The floors other contractors turn away. We measure your wear layer with a digital caliper — free — then tell you honestly whether it can be sanded, recoated, or should be left alone.
If you own engineered hardwood in Maryland, you've probably heard it: the finish is worn, the scratches are showing, and every contractor you call either says no or quotes a full replacement. Most refuse any wear layer under 2mm because their sanding sequence removes too much material per pass to risk it.
We work differently. Engineered floors are refinishable when you know exactly how much wear layer remains and exactly how much each grit removes per pass — we've published our field numbers and have successfully refinished wear layers in the 1.6–2mm range that other companies walked away from.
It starts with a measurement, not an opinion. We check your actual remaining wear layer with a digital caliper at an exposed edge (floor vent or threshold), free, during the estimate.
The honest decision table we use in the field — no upselling a full sand onto a floor that can't take it, no replacing a floor that has life left:
| Remaining wear layer | What's safe | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Under 0.8mm | Screen & recoat only | Finish refresh — removes surface scratches and dullness, no color change |
| 0.8mm – 2mm | One careful sanding | Full refinish possible with controlled removal rates — the zone most contractors refuse |
| 2mm – 3mm | One full refinish | Sand once now; screen & recoat maintenance afterward extends life for years |
| 4mm – 6mm | Two to three sandings | Premium engineered — treat it like solid hardwood over its lifetime |
Not sure what you have? A half-inch engineered plank can carry anywhere from a 1.6mm budget veneer to a 6mm premium wear layer — the only way to know is to measure.
We measure your actual remaining wear layer before quoting — the quote reflects what your floor can take, not a guess.
We track how much each grit removes per pass, which is what makes thin-wear-layer refinishing safe instead of reckless.
If sanding isn't safe, we say so and quote a screen & recoat instead — a finish refresh at a lower cost, not a forced replacement.
Our technical guides on wear layers, abrasives, and engineered sanding are public — read exactly how we work before we arrive.
The same field guides our crew works from — published for homeowners and other pros: