Run, don't walk to Dale Swirsding if you need to repair, re-do or install your floors. I have used Dale's services twice, once for repair/cleaning up, and once to re-do the floors (15 years later). His service both times was top notch and his fees are very reasonable. Dale is responsive, reliable, and his work can't be beat. In fact, we went on vacation this last time while he re-did the floors and he managed the whole project (movers, staying in communication). We trust him that much. He is a real pleasure to work with, and he provides great attention to detail (buffing the entryway step from the front door). Having nice floors as Dale can do really makes a huge difference in enjoying our home. I wish other home projects were so easily handled! read more

We called Dale in to help patch up our wood plank floors after a kitchen addition and remodel. The floors were installed around 1940, so not easy to match. It was great to work with Dale as he has extensive knowledge of hardwood flooring and we learned a lot. He and his team did an amazing job patching up the floor to match existing and we are very happy with the results. Dale is also very easy to work with, did the job quickly, and was able to accurately price the job before they started. We highly recommend Dale and his team for any hardwood flooring work. read more

Dale came to refinish my wood floor and fix areas that were creaking. The result was great and he gave me advice on how to keep my floors in good condition. read more

The owner Dale was awesome! He wasn't directly able to help me with my problem but referred me to person who could. Dale was very responsive to my requests. Thank you Dale! read more

Dale redid my floors and pictures included show some before and after pictures - a small section that had to be redone after an island was demolished and made shorter. You pay for what you get for so he did a great job! read more

Swirsding's Floor Service - Before - Flooring Near Me

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I have spent the last decade being tormented by my squeaky wood floors. I was told by a number of contractors that they could not be fixed unless I replaced my floors...and maybe they couldn't have fixed them, but Dale and Hector can. As people in the business of installing floors, they could have easily said that the floors could not be saved in order to get a bigger job, but their integrity, focus on restoration and skill are unmatched and they were able to quell the squeak beast. I no longer have to hop across the hallway to avoid the giant squeak that wakes up my kids at night (I was getting so good at it I considered being a competitive long jumper). Not only was the work excellent, so was the communication. I received quick responses to questions and reminders for the job appointment. The pricing was transparent and very affordable given the quality. When my kids get a little older and my floors are due for another refinish, these are the people I will be calling. read more

Last December I purchase a home with hardwood floors and where the previous owner's had a large dog. The hardwood flooring was fairly new, only 5-years old and we never notice all of the scratches the dog made on the floor until after everything got moved out. I search around on YELP and found Dale and Swirsding's Floor Service with a whole bunch of 5-star reviews. I contacted Dale and he came over to take a look and gave me an estimate. He accessed that the floor would be a good candidate for a deep cleaning, prep and recoat w/ commercial grade waterborne urethane (vs. a complete refinish). He was up front and said that it would not totally make the dog scratches disappear but they would certainly be less noticeable. I had approx.1000 sq ft of flooring plus a stairway so it was a 2-day job. He double coated the high traffic areas and the process also helped to eliminate sun faded areas near the sliding doors. It brought a nice luster and sheen back to the floors and I was extremely pleased with the outcome. Dale is an absolute craftsman who is very passionate about the detail of his work. Dale is also an excellent communicator and was available by phone or text. Thanks Dale, you get 5-stars from me too! read more

Dale refinished our 14 year-old engineered maple floor this summer and did a fantastic job. He removed the original clear coat that had countless hairline scratches and a glossy finish, then applied a new clear coat. He didn't sand off any wood. The results were terrific: 95% of the blemishes were gone, and the floor had a more contemporary matte finish. He was even able to reduce the appearance of one small but more scratched area, such that it wasn't really visible unless you searched for it. The floor looked nearly-new after Dale was finished. His work took about a half-day, and everything was dry by the evening. Dale is a good communicator, with clear explanations and no bs. He explains the pros and cons of different approaches. We'd hire him again in the future without hesitation. read more

Dale was an absolute pleasure to work with. He took the time to explain the whole process and he is a true expert in his craft. I really had no idea what to expect and the fact that he really took the time to explain everything to me was greatly appreciated. But the best part was the RESULTS!!! All I can say is the floors in our 1939 house turned out gorgeous! We just couldn't stop staring at them. We are so very pleased and I can't give Dale enough stars for his beautiful work!! If you want an honest price with spectacular results - reach out to Dale! read more

Dale did an excellent job repairing and refinishing our 1928 (!) oak floor. Everything went as promised -- the schedule, the price, repairs as needed and blending/matching the color with the nearby floors. Dale is very professional about responding to calls, doing a site visit and giving a detailed quote quickly. His prices are very fair (we've worked with other floor refinishers before) and the quality of his work is great. All in all, a pleasure to work with. read more

I was looking for someone to put in a floor in a large Kensington loft. Based on his great yelp reviews I gave Dale Swirsding a call and he met me at the site that day. He discussed a number of options and gave me a list of estimates. I decided to use pre finished 3/4" Bella Wood red oak from Lumber Liquidators. Dale's schedule had a cancellation so the project was on in just a few weeks. I got the wood and the 1/4" plywood to the site to aclimate. A week later Dale and his installer Carlos showed up. Carlos immediately laid down 13 sheets of ply and was laying the flooring the next day. In the space of 4 working days Carlos had all 520 square feet of the project done to perfection, and it really came out nice. I would definitely hire them again read more

Dale did an amazing job on my vinyl tiled kitchen floor. I have a super old house and the floors were never "clean" and looked gross. Dale was incredibly easy to work with, gave competitive pricing, and did an amazing job. So happy I went with him. He stripped, buffed, and waxed my floors for $500.00 and made them look practically new. A quote I got to replace the floor came to over $3K. I am very happy I went with Dale :) read more

I first tried to refinish our oak living room floor myself. I rented a sander and went to work. After 45 minutes, the stress had done me in. You don't want the first floor you refinish to be your own! I returned the sander, and my wife found Swirsding's Floor Service. Dale spent a week on that floor, and it really showed. That was five years ago. When we were finally ready to refinish the rest of the floors, we called Dale right away. This time we handed him the house keys and told him we'd be back in a week. We left Dale with a dirty old floor scarred by years of abuse; he gave us back a sleek, smooth, gorgeous surface. We highly recommend him. read more

We have used Dale twice (living floors first, stairs second) for the floors of our 1907 house. We were tremendously pleased both times. He does a great job, is very honest and always attentive to cost; indeed we basically had to "up sell" HIM to do some more extensive and expensive work on a few occasions. The work seems top quality, he is easy to work with, and he worked around our toddler's nap schedule. We were also very impressed by his clean-up: Despite working on the main stairs over a two week period, there was never any visible sawdust at the end of every day. He even vacuumed the entry outside our house! I would not hesitate to use him again, but I think we have run out of floor to refinish. read more

Dale was great from the moment I called him. We had just purchased a home in Berkeley and we wanted to get the hardwood floors which had some scratches, stains, worn areas taken care of before we moved our stuff in. He patiently asked some questions about the floor and gave me a general sense of the costs and options. Unfortunately we only had 4-5 days until the movers were coming. Dale said he could come out to look at the floors. He spent about an hour with me at 8 pm looking at the floor and was meticulous - he even gave me a history based on the markings on the floor (i.e. pets, a flood from the kitchen that spilled over to the hallroom, some water stains in the bedroom). He described in detail the costs of removing the water stains and showed that the previous owner had tried to sand them out but had failed to get it out and gave me an estimate of the cost to replace to floor boards. In the end, I decided to go simply with a light screening over the entire floor. He lightly sanded and recoated the floors and gave an additional coating over the high-traffic and scratched areas. I left him the keys and he came in the next day (Tues) to start work himself and was done by Wed. I came by Thursday and it was gorgeous - the floors were glowing. The scratches were hardly visible without the need of a more costly sanding/refinishing process. By Sunday we had our stuff all moved in. Thanks Dale! read more

I agree with all of the glowing reviews about Dale and his truly skillful craftsmanship, his unbeatable work ethic and integrity, and his patient and articulate communication style. I feel very fortunate to have contacted and hired Dale to work on my wood floors. I tend to develop high expectations, and to have a lot of questions, and Dale was always informative and friendly with me. He's a great guy, a real professional, and takes pride in his work. He's honest and trustworthy, and does careful and beautiful work, while somehow managing to stay on schedule even when the work is complicated, or an unforeseen complication arises. Moreover, I love the sense of calm that I felt with respect to Dale's work. Whereas most contractors eventually stress me out, as I feel forced to crash-course educate myself as much as possible, and I'm compelled to be around the house in order to oversee their "team" and avert them from cutting corners or doing something haphazardly, Dale is the opposite. That is so refreshing and valuable to me. He was on the same team as me, from start to finish, ensuring that the work would come out beautifully. I didn't have to ask him to be careful, because he is careful and thoughtful by nature. Outstanding. read more

I had a great experience with Swirsding. A few things that I really liked - 1) When I first met up with Dale he showed up on a Saturday morning to take a look at our floors. Not sure that's typical but I had called him on short notice and it was appreciated. 2) Dale kept in touch constantly. He was easily reachable by phone, email and text message. He was responsive and answered questions promptly. 3) Dale took the time to explain the job personally. Most every night that he was working I'd either meet up with him or converse by text message so that he could update me on progress. 4) Dale finished the job ahead of time. It was a big job but he worked straight through until it was finished. 5) Finally, Dale did the work himself. I've noticed this isn't always the case with contractors but with my floors I really wanted to make sure that the job was done correctly. Per (3) above, Dale really took the job seriously and worked efficiently while paying attention to the details. The process of having floors redone can definitely be unsettling. It involves moving tons of furniture and is disruptive to your home life. It's obviously the kind of thing you do only once every 10-15 years. With this in mind, I'm very glad in retrospect that I called Dale. read more

We used Dale a year ago to refinish the floors in our LR and DR. He's a craftsman, takes pride in his work, communicates thoroughly (at times too thoroughly) and wants to exceed your expectations. We had holes to fill, damaged floorboards to replace, and others that just needed sanding and finishing. The floors are beautiful a year later. We got a lower quote from another contractor, and could have used a big firm, but we like the idea that the same person who gives you a quote is the person who will do the work. If you just want to spruce up an investment property to sell, go for Joe Lowball, but if you want a job done really well, call Dale. read more

We had our floors refinished about 7 years ago by a local company and they did a great job. Last year we renovated the kitchen but did not refinish the floors. During construction there were gouges made by the contractors and one small area needed replacement or a fill-in. The company we had do the floors wouldn't do a job for less than $1,600. We considered having the entire room refinished but decided we needed to find a less costly solution. Then I found Dale Swersding. He did some cosmetic work on the damaged area with great results and charged a fraction of what it would have cost us with the original company. He was very accommodating, fit us in within a few days, got here right on time and did a great job. He will be our go-to person for floor repairs and refinishing. He's very good at what he does and is nice to deal with. read more

Dale recently refinished my floors. The floors were in terrible shape - dark, scratched and incredibly dirty. They looked so bad that I'd feared a complete replacement would be necessary. Dale's estimate was fair, and he stayed true to his estimate in terms of cost and time, even in the face of a few unforeseen issues. He was incredibly respectful of my time and my home, and did an absolutely fabulous job on my floors. Every person who enters my home comments on how incredible the floors look. I could not be more pleased! read more

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Dale did a fabulous job for me in Richmond bringing new life to old wood floors, even improving the patching that had been done over the years. His price was very reasonable, worked cleanly, and was very personable. read more

Really nice guy who did a great job polyurethaning my floors. I completely trust him. He was a real pleasure to work with and I would definitely hire him again. He also helped patch some floor creaks just because- it wasn't part of the quote, he just wanted to do an A+ job. read more

Highly recommend Dale! He and his assistant managed to reset thousands of nail heads that protruded out of the oak planks of our floor, refill the holes and finish the floor to a high satin sheen. We knew we had a few squeaks in the boards, but he found others we had gotten used to hearing, nailed the boards down firmly, and now walking across the floor is a silent experience. He came on time and kept the dust at a very low level. He is a professional who takes pride in his work. A joy to work with! read more

I heartily recommend Dale Swirsding. He does great work at a fair price, he knows his stuff, and he is very professional and a pleasure to work with. I called Dale based on his Yelp and Berkeley Parents Network reviews, because the house we just bought has wood floors throughout that were in pretty good shape, but were somewhat worn and scratched. We figured we'd have them recoated while the house was still empty, so that they could last longer before we'd have to have them refinished. Dale came out within a day to provide an estimate, and then was able to fit us in fairly quickly. He did the job for a very fair price, and did beautiful work, including putting a double coat of finish on the high traffic areas such as the kitchen, and on some of the scratches. He's easy to work with, showed up with his assistant at the time he'd said, left the place clean and tidy when he was done, and communicated clearly about what he'd found, why he was doing each step, and how and when we could start using the house. He even provided a list of wood floor care tips after he was done. I learned from the various folks I'd talked to that if Murphy's Oil Soap or wax had been used on the floor, there would be problems just doing a recoat, because the finish wouldn't stick. Some indicated that that might require a full refinish. Dale used a washing process to remove any Murphy's that might be on the floor, before doing the screen and recoat process, and it worked great. I will be calling Dale again in just a bit, to do the floors when I put my old house on the market. read more

Responded quickly. Service was completed in a timely manner / easy to schedule. Repaired scratch on engineered wood floor - can't tell there was ever a scratch! Awesome work. Highly recommend. read more

Dale was easy to work with and he did an amazing job. He was only wrong about one thing; he told me I'd say "wow" when I saw how much better the floors looked after his work. Actually, I said "OMG, WOW!" They do look really stunning and I'm very happy with his work. read more

Dale was absolutely wonderful to work with. He took the time out to explain several options for me and to come up with a plan for our 1921 home. We are the middle of renovations and when we figured out that there would also be a need to reconfigure a new hallway he explained exactly how I could use original wood from another room and tie the new space into the existing space. The new hallway as well as all the other floors are absolutely beautiful. Dale took his time and hand sanded the corners and made sure our huge baseboards were left in great condition. He kept in touch through out the entire process and worked around our contractors. Dale is the type of person that you add to your contacts and make sure you call him back because you know his work will be worth it. I am so glad we found him. read more

Swirsding's Floor Service is absolutely "top notch". Mr. Swirsding was on time for the estimate meeting. He let me know when he could schedule the work, and how long it would take. The work was done when he promised it. His rates are fair, and the floors turned out incredible. The entire transaction with Mr. Swirsding was easy. He left clear estimates, and was very flexible with scheduling the job. What I hope to get across to all who read this review is what high quality work he does. The floors are absolutely perfect. He spent extra time to sand and stain every groove in the floor. He even went above and beyond and did the door jams without extra charge, just because he noticed they were oak. He handled a problem with the flooring using excellent judgement. One of the floors was a different type of oak. He adjusted the stain to match the other floors. In summary, Swirsding's rates are fair, and you can be confident the floors will look their best possible after the job is done. read more

The biggest sadness I've experienced in selling my well-loved Berkeley home (of 17 years) was caused by bringing Dale in to finish the oak floors in the upper level and to re-do the stairs that connect the levels. He is a craftsman and an artist, and the floors are now rich and glowing--so much so that I know I'm giving a handsome gift to the next owners. I wish I could enjoy their beauty myself, as they perfectly complement the style of the house and look as though they are original (built in the 1920s). Dale Swirsding takes pride in his work, taking extra trouble to match the wood he's installing with what's already there and to save the customer money. He was professional in every way, providing and sticking to an estimate, and even working more quickly than proposed when my schedule changed. He was attentive to details and very pleasant to interact with. I cannot highly enough recommend his work. read more

We finally got around to replacing some water-damaged floorboards in our new home. We received a few estimates and, although Dale gave us an hourly rate, we bit the bullet and went with his company because we just felt like his assessment of the situation was most accurate and he is just a personable, no-nonsense, fair, and reasonable guy. Dale was very thorough when inspecting and his assessment turned out to be spot on. The other estimates we received were flat rates, but assumed no subfloor damage (there turned out to be, as Dale thought). Dale followed up after the free estimate and once we decided to go with his company, he offered further honest consultation when we realized we, ideally, should have more replacement floorboards than we had. The work itself was done impeccably. Dale had Carlos replace the floorboards, after giving him a rundown of the situation. Carlos is friendly, efficient, and a serious master with hardwood floors. The total cost ended up being less than the flat rates we were quoted and we cannot recommend Dale and his company enough for anything floor-related. read more

Our home was built in 1923 and is full of hardwood floors. We've used Dale to refinish our floors for almost 20 years. He is absolutely the best. Knowledgeable, courteous, fast and reasonable. I wish some of our other service people were as good and dependable as he is. Richard & Betty Wren read more

Dale just finished sanding and refinishing hard wood floors in our bedrooms, and putting a new "refresher" coat on our downstairs, and he did a fantastic job. This is the second time we've used Dale, as he originally refinished our downstairs when we bought our house in 1999. We couldn't be happier with his workmanship, service and attention to detail. He finished on budget, at a reasonable rate, and ahead of schedule and was a pleasure to deal with. What really stands out with Dale is his passion for his work and knowledge of his craft. He goes to great lengths to explain the processes he uses and the results we could expect, as well as helpful tips on how to keep the floors looking good as long as possible. He obviously takes great pride in his work and the results speak for themselves. This time, we had some tricky repairs left over from fairly recent remodels, and the results are spectacular. As long as Dale is doing floorwork and we have needs, we would not even think about using anyone else. read more

Dale did an amazing job on my floor. I didn't need a complete re-finish so he had another option which was less expensive and he did the job perfectly. He clearly explained everything he would do and he was professional and timely. I would absolutely recommend him! read more

I was not looking forward to getting my floor redone: I have heard horror stories and have had very back luck with contractors not doing things correctly and lingering around way too long. I called Dale with a little cautiousness: even tho he had all great 5 star reviews on Yelp, there was a not very good one by Adam K that made me wearisome (more on that later). Dale gave me the initial quote over the phone. He was informative and straight to the point. I told him I wanted to call a few more companies, and Dale even gave me some info on what to ask and look out for. The first company wanted me to make an appt for estimate a week out! (I just wanted a phone estimate for now, which I left a message to that effect but no call.) The second seemed totally disinterested, so good bye to him. Plus he and the 3rd company said they do 2 coats in 1 day. NOOOOOO! Dale said 1 coat a day, the layers need to dry adequately in between, otherwise the company is just cheating you out. Both phone quotes were about $500 - $800 cheaper than Dale's but I wasn't going to pay a few thousand to have a rushed, crappy job. Plus, Dale said he uses top notch products, told me why one formulation is better than the other, and I like someone who knows what they are talking about. To me, the decision was a no brainer. I called Dale to tell him I wanted to move forward. He came to give me a firmer quote after looking at my place in person. He's very professional and upfront, and tells you things such as what to ask your insurance company. Dale quoted me 7 business days and he's very serious about finishing the job by the stated deadline (a total refresher!. He's very knowledgeable, SERIOUSLY cares about wood floors, and really does have your best interests at heart. He will explain things to you, how you can tell from a good / bad job. He was timely, professional, detail oriented, a perfectionist and real. He won't fluff you the truth, and that is why I am glad I dismissed Adam K's review on this site: Dale is a no frills type of person, and what he texted the fellow was just the truth. (That said, Dale DID succeed and taking out some pretty deep scratches / gouges!!) ALL around, Dale is A+++++++ including and especially craftsmanship. Take a look for yourself (pics attached)! Really, the best thing you could do for you and your floors is call Dale! You won't regret it! I am a very VERY happy customer! read more

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I had several problems with my hard wood floor. First, there was burn marks near the fireplace which started the whole process. Second, the transition between my family room (where the fireplace is located) and the dining area was uneven and needed to be rebuilt. I asked Dale if he could make this mess right again. He started be removing about eight feet of the oak flooring across the transition between the family room and the dining area. He used a floor filler to smooth out the transition and then replaced the oak floor (he saved most of the original boards). Once the entire area (including the kitchen) was sanded and refinished, Wow, what a difference. The burn areas disappeared and the transition between the family room and dining area is now smooth. Amazing. I just wish my general contractor had used Dale in the first place. Thanks Dale for doing such a first rate job. read more

After reaching out to numerous bay area floor service companies, and being constantly turned away because they "don't fix scratches" and "only focus on remodels", I finally found Dale! Dale made the scratches in my hardwood look virtually non-existent! He was professional, honest, and efficient. Thanks Dale! read more

We have hundred year old house with the original floors. We met with Dale to give us an estimate to repair and finish one room where the floor boards had splintered and a corner in another location where the floor boards had been eaten away. Dale did an excellent job of replacing the damaged boards, filling up holes, sanding, staining and finishing to match the color of the rest of the floors. The result was excellent! We found Dale to be very knowledgeable, thorough and friendly - a true professional. He was actually the best person that ever worked on our house and we give him our highest praise. read more

Dale does it all! And with a big smile too. He refinished our old hardwood floors. Stained them a beautiful custom color and applied just the right sheen so they were not glossy or too flat. He came when he said he would, he kept the place clean at the end of each day and the price was the price he quoted. He did a lot of little extras too. We love Dale! He has also cleaned carpets and area rugs for me and they came out fabulously. Yes, we will use him again and again. read more

Dale came so highly recommended by a friend that I didn't bother getting other estimates. Dale cares about floors and he communicates clearly and honestly about what he does. My house was built in 1926 and the floors needed some serious help. Now, after waxing and buffing, they probably look better than they've looked since 1930. And he fixed some squeaky places, too. Highly professional, a real pleasure to work with. read more

An incredible experience, in a good way. Dale (the owner) is a perfectionist in his work, holding himself to the highest of standards. Our ugly, beat-up and horribly stained hardwood floors in 3 rooms were transformed into the most gorgeous floors within 5 days. Dale was on-time, on-budget, and super knowledgeable, as well as being courteous and ethical. Really, who could ask for more?? I didn't compare prices because I was sold on Dale when we meet, but the price I paid was well worth what I ended up getting in gorgeous, beautiful floors. read more