Repair, refinish or replace your floors?

Scratches, soft spots or worn carpet? Here is how to choose between a fix and a new floor.

Quick answer

Fix small spots. Refinish worn wood. Replace when repairs top half the price of new.

HomeAdvisor's rule: if repairs cost more than 50%^[1] of a new floor, replace it. A carpet fix is about $210^[1].

Floors wear out slowly. One day you notice the carpet looks flat, or the boards creak more than they used to.

Not every worn floor needs to go. Here is how to tell what yours needs.

Signs your floor needs help

• Soft or bouncy spots. The subfloor below may be wet or weak.
• Water stains or swelling. Laminate and wood can swell when wet.
• Cracked or loose tiles. One or two can often be swapped.
• Flat, stained carpet. Carpet wears out faster than any other floor.
• Deep scratches in wood. Wood can often be sanded and sealed again.

How long floors last

Source: InterNACHI^[2]. Pets, kids, sun and water all shorten these.

Repair, refinish or replace?

Refinishing wood costs $3.00/sq ft to $8.00/sq ft^[1] per square foot. For HomeAdvisor's 320 sq ft example room, that is $960 to $2,560. A new floor in that room is about $4,000^[1].

Safety with old floors

• Asbestos: you can't tell by looking. If in doubt, the EPA says treat it as if it has asbestos and leave it alone^[3].
• Do not sand or scrape old vinyl tiles or their backing. Do not use a power stripper on them.
• Cover it up. The EPA says new floor can often go right over old asbestos flooring.
• New laminate: look for the TSCA Title VI label. It shows the wood core meets the U.S. formaldehyde rule^[4].

Ready to price it? Try the flooring calculator or read the full flooring cost guide.

Example: a worn wood floor

Imagine a living room with old wood floors. The room is pretend, but the prices come from HomeAdvisor.

The room is 320 sq ft^[1]. It has real wood floors that look dull and scratched. They are not soft or loose.

A refinish costs $3.00/sq ft to $8.00/sq ft^[1]. For this room, that is $960 to $2,560. A new floor in a room this size is about $4,000^[1].

So refinishing wins here. Wood floors can last 100+ years^[2]. If the boards were soft from water, a new floor would be the safer pick.

Floor checks you can do yourself

• Walk the room slowly. Note any soft or bouncy spots.
• Look for gaps, cupping or boards that curl up at the edges.
• Check near tubs, sinks and doors for water stains.
• Find out how old the floor is, if you can.

What to ask the installer

• Can this floor be fixed or refinished?
• Is the subfloor under it still good?
• What does a fix cost, and what does a new floor cost?
• Could the old floor hold asbestos? Should it be tested?

Florida notes

Ask your installer which floors handle damp air and wet feet well in your rooms. In older homes, ask about asbestos before anyone pulls up old tiles^[3].

Mistakes to avoid

• Covering up a soft spot. A new floor over a bad subfloor will fail. Subfloor work runs $3.00/sq ft to $10.00/sq ft.
• Sanding old tiles. They may hold asbestos. Get them tested first.
• Replacing wood that only looks tired. A refinish may be all it needs.
• Forgetting a cushion. HomeAdvisor suggests keeping about 15% extra for surprises.

The fifty-percent rule, in plain words

HomeAdvisor gives a simple test. If fixing a floor costs more than 50%^[1] of a new one, replacing it is often the better deal.

Here is how to use it. Get a price to fix. Get a price for new. Divide the fix price by the new price. If the answer is more than one half, lean toward new.

Carpet is a good place to try it. A typical carpet repair is about $210^[1]. Carpet itself lasts about 8 to 10 years^[2].

Fix options by floor type

• Carpet: a patch or a stretch can fix a stain or a ripple.
• Hardwood: sand and refinish, or swap only the bad boards.
• Laminate and vinyl plank: a pro can often swap one damaged plank.
• Tile: a cracked tile can be cut out and replaced, if you have a spare.

Keep a few spare planks or tiles when you put in a new floor. They make later fixes much easier.

Ask the pro to match color and grain before they start. A patch that does not match can bug you for years, and then a full refinish or a new room of floor may be the better buy.