I pulled up carpet in our new house and refinished that hardwood underneath. There are holes from staples and that stuff, but they aren't that noticeable. They used filler on the larger ones, but it really blends in. We did a medium stain (early american). What condition are the other hardwoods in? Refinishing them all at once would be ideal.

@kaylie: the other floors are in good shape. Some scratches (I have a big dog) and a few little divots from someone's bad high heels. Nothing very noticeable but there if you look.

thank you for your response!

We had carpet over wood floors in our house. We have not refinished the floors yet, but I don't notice the little holes from the staples and tack strips unless I specifically look for them. It is certainly nonsense that you can only stain your floors really dark, and dark floors are starting to trend out too. I would recommend that you refinish the floors first, then find a close colored filler for the holes (and if you can't get an exact match I would err toward slightly darker rather than slightly lighter). If the floors have a little bit of age to them anyway (we have varying gaps between boards, etc), it all just becomes part of the character.

When I hear someone recount something that makes no sense, I generally figure that someone misspoke or didn't hear correctly. Whenever I see huge variations (3x) in price quotes, I generally figure someone made a mistake. Maybe the third quote will clear things up.

Whether wood can be refinished depends on the type of floor and condition. Since you're selling, and already having work done in the house, I'd be inclined to have all the floors redone unless the finisher can match it 90%. If there's any doubt, do it all. This assumes you know what prospective buyers are going to want. I usually recommend the opposite when people are living in the house. Colors and preferences here are all over the place. Usually it seems foolish to upend residents and spend their money when there's a good likelihood the next person won't like their choice, but your situation sounds different since you're already having work done. The only warnings I have about sanding painted floors are that you may find some cosmetic damage and you may end up with paint residual in some cracks.

Thank you for the comments above! I tried editing my original post (Houzz gave me an error) to clarify something: the $6k quote is for completely replacing the wooden floors in the FR (due to the holes issue), and the $2k quote is for sanding and refinishing. So the higher cost would give me a completely new floor in that room.

@Johnson: I was wondering about paint in the cracks. I'm also wondering what we might find when we pull up the carpet, and if there's a reason that someone decided to paint and then carpet over the floor. That was done before we bought the house, which was 24 years ago! We replaced the carpet a long time ago, which is why I knew there was a painted wood floor below.

Thanks all!

I think the paint in the cracks would be cool. The scars are character marks. Anyone who doesn't like character doesn't appreciate a real wood floor. They can get 8"+ engineered and have a uniform floor.

Someone above said they would refinish and then fill the holes. I don't think that would work, but perhaps my misunderstood.

If you're selling I'd do the least expensive which would be to replace the carpet!

@cp: I understand what you're saying. Unfortunately the carpet runs down the stairs and through the whole basement, and the carpet on the stairs going up to the 2nd floor is different than the carpet in the FR. Right now when you're standing in the entry you see hardwood, tile, and two different kinds of carpet, and I'm hoping that making the FR and entry floors match the kitchen, DR, and LR floors helps make things look more uniform.

Right now when you're standing in the entry you see hardwood, tile, and two different kinds of carpet,

Unless the carpet is really old and/or in bad shape (or just plain ugly), that’s not a good enough reason—in my opinion—to mess with the flooring in the LR. You might be able to get away with just a good cleaning—professionally done, of course.

Btw, how old is this house? Would you mind sharing a few photos of the flooring in order to, perhaps, help us help you better?

Hi Sammy: how old is the house? Well, it was built in the late 1950s! Previous owners gutted it and added the 2nd floor in the 1990s. We gutted it and did an addition in 2009 (but didn't touch the FR or entry.) So, it's many ages. Not sure when the wood floor in question was installed. At work so no pics with me; I'll take some when I'm home.

If the tile is nice and neutral I think I'd just leave the entry alone. It seems like tile is a much better entry material than the wood. I do think fixing the wood flooring with sanding and finishing it and then filling the holes with matching wood putty color would be the best choice.

@lyfia: I agree that tile makes for a better entry, especially in my climate. However, my tile is the dreaded 'd' word - dated.

@Sammy: here are some pictures -- the family room carpet, entry, and living room. (And my dog, the cutest part of the house. :) ) Second pic is close up of the painted floor under the carpet. Looks like it's pretty heavily painted.

And here's the tile in the back hall, powder room and mudroom -- yet another look. I like this tile and it's staying for sure, but I'm not going to do this in the front hall. The tile was on the high end (for me) and the labor was high due to the pattern.

The wear on the finish of the step really shows up in this picture (funny how I've been able to ignore that IRL.) Makes me think I should probably have all the wooden floors redone.