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Owner-operated, dustless hardwood floor sanding and refinishing, with the owner on every job and no subcontractors. Free in-home estimate within 24 hours, or send photos of your floor for a rough number first.
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Big Bro Hardwood is a hardwood floor refinishing company in Chicago, IL, run by its owner and specializing in floor sanding. We sand and refinish hardwood and engineered wood floors in homes and condos across the city and suburbs, bringing back floors that are dull, scratched, gray or water-damaged.
Our hardwood floor sanding services cover every Chicago neighborhood.
Sanding and finishing most oak floors over 1,000 sq ft starts at $3–$4 per sq ft, so 1,000 sq ft of oak starts at about $3,000 to $4,000. Nationally, the cost to refinish hardwood floors runs $3–$8 per sq ft. Our prices stay affordable and competitive without cutting corners: Dan (Donatas), the owner, works on every job and treats each floor the way he would treat his own.
| Floor or Service | Starting Price* |
|---|---|
| Full Sand & Refinish, Oak (1,000+ sq ft) | $3.0–$4.0 / sq ft |
| Mid-Size Floors, Oak (300–1,000 sq ft) | $5.0–$7.0 / sq ft |
| Small Areas (≤300 sq ft), $1,500 Project Minimum | $8–$10 / sq ft |
| Prefinished / Aluminum-Oxide Floors | $7.0–$8.0 / sq ft |
| Maple / Exotic, Clear Coat | $4.4–$5.0 / sq ft |
| Maple / Exotic, Color Change | $5.25–$6.0 / sq ft |
| Sandless Refinishing (Buff & Recoat), on Its Own or With Other Work | $1.50–$2 / sq ft |
| Color Change on Oak | Add $1–$2 / sq ft |
| Third Coat of Finish, Whole Floor | Add $1 / sq ft |
*Starting ranges for our professional hardwood floor refinishing service, with labor and standard finish included. Every quote is itemized line by line, so it is easy to compare with other local hardwood floor refinishers, and carpet removal is its own line: ask which prep you can safely do yourself. For a rough number, try our floor refinishing cost calculator or book a free hardwood floor estimate.
Add-ons:
$1.75–$2.00 / sq ft
Wax finish removal (older floors)
$80–$100 / tread
Stairs (treads only)
Per inspection
Full staircase / handrails & balusters
Most floors can be saved with hardwood floor repair and refinishing. If you’re deciding whether to refinish or replace hardwood floors, keeping your floor is usually the more affordable choice: installation labor alone runs $3.00–$9.50/sq ft, before the new wood and $1–$3/sq ft to remove the old floor.
| What You See on Your Floor | What It Usually Needs | How Often |
|---|---|---|
| Dull finish or light scratches, no bare or gray wood | Buff & recoat (sandless), also called screen and recoat | Every 3 to 7 years |
| Deep scratches, gray or worn spots, or you want a new color | Full sanding down to bare wood and new finish coats | Every 7 to 10 years |
| A few cracked or loose boards, or marks that soaked in deep | Board replacement as part of the refinishing job | As needed |
| Nail heads or tongues showing, boards cupped through or rotted | A new hardwood flooring installation; we tell you honestly when a floor can’t take another sand | Not applicable |
Ready to give your hardwood floors a new life? Schedule an appointment today!
contact big bro hardwoodFinishing and refinishing hardwood floors in Chicago often means old finishes, thin oak, lead paint or concrete slabs, and each can add steps, cost or days. We check for all of them before quoting.
You can usually stay home during the work. Up to about 300 sq ft takes 1 to 2 days, and a one-day refinish may be possible. About 1,000 sq ft takes 3 to 4 days, since each coat must dry before the next.
Before Day 1: Estimate and Inspection
We measure the floor, check wear, damage, loose boards and squeaks, and go over color, sheen and what’s included. Buying a home? We can do a free estimate before you close, so the floors are done before the furniture moves in.
Day 1: Protection and Rough Sanding
We cover walls, cabinets and transitions and run an Atomic Dust Containment System with HEPA-filtered Festool vacuums, which captures 95% or more of the dust at the source, though edges and corners always leave some fine residue. Professional floor sanding starts in a controlled grit sequence across the field. Sanding is loud, so plan work-from-home days around it.
Day 2: Fine Sanding and Repairs
We detail edges and corners so the whole room looks even, fix damaged boards and small gaps, and clean the surface so color takes evenly.
Day 3: Stain
After hardwood floor sanding, we test stains right on your floor and apply the color you pick. On red oak, lighter browns bring out the red and darker colors show scratches more easily, and a perfect match with older or discontinued wood isn’t always possible. Without a color change, this day goes to finish coats.
Day 4: Finish Coats
We apply 2 coats of finish as standard, or 3 if you choose the extra coat. Our low-VOC water-based finishes give off far fewer fumes than oil-based polyurethane, which often means planning how long to stay out of the house after refinishing. Bona (GREENGUARD Gold) and Loba (EMICODE EC1) products are safe for families and pets once cured.
After the Last Coat: Walkthrough and Moving Back In
We walk the floor with you, do touch-ups and leave care instructions: knowing how to maintain hardwood floors keeps the new finish looking good longer. Light foot traffic is usually fine after about 24 hours, and pets can come back after 24 to 48 hours. Furniture goes back after 3 to 5 days and rugs after 5 to 7 days, because how long polyurethane takes to dry sets the pace for each stage.
Chicago condo and apartment buildings each set their own rules for contractors, and we plan around them before the first day of work.
Our professional wood floor refinishing crew is led by Dan, the owner, with Valdas (20+ years in hardwood flooring) and Slavek (37 years of stair and finish carpentry). We follow NWFA technical guidelines, our finish carries a 5-year warranty against peeling, and more than 80% of new clients come through referrals.
Before scheduling, we get your building’s contractor rules: approved days, work hours and quiet hours. In one 25th-floor downtown condo, work was allowed only from 9 AM to 4 PM.
We are fully insured and send the certificate of insurance your management asks for.
We book the elevator and loading times the building requires, since every tool and every bag of debris goes through them.
Hallways and elevators are covered before we bring anything in, and our dust-control process is documented in writing.
Some buildings give our crew a parking pass; at others we find and pay for parking ourselves. That is one reason downtown jobs are priced at the in-home estimate.
Chicago’s noise code bars power tools in construction and repair work between 8 PM and 8 AM within 600 feet of homes, so sanding always happens in daytime hours.
1,750 sq ft of red oak in a 23rd-floor downtown Chicago condo, sanded, stained with a custom Bona White and Fruitwood blend and sealed with two coats of Loba Invisible Protect. The lighter blend keeps the red oak from reading orange under the condo's large windows. Within the building's elevator windows and access rules, the job took 5 days.
Really happy with the work Big Bro Hardwood did. Reasonably priced and quick scheduling! Would definitely recommend!Read more
Any time of year works. Chicago swings from dry, heated winters to humid summers near the lake, and wood moves with it, so we keep the rooms at 60–80°F and 35–55% relative humidity through sanding and curing.
Work usually starts 2 to 4 weeks after the estimate, depending on our schedule. Shorter jobs like a buff and recoat (1–2 days) can sometimes fit in sooner.
Yes. Photos of your floor give us enough for a rough number. The exact price comes from the free in-home estimate, where we check the wear layer, damage and the old finish more closely.
Tell us about your floors and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.
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