Professional Floor Sanding in Reigate — Common Questions Answered
Reigate is one of our most active areas for wood floor sanding and restoration work. From Victorian terraces in the town centre to larger detached homes out towards Reigate Hill and Redhill, we work on a wide variety of properties and floor types across the area. These are the questions we get asked most often.
Is My Floor Suitable for Sanding?
Most solid wood floors can be sanded multiple times over their lifetime, provided there’s enough thickness left in the wear layer. Solid hardwood boards — oak, pine, ash, walnut — are generally excellent candidates. Engineered wood floors can also be sanded, but the number of times depends on the thickness of the top veneer layer, so it’s worth checking before proceeding.
Floors that have been sanded many times previously may be getting close to the limit, particularly where boards have thinned noticeably around fixings. We’ll assess this during a site visit and give you an honest answer.
Parquet floors — which are common in Reigate properties built between the 1930s and 1970s — are very well suited to restoration. Many have been covered under carpet for decades and come up beautifully once exposed and properly sanded.
How Much Will It Cost?
Pricing depends on the size of the floor, its condition, the finish you choose, and whether any repair work is needed. As a general guide for the Reigate area, professional sanding and finishing currently runs at approximately £25 to £45 per square metre for straight-run boards, with parquet and more complex floors at the higher end of the range.
For a full breakdown of what affects the price and what to expect at different floor sizes, our 2026 guide to wood floor sanding costs in Surrey covers this in detail.
How Long Does the Job Take?
For a typical room in a Reigate property — say a living room or kitchen of around 20 to 30 square metres — sanding and finishing usually takes one to two days. This includes the sanding itself, any repairs or gap filling, and two to three coats of finish with drying time between each.
Larger areas, floors in poor condition, or rooms requiring significant repair work will take longer. We’ll always give you a realistic timescale before we start.
Hallways and stairs are often done at the same time as an adjacent room and add half a day to a day depending on length and complexity.
How Dusty Will It Be?
This is one of the most common concerns, particularly in occupied homes. We use professional dust-free sanding equipment with vacuum extraction built into the machines, which captures the vast majority of dust at source rather than letting it circulate through the property.
It’s not entirely dust-free — that’s an honest point worth making — but it’s a very significant improvement over older equipment or hired domestic machines. We recommend closing doors to adjacent rooms and, where possible, moving soft furnishings out of the space being worked on. Most of our Reigate clients find the disruption is far less than they expected.
Do I Need to Move Everything Out?
Yes — the room needs to be clear of furniture, rugs, and loose items before we arrive. This includes lifting any carpet or underlay if that hasn’t already been done.
For larger pieces of furniture that are difficult to move, it’s worth discussing this with us in advance. In some cases we can work around fixed items, but generally a clear room gives the best result and avoids any risk of damage to your belongings.
What Finish Should I Choose?
The three main options are lacquer, oil, and hardwax oil. Each has different characteristics in terms of appearance, durability, and how much maintenance they need going forward.
In brief:
- Lacquer is the most hardwearing and lowest maintenance day to day — a good choice for hallways, kitchens, and family homes
- Oil gives the most natural look and feel, with the ability to spot-repair scratches without resanding — popular with homeowners who want a traditional or characterful finish
- Hardwax oil sits between the two — good durability with a warm, natural appearance and easier maintenance than traditional oil
We have a full guide to the differences between lacquer, oil, and hardwax oil finishes if you’d like to read more before deciding. We’ll also bring samples to your site visit so you can see how each option looks on your particular floor type.
Can You Match the Existing Colour?
If you’re sanding part of a floor — for example, replacing a section of damaged boards in one room while leaving an adjoining area untouched — an exact colour match straight away isn’t always achievable. Freshly sanded wood looks different to a floor that’s had years of light and use, and stains can vary slightly between batches.
That said, we can get very close using stains and tinted finishes, and floors do even out over time as the new section ages. If matching is important to you, we’ll discuss the options and manage expectations honestly before work begins.
For whole-floor sanding projects, colour consistency isn’t an issue.
My Floor Has Some Damaged or Rotten Boards — Can They Be Replaced?
Yes, in most cases. Isolated damaged boards can be lifted and replaced before sanding begins. We keep a stock of reclaimed and new timber in common species, and for less common woods we can usually source a match.
If the damage is extensive — for example, where there’s been a long-standing leak — the subfloor may also need attention before the new boards go down. We’ll flag anything like this during the assessment.
Is There a Minimum Job Size?
We do have a minimum charge that reflects the time and set-up involved in any job, broadly equivalent to around 20 to 25 square metres of work. Very small standalone jobs — a single small bedroom, for instance — may not be economical on their own, but combining them with other rooms in the same visit usually makes sense.
If you’re unsure whether your project is large enough to be worthwhile, just get in touch and we’ll give you a straightforward answer.
How Do I Look After the Floor Afterwards?
The most important thing in the first few weeks is to let the finish cure fully before putting it under heavy use. After that, the maintenance routine depends on the finish applied — lacquered floors need very little beyond regular sweeping and occasional damp mopping, while oiled floors benefit from a periodic maintenance coat.
We give all our clients specific aftercare guidance when the job is complete, and we’re always happy to answer questions further down the line.
Why Choose Surrey Wood Floor Sanding?
We’re a local company that works across Reigate, Redhill, and the wider Surrey area. We use professional-grade equipment and quality finishes, and we give honest assessments rather than recommending more work than a floor actually needs.
Every job gets a free site visit and a clear, itemised quote before work begins — no vague estimates, no hidden extras.
Get in touch today to arrange your free assessment. We cover Reigate, Redhill, Dorking, Horley, Oxted, and the surrounding areas across Surrey and South London.