A house for sale by an investor who has at least a couple dozen properties, gave us a very quick viewing. As we entered the living room to exit the home they told us if we wanted to refinish the wood floors it would be easy to sand the painted floor down to the original hardwood. The house was built in 1940. With an investor worth a million or two dollars why would they paint the living room floor some dark brown color? A house next to us got their wood floors refinished for under $1000 on the wood floors. Actually they were using the house as a partial primary home. They may have chosen the paint instead to suit their needs but they knew 100% they would eventually sell it and they acquired in in late 2018. The cost of paint vs. wood finish should not have remotely been a cost issue. We don't even remember what kind of paint they used as we were exiting so they could take a phone call. Thanks.
2021-03-29T17:44:34Z
Yes maybe a penny pincher but they always install new windows and always put a chain link fence around each yard and other expenses which other homes for sale might not have. Shiny wood floors or laminate sure looks better than dark brown paint. And yes it may have been painted before they bought it.
A Hunch2021-03-29T17:28:04Z
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Because the investor got the house with the floors painted and knows that it's not a simple fix to sand the floors down. -- If the floors have never been replaced but were sanded/maintained over the lifetime, they probably can't be sanded anymore.
There are plenty of reasons to paint rather than refinish a wood floor. The wood may not be in good enough condition to refinish--every time you sand wood it removes a little of the wood--and if you do it enough, or too deeply, it can make the floor creaky and cause uneven surfaces. Paint works well on a lot of older home floors because it fills in cracks, it makes a uniform color surface and it seals the wood. You can't ALWAYS refinish a wood floor. And your friends next door may have gotten a super deal on that refinishing job--because I just had mine done and it was more than $4K. (three rooms and a staircase). And they did a superb job, too. It's not ALWAYS as cheap as you think.
Nor is it always "easy" to sand a painted floor. The paint will have seeped into deep cracks, and that's almost impossible to get out by sanding. Shiny floors don't always look better than matte-finish either. It's just a preference, not a rule. If you don't like the floor finish, and you want to buy the house, you should find out first if the paint can even BE sanded off, and the floor re-finished--or just replace it with new hardwood, or (ugh) laminate.
Wood floors can only be sanded so many times before needing replacing. They may be at that point.
It's also possible the floors were penetrated with something that deeply stained/damaged them such as bleach or fire or animal piss or blood or even paint.
If you buy the house, plan on the floors needing replacing. If they don't, you'll be pleasantly surprised. But don't take the seller's word on the matter. If you really want to be vigilant, get a floor person out there to take a look. For all you know they're not even hardwood floors. They could be a hardwood laminate.
P.S. Nothing says "penny pincher" more than a chain link fence. They provide zero privacy, no noise reduction and are ugly. It's what people who are too cheap or broke do when they don't want to pay for wood or other more attractive and functional fence. A chain link fence is like putting a big dog kennel on your property. Trashy.