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We sand and refinish hardwood floors in Glenview, where many homes date back to the postwar building years, with the owner on every job and no subcontractors. Dust-controlled work, plus a free in-home estimate within 24 hours.
Big Bro Hardwood is a hardwood floor refinishing company working in Glenview, run by its owner, Dan. We sand and refinish solid and engineered wood floors in Glenview homes, bringing back floors that have gone dull, scratched, gray or marked by water. A good number of Glenview homes were built in the postwar years through the 1980s, and the oak underneath often still has life left in it once we check how deep the wear goes.
Our floor sanding and refinishing work covers every part of Glenview, from older established streets to newer developments. We’ve worked on floors in The Park, one of the village’s oldest neighborhoods built around a common park area, and in The Glen, where newer homes sit alongside offices and shopping centers on what used to be open land.
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 |
Glenview runs from houses built before 1940 to new construction after 2010, and each era brings a different finish and floor type. We check for old finishes, lead paint and veneer thickness before giving a price.
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. Put felt pads under furniture legs and lift pieces into place instead of dragging them.
Glenview homeowners live in everything from single houses to small condo buildings, and we adjust scheduling and site protection to whatever kind of home you have.
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.
Glenview sets construction hours at 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and holidays. Sanding days are scheduled to fit inside those windows.
Walking the finished floor with you is part of the job, not an afterthought. We cover cleaning products, felt pads under furniture legs and how soon rugs can return, details that matter in open-plan rooms common in Glenview’s newer builds.
Covering doorways, cabinets, vents and trim keeps dust and debris out of rooms that aren’t part of the job, which matters in Glenview’s older homes with original woodwork worth protecting. Equipment moves through tighter older layouts along a planned path.
Families with pets are common in Glenview’s established neighborhoods, so we use low-VOC water-based finishes and tell you the exact cure times before work starts, not after. Room access stays limited until the finish is ready for foot traffic.
Village rules in Glenview don’t require a permit for flooring work unless it changes the room layout or adds electrical, so most refinishing jobs can start without extra paperwork or inspection delays.
Buildings with 5 to 9 or 10 to 19 units hold hundreds of Glenview households, and their shared hallways and entries need the same protection as larger properties. Equipment stays on a planned path so it never blocks neighbors’ access.
Ready to give your hardwood floors a new life? Schedule an appointment today!
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I thought my wood floors were beyond repair. 2 days later they look brand new.Read more
Attached housing is common in parts of Glenview, and shared walls carry more sound than a detached house does. We schedule sanding inside village work hours and let you know ahead of time if equipment might be heard next door.
Most homes built between 1940 and 1969 in Glenview, close to 6,888 units, were laid with solid oak strip flooring. We check the species and the existing finish before quoting, since oak from that era usually still has wood left to sand.
The median year built in Glenview is 1977, right at the edge of the 1978 lead paint cutoff. Build year alone can’t tell us, so we check the finish and trim on-site and follow EPA RRP lead-safe practices with containment when a home falls before 1978.
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