How Much Does Hardwood Floor Repair Cost in 2025?

Hardwood Floor Repair Cost Factors

There are quite a few cost factors to consider when setting your budget for hardwood floor repair. These include the size of the area, the type of repair needed, labor costs, and the presence of any water damage.

Area Size

The main cost factor is determining the size of the area in need of repairs. Depending on the extent of the damage and whether it’s moderate or severe, hardwood floor repair can cost anywhere from $2 to $80 per square foot.

For smaller repairs, like 20 square feet of water damage, you'll pay a total cost or per-hour rate rather than per square foot. Note that per-square-foot costs will often go down as the repair area goes up, so these prices may be slightly higher than what a local floor repair pro charges you.

Wood Type

While the type of wood you have shouldn’t impact prices for certain kinds of repairs, such as sanding down boards or fixing underlying foundation issues, it will affect your costs if you have to replace any boards. Hardwood floor materials can range from $3 to $20 per square foot, and you’ll have limited options if you’re matching an existing floor. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to replace a section of your floor or install a new one altogether.

Cost by Repair Type

Besides the size of the repair, the issue being fixed is the largest cost factor you’ll need to think about. In many cases, replacing your floors is less costly than repairing a small section. However, you might prefer to save historic floors. Despite the price tag, major repairs often have a smaller environmental impact than replacing them.

Actual repair costs depend heavily on what type of repair you're getting. Explore the table below to find common wood floor issues and their associated prices:

Cost to Fix Uneven Hardwood Floors

Repairing an uneven or sagging floor will cost about $1,000 to $6,000 per room or as much as $20,000 per room if you’re repairing severe damage or foundation issues. If your floors need sanding and refinishing to take off spots, you'll pay around $2 to $6 per square foot. If you need to level it before adding hardwood floor finishes, add about $3,500 to $1,000 to that price. If you need to repair the foundation or fix or replace joists, you'll pay between $2,000 and $10,000 per room. 

Hardwood Floor Scratch Repair Cost

Scratches cost anywhere from $25 to $100 per scratch or about $2 to $6 per square foot to fix. For a single scratch, you might go with an inexpensive wood filler and stain. For extensive scratches, you'll likely need to refinish the floor completely, costing closer to $2,000.

Hardwood Mold or Mildew Repairs

Mold remediation costs around $15 to $30 per square foot. Repairing mold or mildew means hiring a local mold remediation specialist. They'll remove the mold first, often including the wood planks. Replacing sections of hardwood floors costs an additional $7 to $25 per square foot.

Hardwood Floor Cupping Repair Costs

Repairing hardwood floor cupping costs $2 to $6 per square foot. You'll notice the edges of your planks rising slightly, which happens because of higher humidity in the room than normal. You can reverse cupping by lowering the moisture level in the room.

Here are some other options to repair cupping issues:

• Consider sanding and refinishing: You may need to take this extra step if your cupping problem doesn't right itself after a few days.

• Identify the source of added moisture: Check the plumbing in the area. Plumbing leak fixes cost about $150–$350.

• Dehumidify the area: You can do this with a simple dehumidifier for the room. Or pay for the cost of a whole-house dehumidifier—around $1,300–$2,800, which is less than replacing your floors.

If you notice cupping soon after installation, the wood probably wasn't appropriately acclimated. All solid hardwood floors need to rest in your house in the open air for a few days to acclimate to your home's moisture content. If you don't adjust them, they may absorb moisture and expand, causing cupping. In dry homes, they lose moisture and shrink, causing gaps.

Hardwood Floor Squeaking Repair

The cost to repair squeaking floors will depend on the reason for the sounds. Squeaky floors are often caused by water damage, uneven subflooring, or improper installation. A settling foundation can also cause squeaking. 

Fixing a squeaking floor ranges from $200 to $1,000 or up to $6,000 for severe issues, depending on the specific cause. 

Board Replacement

Replacing a section of hardwood flooring will likely cost between $7 to $25 per square foot, including hardwood floor installation costs. The ultimate cost of replacing hardwood sections and boards will depend on the size of the area that needs to be replaced, the type of wood you have, and the specifics of finishing the replaced boards. Bear in mind that it can be very difficult to match new boards to your existing floors—so you may prefer to replace the floors entirely.

Water Damage

If your floors are water-damaged, you can expect much higher costs to repair them. Repairing water-damaged floors costs about $10 to $80 per square foot. This price is to repair or replace boards as necessary and blend them into your existing room. If the issue is widespread, it's more expensive to repair water damage than to replace your floor. However, it's less intrusive to repair and less environmentally impactful.

You may need to repair joists and subfloors for extensive damage and may want to refinish the entire room.

• Repairing floor joist cost: $40–$60 per sq. ft.

• Refinish hardwood floor cost: $3–$8 per sq. ft.

• Replacing subfloor cost: $500–$750

Labor

You'll pay around $30 to $60 per hour to repair hardwood floors, and projects take anywhere from five to 24 hours. For extensive repairs, labor rates might rise to as much as $125 per hour. Labor ranges from $150 to $3,000 for most wood floor projects.

Hardwood Floor Repair vs. Replacement

Deciding whether to repair or replace your hardwood floor mainly comes down to the extent of the damage and whether you’re particularly attached to the floors. Hardwood floor refinishing costs are far lower than the price of replacing floors entirely, but leveling a floor can be almost as expensive as an all-new one. If you have to replace any floorboards, it can be next to impossible to match the new boards to your old ones, making repairs visible. 

With the average floor repair costing $1,072, it’s often less expensive to simply fix the issue. Replacing a hardwood floor, on the other hand, costs anywhere from $2,475 to $7,030 (or more, depending on the hardwood floor type), which is sometimes actually less expensive than a hardwood floor repair.

Does Hardwood Floor Repair Increase Home Value?

Hardwood floor repair can definitely increase home value. Of course, damaged hardwood floors can lower home value, so repairing them will automatically get you a better price for your home. Also, hardwood floors are an increasingly popular option, meaning people will likely be more attracted to the home and make a better offer. 

Budgeting for Hardwood Floor Repair

Hardwood floor repair can be an expensive project—here are a few ways to reduce costs:

• If you have the know-how, consider doing small repairs, such as sanding and filling small scratches, yourself.

• Bundle multiple floor repairs together in order to negotiate a better rate.

• Save your floor repair pro time by clearing the repair area of furniture, rugs, and other obstacles before they arrive. 

• If you have to replace any boards, consider recycled wood, which has a rustic look and a lower price tag.

• Book floor repairs in the winter, when floor repair companies are less busy and charge lower rates.

How HomeAdvisor Gets Its Cost Data

No place is more important than your home, which is why HomeAdvisor connects homeowners with local pros to transform their houses into homes they love. To help homeowners prepare for their next project, HomeAdvisor provides readers with accurate cost data and follows strict editorial guidelines. We surveyed thousands of real customers about their project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We pair this data with research from reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects.