Getting there
Eden Prairie is about 50 miles from Cokato. We take Highway 12 east, then I-494 south to the Highway 212 or Highway 5 exits, depending on where in the city the house sits. Jobs here get full days or multi-day blocks.
Two-stories, walkouts and the builder-grade oak that came with them
The subdivisions that make up most of Eden Prairie were built in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. The typical house is a two-story or a walkout with 2 1/4 inch or 3 1/4 inch red oak on the main level, site-finished at the time with an oil-based polyurethane that has ambered to orange. Some of the later builds got prefinished oak or maple with micro-bevels. The kitchen and the path to the deck door are worn, the dining room looks almost new, and the whole thing reads as dated. A full sand fixes all of that at once. We take the floor to bare wood, which removes the orange finish and the wear, flatten the boards and apply a stain the owner picks from samples we lay on the sanded floor. Red oak takes stain predictably, so the range runs from near-natural under a clear water-based finish through warm browns to dark tones. The one thing we steer people away from is trying to make red oak gray. The pink undertone fights it, and the result tends to look muddy.
The lower level, in-floor heat and engineered planks
Walkouts are everywhere in Eden Prairie, and the lower level is where the question of solid versus engineered comes up. Below grade, on a slab or over in-floor heat, engineered hardwood is the right product. It stays flat through the winter when forced-air heat pulls indoor humidity under 25 percent, and it does not cup when the lower level runs damp in spring. We match the engineered face to the solid floor upstairs in species, width and finish so the stair is the only place you can tell the two apart. Houses around Bearpath and the newer ones near Riley Lake and Bryant Lake tend to come to us either as new construction with a builder or as a complete redo where the owner wants wide plank white oak on every level. In those we run engineered throughout and finish on site, which lets the stair treads, the main floor and the lower level share one color.
Replacement versus refinishing in Eden Prairie
Not every 1990s floor should be refinished. Thin prefinished maple with deep gouges, floors that were installed over a particleboard underlayment, and floors where the owner wants a different width or species are all better replaced. We say that plainly at the estimate. Refinishing is less disruptive and costs less than replacement, and when it will get you the floor you want we recommend it. When it will not, we quote the replacement and show you what the difference buys.
Refinishing hardwood floors in Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie is refinishing country for us, and our hardwood floor refinishing page lays out the full process for a typical 1990s red oak floor, from furniture out to furniture back. How a refinish runs, start to finish.
Around Eden Prairie
- Bearpath
- Bryant Lake
- Riley Lake
- Highway 212
- I-494
Hardwood services we bring to Eden Prairie
- Floor refinishing
- Stain color matching
- Engineered Hardwood Install
- Floor replacement
- Floor Installation
- Buff and coat
Every hardwood service, on one page.
Questions from Eden Prairie homeowners
Our 1995 oak floor is orange. Can it be sanded and stained something modern?
Yes, and it is the most common job we do in Eden Prairie. The orange is the old oil-based finish and it comes off in the sanding. Bare red oak then takes most stain colors evenly. We lay three or four samples on the sanded floor so you choose in your own light, then stain and apply three coats.
Can we put the same hardwood in our walkout basement as upstairs?
The same look, yes. The same product, no. Below grade we install engineered hardwood, which handles slab moisture and in-floor heat without cupping. It comes with a white oak or red oak face in the same widths as the floor upstairs, and we can finish both on site in one color so the two levels match.
How long will a full sand and stain keep us out of the kitchen?
Plan on roughly a week for a main floor that includes the kitchen. Sanding, stain and three coats take most of that, and the finish needs cure time before furniture and appliances come back. We sequence the kitchen so the refrigerator is out for the shortest stretch possible and give you the dates before we start.
Is it cheaper to refinish our old floor or put in new wide plank?
Refinishing is less expensive than replacement in almost every case, and for a sound 1990s oak floor it gets you a result that looks new. Replacement makes sense when you want a different width or species, when the existing floor is too thin or damaged, or when a remodel changes the layout enough that patching would show.
Nearby
We also work in Chanhassen, Minnetonka and Edina. Everywhere we work.