Hear from Our Customers
Walk through a home on the Butler Chain and the wear shows up in the same places. The path from the back door to the pool. The threshold by the dock. The sunroom where afternoon light hits the same boards every day.
Hardwood floor refinishing in Windermere starts with those spots. Wet feet wear finish down at doors long before the rest of the room shows it. A fresh round of hardwood floor stain and finish gives those areas a sealed surface again, so spills and splashes wipe up instead of soaking in.
We also judge a floor on condition, not only looks. Lakefront homes can run humid, especially in rooms on the weak end of a big HVAC system, so we check the boards before anything gets sanded. If something’s off, you hear about it before the sander comes out.
And you get your color back. Plenty of floors around Windermere are 15 to 25 years old, and sun off the water doesn’t help. Hardwood floor restoration can move you toward the warm, natural, matte look people are asking for now, without replacing boards that don’t need it.
Harrington Hardwood Floors has worked on hardwood in Central Florida since 1990. Geste Harms owns the company, and hardwood is all we do. There are no tile crews and no carpet installs, and nobody learns wood on your floor.
We’re based in Oakland, in West Orange County, and we work across Orange and Seminole counties. If you’re looking for hardwood floor refinishing in Windermere, that makes us a neighbor, not a crew dispatched from across the metro. We’ve spent decades working in the same lake-area humidity and sun you live with.
We have 11 Google reviews, all five stars, and they’re specific. People mention a crew that showed up on time every day, cleaned up after itself, and matched stain on stairs, handrails and newel posts. One homeowner said her 20-year-old maple floors looked as good as when they went in. You can read them yourself. We’re certified and fully insured, and you can reach us at 407-701-2028, Monday through Friday.
It starts with a look at the floor, and you can do that part from your phone. Text us photos or set up a visit, and we’ll tell you whether you need a recoat or a full sand and refinish. If a recoat will do, we’ll say so, even though it’s the smaller job.
Before hardwood floor sanding begins, we check how much wood is left above the tongue and groove, where boards are damaged or soft, and whether moisture could be a factor near sliders, sunrooms or lake-facing walls. Then you get a written scope and price. If your Windermere community has rules about contractor hours or access, tell us up front so we can plan around them.
Next comes prep and sanding. Furniture comes out, the work area gets sealed off as well as it can be, and the floor is sanded in passes from coarse to fine so the surface comes out even, with no drum marks or waves. Gouges and gaps get filled, and damaged boards get replaced and blended in. We go over color options and check them against your wood before the full floor gets stained.
Finish goes on in coats with drying time between them. A water-based finish usually means 3 to 5 days, oil-based closer to 5 to 7, and humid days stretch both. For hardwood floor refinishing near the Butler Chain, we plan for that instead of rushing a coat. Last comes cleanup and a walk-through with you.
Ready to get started?
Hardwood floor refinishing services in Windermere come down to three kinds of work, and your floor decides which one you need. A screen and coat scuffs the old finish and adds a fresh coat. Some people call that hardwood floor resurfacing. Either way, it suits floors that look dull but aren’t worn through. A full sand and refinish takes the floor to bare wood, which is the fix for deep scratches, worn-through spots, water marks or a color change. The third kind is repair: replacing damaged boards and blending them in, plus stairs, handrails and newel posts.
Windermere homes run large, from Isleworth and Keene’s Pointe to Lake Butler Sound and the older houses near the brick streets downtown. Floors often run through several rooms and up a staircase, so color and sheen have to stay consistent the whole way. That’s the real job behind hardwood floor stain and finish, and it’s why we’d rather talk through color with you before any stain goes down. Older downtown Windermere houses can need more board repair and blending, and we handle that as part of the same job.
On cost, Orlando-area refinishing typically runs about $3 to $7 per square foot, and stairs about $25 to $85 per step. Those are market ranges, not our quote. You’ll get a written price once we’ve seen the floor.
Around Orlando, refinishing typically runs about $3 to $7 per square foot, and the average homeowner spends around $1,878. Those are market figures, not a quote from us. A bigger floor means a bigger total, but it usually brings a lower rate per square foot, because setup gets spread across more area.
What moves the number: square footage, wood species, how much repair the floor needs, stain versus a clear finish, and stairs, which run roughly $25 to $85 per step. Labor is about 80% of the cost, which is why a bid that comes in far under the others usually skips sanding steps. Send us photos of your Windermere floors and we’ll tell you what we’d need to see, then give you a written price.
Most jobs take about 3 to 5 days with a water-based finish and closer to 5 to 7 with oil-based. Staining and repairs add time, and so does humid weather, because finish dries slower when the air is wet. A home on the Butler Chain or the canals near Windermere may feel that more than a house set back from the water, so we plan for it instead of rushing a coat.
Plan on staying off the floor for the whole job and a while after, and think ahead about where pets and kids will spend those days. Rugs and heavy furniture go back last. Before you book, ask us for a specific timeline based on your finish and your rooms. That’s the honest way to schedule hardwood floor refinishing.
It depends on what the finish is doing. A screen and coat, which many people call resurfacing, works when the floor looks dull or lightly scuffed and the finish isn’t worn through to bare wood. It’s faster and costs less.
You need a full sand and refinish if you have deep scratches, worn-through spots, water or pet stains, or you want a different color. A recoat can’t fix any of that. In lake homes around Windermere, wear usually starts at the door to the pool or dock, so check there first. We’ll look at the whole floor and tell you which job you need, even when it’s the smaller one. Hardwood floor sanding is only worth paying for when the floor actually needs it.
Often, yes. Moderate water marks can sometimes be sanded out, and boards that are too far gone can be replaced and woven into the existing floor. A customer told us other contractors wanted to put in a transition piece. We blended the new boards into her hallway instead.
There are limits. Heavy warping, a very thin wear layer on engineered flooring, or moisture that’s still active means refinishing won’t hold up. The source of the water has to be fixed first. If your floor has been wet, we check moisture before we talk about hardwood floor restoration.
Yes, and it’s something our reviewers bring up. A recent review praised stain matched exactly on stairs, handrails and newel posts. In a large Windermere home, where one floor can run through several rooms and up a staircase, a mismatched stretch is the thing you’ll see every day.
We go over color options and check them against your wood before the full floor is stained. Current trends point toward warm, natural and brown tones and lower sheen, with gray and high gloss fading out. Stairs are priced apart from open floor, roughly $25 to $85 per step, because they take more hand work.
Ask how long they’ve done this and whether it’s all they do. Ask if they use subcontractors, whether they’re insured, how they handle dust, which finish they’ll use and how many days the job takes. Ask what the warranty covers and get it in writing. Then ask to see before-and-after photos and talk to past clients.
When you’re comparing a hardwood floor refinishing company in Windermere, be careful with the lowest bid, since cheap often means fewer sanding passes. Ask us the same questions. Harrington Hardwood Floors has done hardwood only since 1990, is certified and fully insured, and has 11 five-star Google reviews you can read in full. You’ll also get a written scope before any work begins.
