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Sunlight casting window shadows across a freshly refinished red oak floor

Ottawa's Hardwood Refinishing Specialists

Your hardwood, brought back to life.

We sand away years of wear, scratches, and sun fade — then refinish with premium low-odour, water-based finishes that keep your home livable while we work, and beautiful for years to come.

Get My Free Quote Call or Text (613) 700-8188

Free on-site assessments · No pressure, no obligation

Owner-operated — the person who quotes is the person who sands

Low-odour, low-VOC water-based finishes — the family-friendly choice

Free, detailed quotes — know exactly what you're getting

Rated 5.0 on Google — every review, five stars

What We Do

Hardwood floor sanding & refinishing, done exceptionally well

Sanding and refinishing is our specialty, not a side business. Everything else we offer exists to get your floors — every board of them — looking the way they should.

Freshly refinished red oak floor in an elegant panelled room with daylight across the boards

Our Specialty

Sanding & Refinishing

A full professional resand takes your floor back to bare, beautiful wood — erasing scratches, wear paths, sun fade, and dated colour — then rebuilds it with a premium finish that's made for real family life.

Complete three-machine sand: belt sander, edger, then planetary sander for a perfectly uniform surface
Premium water-based finish: low odour, non-yellowing, dry to walk on in hours
Baseboards stay on — our edger sands right up to them
Careful containment and cleanup — we treat your home like ours

Get a refinishing quote

Refinished hardwood floor with the sheen restored, reflecting light from a wall of windows

Refresh & Protect

Recoats

Dull rather than damaged? We screen the old finish and lay down fresh coats in a day — restoring the sheen and the protection without a full sand. Hides fine scratches; deeper ones need the resand.

Ask about a recoat

Red oak floor in a warm medium-brown stain with grain lit by afternoon sun

Colour & Tone

Tinted Sealers & Stain

From a barely-there natural seal to whitewash, greige, or deep espresso — we sample your top choices directly on your own sanded floor, so what you approve is exactly what you get.

Ask about colours

Wood floor boards sanded back to bare wood, ready for repair and refinishing

Make It Whole

Board Repairs

Water damage, pet stains that run deep, cracked or gouged boards — we weave in matching replacement boards before sanding, so the repair disappears into the refinished floor.

Ask about a repair

Newly laid hardwood floor finished on site in a clear, light natural tone

New Floors

Hardwood & Vinyl Installation

When a floor is past saving — or a space never had hardwood to begin with — we install new solid hardwood or quality vinyl plank with the same care we bring to our restorations.

Plan a new floor

Our Process

Six steps between the floor you have and the floor you want

No shortcuts, no mystery. Here's exactly what happens when we take on your floor.

In-Home Assessment

We look at your floor's species, thickness, and condition, talk through what you want, and give you a clear, honest quote. If sanding isn't the right answer, we'll say so.

The Rough Cut

Our belt sander strips the old finish and years of wear at low grit, taking the floor back to bare, level wood.

Edges & Corners

The edger works the full perimeter — right up to your baseboards and through every doorway — with tight corners detailed by hand. Your trim never comes off.

The Grit Ladder

Progressively finer grits, finished with the planetary sander's multi-directional pass, blend everything into one flawlessly smooth surface.

Sealer or Stain

The colour coat, sampled on your actual floor first — the same product looks different on every floor.

Clear Coats

Two protective coats of water-based finish, with a buff before the last to smooth the grain the water raises. Walk on it in hours.

Start With a Free Quote Curious about the details? Read our full deep-dive on the sanding process

Why we finish with water-based products

Low odour & low VOCs
Dry to walk on in hours
Formulated to resist yellowing
Built for kids, pets & real life

Word of Mouth

The proof is on the floor

We're a young, owner-operated company built on referrals — and so far, every single Google review is five stars. Our reputation rides on every board we sand.

5.0

Google reviews

Had your floors done with us? Leave us a review — it means the world to a small local business.

Barento and his team did an excellent job sanding and refinishing the floors in our new home. Communication was great…

Hermina BeicaGoogle review

We recently had our dark coloured hardwood floors refinished "white oak", and we are satisfied with the results…

Mireille RGoogle review

Fantastic work and a pleasure to deal with. Barento and his helper Ahmed refinished my parquet flooring on my main…

Jes JesGoogle review

They came right on time and did amazing job, would definitely recommend.

Jake LacelleGoogle review

The job was well done. The price was reasonable. Personable, efficient and on time. We would not hesitate to recommend Barento to our friends.

Colette AubinGoogle review

Recent Work

Ottawa floors we've brought back

Real projects, real light, no staging — just Ottawa floors after we've done our work.

Follow Along

Watch the work happen

Sanding, staining, and problem-solving — straight from our job sites on Instagram.

Watch: our most-loved video — 1,000+ likes on Instagram

Watch: the full sanding & refinishing process, start to finish

Watch: creating a stain sample palette on a client's floor

Watch: pet stains and scratches aren't permanent

Watch: do we need to remove the baseboards? (No.)

Watch: flush-mount vents, sanded level with the floor

Follow @capitalhardwoodrestorationFollow on Instagram Follow on Facebook

Freshly coated red oak floor reflecting a two-storey wall of windows in a cathedral-ceiling great room

Who We Are

A restoration company, not a flooring franchise

Capital Hardwood Restoration is an owner-operated, fully insured Ottawa business, built around one belief: the floor you already own is usually worth saving. Most hardwood that looks "done" is one proper resand away from being the most beautiful thing in the house.

Because we're specialists — not a general contractor juggling twenty trades — the person you talk to at the quote is the same person running the belt sander, matching your stain, and doing the final walkthrough with you.

Where we work

Ottawa · Kanata · Nepean · Barrhaven · Orleans · Stittsville · Gloucester · Manotick — and surrounding communities.

Good Questions

What homeowners ask us

How much dust should I expect?

Far less than you're imagining. Our sanders run with dust collection, and we contain the work area and clean as we go. Expect a refinishing project, not a renovation disaster zone.

Do my baseboards have to come off?

No. Our edger sands cleanly right up to the baseboard, so your trim stays exactly where it is — no removal, no repainting.

How long does refinishing take?

A typical project runs a few days: sanding and sealing, then finish coats with drying time between. Water-based finish is walkable in hours (in socks!), with furniture back typically within days. Full cure takes about a week — we'll tell you exactly when rugs and heavy furniture can safely go back. You'll get an exact timeline with your quote.

Do we need to move out while you work?

Usually not. Water-based finishes are low-odour and low-VOC, and we stage the work so you keep access to the parts of your home you need.

What determines the price?

Mostly square footage, plus the details: stairs, board repairs, colour work (stain and tinted sealers take extra steps), and the floor's condition. That's why our quote visit is free — you get a real number, not a guess with fine print.

My floor is in rough shape — can it even be saved?

Probably. Deep scratches, grey weathered boards, pet stains, and dated colour all sand away more often than people expect, and individual damaged boards can be replaced before we sand. The main exceptions: engineered hardwood with a thin veneer wear layer (we check the thickness before quoting) and floors that have already been sanded down to the nails. If your floor genuinely can't be saved, we'll tell you straight and talk through new hardwood or vinyl options instead.

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