Good Questions: Should I Refinish My Floors?

Hello AT,

My rental apartment was built in the 1980 with the ubiquitous "wood parquet" floors.

The landlord was to paint the walls and refinish the floors before I moved in. They didn't get around to it and have offered to refinish the floors if I move everything out for a few days. Pretty much out of the question to move for a few days, I have lots of heavy stuff...

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The floors could be worse, some areas have worn polyurethane, an occasional splinter. Truth is, they look so ugly, cheap, and always dingy and dirty. So even if I do move out and let the landlord hire their refinisher, I'd be stuck with cleaner version of these ugly wood veneer tiles.

If I owned the apartment I would strip the floors and stain them in Special Walnut. I used the dark stain on the wood floors in an apartment that I owned and love the effect.

I have a Persian 9 x 12 " rug which covers the living area but don't like the idea of scatter rugs. (I'm also allergic to dust mites and need to avoid textiles).

Other than the floor, low ceiling, and cheap boxy sheet rock walls with visible taped seams, my apartment's not bad.

Any suggestions?? Patricia

Dear Patricia,

We have these tiles as well and - believe me - they are not so bad when they are cleaned up with a new coat of poly. We would go for it. And, if you can get the landlord to use a darker toned poly to get a bit closer to the walnut stain you like.

Anyone else??

Comments (2)

While I agree wholeheartedly on the interior design improvements suggested, the advice is a little off on what the tenants rights are regarding having his floors redone and walls repainted. Here in NYC the landlord is required to repaint the walls and refinish the floors every 3 years, or less is the condition has deteriorated through no fault of the tenant. This refinshing DOES NOT require the tenant to remove all his funiture, the landlord is lying to you as a scare tactic to avoid paying for the required work. Not only do you not have to move all you furniture out, you can have the floor refinisher move the furniture room to room to do the work at the expense of the landlord. Many tenants are elderly or disabled and should not have to pay someone to do this work.

I you do decide to pay for it your self, save the reciepts and send a copy of it to your landlord and request a rent reduction for that amount. I know many tenats so bold as to actually not pay that amount of the rent and just attach the reciept. That is a shortcut as you are supposed to request the rent reduction, but those tenats have been successful as the extra time and effort the landlord would have to go through to force the tenant to submit proper paper work is not worth it as it would just add more cost onto something the landlord will definetly have to pay for.

Lots of free tenants rights groups can help you out with this. The landlord is getting free money in his pocket every time he does not have to provide a service he is required to provide because he bamboozled a tentat into doing for him. Technically this could even be criminal fraud if you could prove he knew that what he said was false.

Every city and community has different laws, but almost all have tenant rights groups to help you, and most are similiar to NYC.

is it possible to sand and paint parquet floors using floor or porch paint? i have the exact floors pictured at the top of the chain and they are dirty and worn. i am not a fan of the ultra-glossy look and instead prefer a something more rustic, however price is an option. i have sanded and painted old wood plank floors myself and love the look.

if anyone has painted parquet successfully and has photos/advice i would be grateful. thanks.