New England Floor Sanding

251 Google ratings averaging 5 stars, and one name runs through nearly all of them: Sam. He answers on a Sunday, quotes off photos and a square-footage estimate, and then a crew shows up when he said it would. New England Floor Sanding works out of Nashua and covers New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, taking on everything from a single bedroom to gymnasium floors. The work reviewers describe is mostly rescue work on old wood. A homeowner in Plymouth, MA had their whole first floor redone while they were away on vacation and came back to a spotless house and floors they described as even and flawless through every room, corner and transition. Another customer's 27-year-old maple, yellowed and scratched up by dogs, came back natural under a non-yellowing Bona semi-gloss. A third wanted cherry pulled away from its orange cast; Sam walked them through a wood-bleaching step they had never heard of and finished the oak staircase to match the new look. The hardest job in the recent run came out of Hollis, NH: thousands of square feet of new flooring woven into existing boards with an eighth-inch height difference, three stairways, hundreds of balusters, mixed species, and True Black stain — about as unforgiving a color as exists. The crew filled shrinkage crevices with syringes across thousands of linear feet. Speed and cleanliness come up constantly, and so does a fair price. Several customers mention being fit in on short notice, sometimes after another contractor cancelled or botched the job. The honest caveat: one recent 4-star review describes a refinish that came back with uneven staining, splattered stain, grit in the topcoat and poorly stained joints — the customer's read was that the crew moved fast rather than carefully. Sam came back out and offered to redo the work or pay someone else to, which the customer credited as genuine. Worth knowing that speed is the trade-off to ask about, and worth agreeing up front on what happens if the finish isn't right. One more thing to reconcile before you sign: the website and directory listings claim 42 years in the hardwood floor business, while BBB lists the business as a sole proprietorship started in September 2022 with an A+ rating and no accreditation. Ask directly how long the current entity has been operating and who carries the insurance. For an old house with tired, painted, or previously-botched wood floors — especially if you need it done in two or three days around a move-in date — this is a strong call. Confirm the finish product, the number of coats, and the touch-up policy in writing before the sanders come out.