Floors done once, and done right.

Almost always repair. Solid hardwood can be sanded and refinished several times over its life, so a floor that looks beyond saving is usually just a floor that needs the top layer taken off. Replacement only makes sense when the wood is too thin to sand, when there's structural damage underneath, or when you want a different species or pattern. We'll tell you honestly which one you're looking at.

Yes, and often nearly invisibly. Damaged boards get woven into the existing floor rather than patched in an obvious block, then the whole area gets sanded and finished together so the repair disappears. Gaps and cupping frequently relate to moisture in the home, so we look at the cause before we chase the symptom.

Both are great in the right place. Prefinished (factory-finished) planks are extremely durable and take the whole finishing process — and its downtime — out of the project, though they need excellent subfloor prep since any imperfections telegraph through. Site-finished (unfinished) wood can be sanded perfectly flat and fully customized for species, stain, and sheen. We'll walk your space and your goals and steer you to the one that fits.

Fully insured, on every job. On licensing, here's the honest answer most contractors won't give you: Maine doesn't license flooring contractors, so anyone claiming to be a "licensed flooring contractor" in this state is stretching it. What actually protects you is insurance and a track record — Travis has been laying and finishing floors since 2006, operating as T Squared since 2014, and incorporated as T Squared Wood Floor Craft, LLC in 2026. Ask for a certificate of insurance any time and we'll send it over.

Yes, without an expiration date on it. If something isn't right because of how we did it, Travis comes back and fixes it — no argument, no invoice. That's the whole warranty, and it's the one that matters, because a floor is one guy's work and he'll own it.

What that doesn't cover is normal life: a dog's nails, a dropped cast-iron pan, a dishwasher that leaked, or a floor that never got maintained. Those are repairs, not warranty work, and we'll quote them fairly. But anything that traces back to our workmanship is on us.

The ballpark calculator on this site is free, and so is talking it through with us by phone or email. When you want a firm number, Travis comes out, measures every room, checks the subfloor, and builds the real quote with you. That visit starts at $200 depending on distance — and it comes straight off your bill if you hire us. We charge for it because a proper measure and inspection is half a day of real work, and it's the last money you spend before you know exactly what your floors will cost.

Most installs land around a week. Sanding and refinishing takes a minimum of three days for the finish alone, with most homes falling in a one-to-two-week window from start to final coat. We give you a realistic timeline in the contract before we begin.

Furniture, rugs, and anything hanging on the walls in the work area need to come out — vibration travels, and dust finds everything. We handle doors, floor vents, and shoe molding. If moving heavy pieces is a problem, say so up front and we'll work it into the plan rather than surprising you on day one.

Yes — every time, and it's written down. Before a board goes down we meter the wood and the subfloor and log the readings — moisture content of both, plus the temperature, humidity, and dew point in the house that day. If the wood and the subfloor are too far apart, or the house is nowhere near where it will sit once you're living in it, we wait. That's the whole job right there.

This is the step that gets skipped, and it's why floors gap in winter, cup in summer, or buckle a year after they were laid. Wood moves with moisture no matter who installs it. The only question is whether someone measured before committing.

Plan on roughly 5–10% over your square footage for standard runs, and more for herringbone, borders, or a room with a lot of angles, since those generate more offcuts. Ordering a little extra from the same lot is cheap insurance — matching a dye lot years later for a repair is much harder than setting a few boxes aside now.

Look at the traffic lanes. When the finish is worn through to bare wood, when water darkens the boards instead of beading, or when the surface is dull and scratched no matter how you clean it, it's time. Catching it before the wood itself starts taking damage means a lighter job and a better result.

It's one of the best returns you can get in a home. Refinishing costs a fraction of replacement, takes less time, and it's the first thing people notice when they walk in. For anyone thinking about selling, restored hardwood does more for a room than nearly any other update at the same price.

Often, yes. We set up dust barriers and isolate the work area to keep the rest of your home livable. It isn't always possible to relocate, and a pro who has your best interest in mind will plan around whatever your situation calls for.

Far less than most people expect. With modern dust collection, the vast majority ends up in a bag, and what's left gets vacuumed out. Done right, there should be very little to no leftover dust — that's what makes the smoothest final finish.

Less than you'd think — a sanding takes off a very thin layer, and the goal is always to remove the minimum needed to reach clean wood. A typical ¾" solid floor has enough thickness for several refinishes across its life. We sand to the floor's condition, not to a fixed number of passes.

Enormously. Professional belt and planetary sanders cut flat and leave no swirl; rental machines gouge and chatter in inexperienced hands, and those marks show up permanently once the finish goes on. The machine matters, but the hands running it matter more.

Odie's Oil. It's a natural hardwax oil, and Travis will bet his career on it. Instead of laying a plastic film on top of the wood, it soaks in and hardens inside the fibers — so you're looking at wood, not at a coating over wood. The grain stays open and the color has depth that a film finish flattens out.

The real argument is what happens in year eight. A film finish is a wear layer with an expiration date built in: it wears through in the traffic lanes, and when it does, the fix is sanding the whole room and starting over. That obsolescence is designed in. A natural oil floor doesn't fail that way — a worn spot gets cleaned and re-oiled by hand, in place, in an afternoon, and it blends. Maintained that way, the floor becomes an heirloom instead of a project you redo every decade.

It's also solvent-free and low odor, which matters when it's going down in a house you're living in. We'll still use other systems when a job genuinely calls for one — but this is what we put on our own floors, and it's what we'll recommend for yours.

Light foot traffic in socks is usually fine within about 24 hours. Give it several days before moving furniture back, and hold off on rugs for a couple of weeks so the finish can fully cure and breathe. You'll get exact timing for your project in writing at the end of the job.

Wide open. We make sample boards on your actual floor — same species, same sanding, same finish — so you're choosing from what the color will truly look like in your light, not from a chip in a showroom. Natural, warm browns, deep espressos, gray-toned washes, and custom blends are all on the table.

Very — but no floor is bulletproof, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What matters more is how a floor ages. A natural oil finish wears gradually and evenly, and the worn spots get re-oiled by hand without touching the rest of the room. A film finish does the opposite: it holds up beautifully until it doesn't, then fails in visible patches that can only be fixed by sanding the whole floor.

Dogs and hardwood get along fine with a little management. Keep nails trimmed, wipe up water bowl spills, and put a mat at the door where wet paws come in. Choosing a floor with visible grain and a softer sheen hides everyday scuffs far better than a dark, high-gloss floor, which shows every mark.

A maintenance recoat. We lightly abrade the existing surface and lay down fresh finish — no full sanding, no dust, usually a single day. Done on the right schedule, before wear reaches the wood itself, it can keep a floor going indefinitely and saves you the cost of a full refinish.

Treat it like the fine furniture it is: clean up spills immediately, sweep and dust-mop with minimal moisture, keep pets' nails trimmed, and give it a maintenance recoat before wear ever reaches the wood. Done on schedule, a good floor can last a lifetime. We've written the specifics out by finish type — see the floor care guide.