable to solid hardwood for refinishing purposes
Sanding through a thin wear layer exposes the core and cannot be undone, so this is worth establishing before anyone brings a sander into your house. If you still have the original paperwork, the wear layer will be on the spec sheet. If not, we can usually tell by examining an exposed edge at a floor vent or a threshold.
Two quick checks
Has Your Floor Already Been Sanded?
An older floor may have been refinished by a previous owner, which changes what is left to work with. Two quick checks you can do yourself before calling anyone:
- Look at a heating vent or a doorway threshold. Lift the vent cover and look at the cut edge of the board. You can see how much wood sits above the tongue — that is your remaining sanding depth.
- Look for exposed nail heads or a visible tongue. If either is showing at the board edges, the floor is at or near the end of what it can take.
If both checks look marginal, replacement may genuinely be the better value — and we would rather tell you that at the assessment than halfway through a sanding job.
Darker or lighter
Changing the Color of Your Floor
Refinishing is the moment to change color, and the direction matters. Going darker is straightforward. Going lighter is harder, because stain penetrates the wood and sanding back to bare timber costs you wear layer you may not be able to spare. Going from a dark walnut stain to a pale natural or white-oak look is possible on many floors but not on all of them.
Species affects the result too. Oak takes stain evenly and predictably. Maple and birch are denser and can blotch, so they often look better with a clear or very light finish than with a heavy stain. The stain is tested on an inconspicuous area of your actual floor before committing — a stain sample on someone else’s board tells you very little.
Living through it
What to Plan For
Refinishing is disruptive in a way installation is not, because it happens around your existing home rather than in an empty room. Plan for furniture to be moved out of the space entirely, for the floor to be unwalkable while coats cure, and for a noticeable odour with oil-based finishes. Water-based finishes cure faster and smell far less, but are generally less durable — which is the trade-off worth discussing before you choose.
Ask us for the specific timeline for your floor when we assess it, since the number of coats and the cure time vary by finish and by the weather that week.
On video
Hardwood Floor Restoration, Re-Sanding & Refinishing
A short clip of our hardwood floor restoration work: re-sanding and refinishing existing wood floors in Los Angeles homes. Call (818) 963-0878 for a free in-home estimate.
Hardwood Flooring Restoration & Re Sand and Refinishing Experts Los Angeles
Alan Mendelson and Glamour Flooring in Woodland Hills
Treads and risers
Hardwood Stair Refinishing
Stairs are easy to overlook, but they take some of the heaviest wear in the house, and a freshly refinished floor can make worn treads look even more tired next to it. Hardwood staircases can be sanded and finished to match a refinished floor, or replaced with new treads and risers when installing new hardwood.
Interest Free Financing
12 Month Interest Free Financing *Call for Details*(818) 963-0878Free in Home Estimates
There’s no better way to decide what flooring you want than to see different options in your own home. Glamour Flooring will come to you so you can make the best choice.Expert Installers
Hardwood installation is our core service, serving Woodland Hills, CA and the greater L.A. area. See hardwood installation.Family Business Since 2007
Licensed contractor, CSLB #1005283. Showroom at 21030 Victory Blvd, Woodland Hills.
Good questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Refinish or replace?
Unless there is severe damage, refinishing is often the better option. Where boards are too thin to sand again or water-damaged, or you want a wider plank or a new color, replacement makes sense.
Which finishes do you use?
Oil-based polyurethane (durable and widely used), water-based finishes, and on request a Swedish finish.
Can stairs be refinished too?
Stairs can be sanded and finished with the floor, or replaced when installing new hardwood. See hardwood stair installation.
Can engineered hardwood be refinished?
Often, yes. It depends on the thickness of the real-wood wear layer: a 2mm layer allows one light sanding at most, a 4mm layer typically two to three refinishes, and a 6mm layer is comparable to solid hardwood.
Can I see samples before I decide?
Call ahead and we’ll check whether a sample you like is in the showroom; we bring samples to in-home estimates.
Keep exploring
More from our hardwood showroom in Woodland Hills
- Hardwood flooring store in Woodland Hills – visit the showroom at 21030 Victory Blvd
- Solid vs. engineered hardwood flooring
- Wide plank European white oak – 7.5″ to 13″ planks
- Hardwood floor installation – slab glue-down and nail-down
- Hardwood stair treads, risers and nosing
- Flooring sale – current prices on hardwood and more
Next step
Book a Free In-Home Estimate
We will look at your floor, tell you whether it can be sanded again and how many times, and give you an honest comparison between refinishing and replacing. There is no charge and no obligation.
Call (818) 963-0878 or book an in-home assessment. Our showroom is at 21030 Victory Blvd, Woodland Hills, open Monday–Wednesday and Friday 10am–6pm, Thursday 10am–4pm and Saturday 10am–5pm, closed Sunday. We serve Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Calabasas, West Hills, Canoga Park, Sherman Oaks and the surrounding San Fernando Valley.
If the assessment shows replacement is the better call, you can browse our hardwood flooring range or read about European white oak.
Call ahead and we’ll check whether a sample you like is in the showroom; we bring samples to in-home estimates.