Red oak floors with heavy pet damage, fully sanded and refinished
Red oak floors in a vacant Lakeville home had extensive pet scratches and deep staining from years of dog traffic — a full sand and refinish brought them back to a clean, market-ready condition with a fresh satin finish.
Project Overview
Service Type
Home Type
Floor Type
Wood Species
Date Completed
Before Photos
Red oak hardwood floors with extensive dog scratches, a dull orange-tinted finish, and visible staining throughout high-traffic areas.
After Photos
Refinished red oak hardwood floors with a smooth, even tone and a durable satin sheen — consistent throughout and free of visible wear or staining.
About the project
The homeowner's real estate agent noticed that the floors in this vacant Lakeville property were going to be a problem at listing. Two large dogs had left their mark — scratches ran across most of the surface, and the existing finish had taken on the orange cast common to red oak floors from that era. The goal was to get the floors into a condition that wouldn't stop buyers at the door.
After taking a closer look, we found the damage was more widespread than a spot repair could address. The scratches were deep, the staining was significant in several areas, and the finish throughout the home had aged out. The wood itself still had good material left in it — it just needed a full reset.
Based on that, we recommended a full sand and refinish. A buff and coat would have refreshed the surface sheen but left the scratches, staining, and color intact. To actually change what the floors looked like, we needed to sand down to bare wood and start fresh with a new finish system.
The result was a clean, consistent floor throughout — no visible scratches, no staining, and an even satin finish that matched the tone of newly installed red oak rather than a floor that had been in place for thirty years. The orange cast was gone. The wear patterns were gone. The floors looked like they belonged in a house someone was moving into, not out of.
Finish & Materials
From the customer
"They refinished my floor and they look like a new installed floor. Absolutely beautiful and great to work with."
This video covers a full sand and refinish on 2¼-inch red oak floors in a vacant Lakeville home that had sustained heavy pet damage. The viewer will see the before condition — scratches, staining, and an aged orange finish — alongside the finished result after sanding to bare wood and applying a water-based satin system. It's a good example of how much material is still left in a floor that looks past its useful life.
When we got here, the first thing you noticed was the scratching. The homeowners had two large dogs, and those dogs had basically used the floors as a canvas. Scratches everywhere, some staining, and that orange-gold tone that a lot of red oak floors from the nineties pick up over time.
The real estate agent called us in because this was going on the market, and the floors were going to be the first thing buyers noticed — and not in a good way.
We looked at a buff and coat first, like we always do. But with this much surface damage, that wasn't going to cut it. The scratches were too deep, the staining was too visible. The only way to actually fix it was to sand down to bare wood and start over.
So that's what we did. We sanded the whole floor, pulled up thirty years of finish and damage, and came back with a fresh coat of water-based finish — satin sheen, which sits right in the middle between matte and semi-gloss. It's easy to maintain, and it doesn't pick up every smudge.
What you're looking at now is the same red oak that was always in this house. We just got back to it. The scratches are gone, the staining is gone, and the color is even throughout. This is a floor a buyer walks in and doesn't think twice about — which is exactly the point.