The short answer
Three to five days for most jobs, from clearing the rooms to the last coat. Then the finish keeps curing: socks on the floor after about a day with a water-based finish, furniture back at four or five days, rugs after two to three weeks.
The four stages
The order never changes. How many days it takes depends on the square footage, the stain, and how many coats the floor gets.
- 01 Clear and seal — furniture out, vents taped, shoe molding pulled, doorways zipped off from the rest of the house
- 02 Sand — a coarse pass to take the old finish off, two finer passes to take out the scratches, edges and closets by hand
- 03 Color — samples on your own floor in your own light, then stain applied and wiped back one room at a time
- 04 Coat and cure — two or three coats of finish, buffed between, and the cure dates in writing before the last machine leaves
What makes it take longer
More rooms and stairs add days; stair treads and edges are sanded by hand. Stain adds drying time before the first coat can go on. Oil-based finish dries and cures far slower than water-based — weeks to fully cure instead of days.
Weather matters too. Finish dries slower in humid air, so a July job in Oklahoma can need more time between coats than the same floor in October. And if bad boards turn up once the floor is open, they are replaced before sanding — better then than after.
How to get the house ready
A few things before the crew arrives keep the schedule where it was quoted:
- Empty the rooms being done — furniture, rugs, and anything on the floor of the closets
- Take down pictures and shelves on the walls of those rooms; sanding vibrates the house
- Plan where pets and kids will be: a fresh coat of finish holds every paw print
- With an oil-based finish, gas pilot lights near the work are turned off while it dries — the fumes are flammable
- Keep the heat or air running at normal settings; finish cures best in a steady house
Can you stay in the house?
On most refinishing jobs, yes. The sanders run into a sealed vacuum, so the dust stays out of your vents and cabinets, and the work area is zipped off. The nights the finish goes down are the exception, and you know which nights those are before the job starts — not the morning of.
Oil-based finish smells strongly for several days. With water-based it is far milder, which is one more reason people choose it.
After the last coat
A finish that is dry is not yet cured, and this is where most new floors get hurt. With a water-based finish:
- Socks only for about the first day
- Furniture back at four or five days — lift it, never drag it, and put felt pads under the legs
- Rugs stay off for two to three weeks; a rug on an uncured finish leaves its outline behind
- No wet mopping while the finish cures — a dry microfiber mop is enough