Can you stay at home during floor sanding?

Øens HåndværkerCentralPublished July 31, 2026 · 10 min. reading time

Yes, you can usually stay in your home during floor sanding if the work is done room by room and you can do without the treated room for 1-3 days. Sanding dust is extracted at the source, but the smell from lacquer and oil determines whether you should sleep elsewhere for the first few nights.

• 175 kr/m2Including VAT and a standard finish, from 36 m2
• 24 hoursResponse with fixed price
• Workmanship guaranteeOn all work performed

The short overview

• Room by room is key. If sanding is done in stages, only one room is out of commission at a time, and you retain sleeping space, bathroom, and kitchen.
• Dust is rarely a major problem. Machines extract at the source, but a fine layer still settles on horizontal surfaces in the work zone.
• The smell matters more than the dust for your sleep. Water-based lacquer smells milder and for a shorter period than hardening oil.
• The room is typically out of commission about 1 day after oiling and 1-3 days after lacquering, depending on the number of coats.
• Standard floor sanding costs 175 kr per m2 including VAT from 36 m2, including a standard finish, whether you stay at home or move out during the work. Read more about our floor sanding service.

How much dust does floor sanding produce?

Professional floor sanding produces far less dust than most people expect, but it is never entirely dust-free. Sanding machines are connected to suction systems that remove the majority of the sanding dust at the source, while a fine layer still settles on shelves, window frames, and lamps in the room being worked on.

The reason for the heavy equipment is the working environment. Wood dust is covered by regulations on carcinogenic substances and materials, and the Danish Working Environment Authority's limit values for substances and materials set the limit for inhalable wood dust at 1 mg per cubic metre of air, measured as an average over an 8-hour workday. Therefore, sanding is done with process ventilation and respiratory protection, regardless of whether anyone is home or not.

In practice, this means you should expect to wipe surfaces with a damp cloth in the workroom and adjacent rooms once the stage is complete. If the doors to rooms not being worked on are closed and door cracks are sealed, the dust largely stays within the work zone. Move electronics and textiles out of the zone, as wood sanding dust is dry and fine and easily penetrates ventilation grilles.

How long do lacquer and oil smell?

The smell from the finishing treatment typically lasts 1-3 days and is the factor that most often determines whether people choose to sleep elsewhere. Water-based lacquer has a mild and short-lived smell. Hardening oil emits a more distinct odour that lingers longer in curtains, carpets, and upholstery.

Træinformation publishes industry guidelines for wooden floors, including TRÆfakta guidelines on wooden floors: TRÆfakta 07 on lacquering with water-based lacquers, TRÆfakta 08 on oil treatment with hardening oils, and TRÆfakta 09 on lye treatment. Common to all methods is that air exchange and temperature control how quickly the smell dissipates. A slightly open window in the workroom and one at the opposite end of the home does more for the smell than any type of ventilation equipment.

For our own projects, we estimate about 1 day after oiling and 1-3 days after lacquering before the smell reaches a level most people can sleep with (Øens HåndværkerCentral, 2026). If you need to choose a treatment based on this consideration, lacquer is usually the easiest to live with, while oil provides a surface you can spot-repair later. The differences in durability and maintenance are summarized in our review of lacquering versus oiling of wooden floors.

How long will the room be unavailable?

Expect about 1 day after oiling and 1-3 days after lacquering before the room can be used again. It is the finishing treatment, not the sanding, that closes the room. Sanding a standard room is often completed in a few hours, and then you plan around the drying time.

Furniture must be lifted back into place, not dragged across the floor, and carpets should wait until the treatment has fully cured. If you want to see the complete timeline for a comprehensive project, we have calculated it in the guide on how long floor sanding takes.

Can you live there while the apartment is being sanded?

Yes, and in apartments, this is actually the standard solution, as few people have somewhere else to go for three days. We sand in stages and agree on the order of the rooms in advance, so you always have a place to sleep and access to the bathroom and kitchen. This is the plan we follow for apartment projects in Aarhus Ø buildings such as Isbjerget, Z-huset, and Nicolinehus.

Here is a concrete example for an apartment with 80 m2 of plank flooring, where the price is approximately 14,000 DKK including VAT, and the floor is lacquered:

1. Day 1: Bedroom and small room are sanded and lacquered. You sleep in the living room on a mattress.
2. Day 2: The two rooms cure behind closed doors with windows ajar. You still sleep in the living room.
3. Day 3: Living room and hallway are sanded and lacquered. You move back into the bedroom, which has now had two days to cure.
4. Day 4-5: The living room finishes curing, and furniture is lifted back into place.

With a suitable staged plan, the apartment's floors can be refinished while you stay in an untreated room. The sequence depends on access and the finish's drying instructions. In an apartment building, neighbours, shared stairs and lift access also need consideration, as explained in our guide to floor sanding in an apartment.

When should you move out anyway?

There are four situations where we recommend sleeping elsewhere, even if the plan generally holds. These all concern situations where the smell and drying time cannot be confined behind a closed door.

• The entire home is sanded at once. If there is no room left to sleep in, 1-3 days out of the house is the simplest solution, and the job will also be completed faster.
• One-room apartment or open plan. If the kitchen, living room, and sleeping area are one room, there is no door to close, and the room will be out of commission for approximately 1 day after oiling and up to 3 days after lacquering.
• Asthma, allergies, or infants in the home. Here, air quality outweighs convenience, and the first few nights after treatment should be spent elsewhere. If you are in doubt due to illness, consult your doctor.
• Dog or cat. Paws leave clear marks in wet lacquer and oil, and animals do not respect a closed door in the same way as humans.

How to prepare your home

Clear the work zone completely, arrange a sleeping place in a room that will not be treated on the same day, and ensure that ventilation is possible at both ends of the dwelling. Preparation typically takes one evening and determines how smoothly the next few days will proceed. Træinformation's TRÆfakta 10 describes methods for sanding older wooden floors, and Gulvbranchen under Dansk Industri compiles the industry's guidelines for flooring work in Gulvfakta. The practical requirement is the same in both places: the work zone must be completely empty before the machines enter.

1. Clear the room completely of furniture, rugs, curtains and loose belongings before we arrive.
2. Arrange a sleeping place in a room that will not be sanded or treated on the same day.
3. Remove electronics and textiles from the work zone, or wrap them thoroughly.
4. Ensure that ventilation is possible: a window in the workroom and one at the opposite end of the dwelling.
5. Make a plan for pets and small children on the sanding and treatment days.
6. Agree on the order of the rooms in advance, so you know exactly when what will be closed.

Once the floor is back in use, it is the first few months of care that determine how long the surface will last. We have compiled this in the guide on maintenance of newly sanded wooden floors.

Does it cost extra to stay?

Staying at home does not in itself change the standard floor sanding rate of 175 kr per m2 including VAT from 36 m2, including a standard finish. Working in stages can take more days, so we agree the sequence and any implications for the quotation in advance.

At the current standard rate of 175 kr per m2 including VAT, illustrative totals for sanding with a standard finish are 7.875 kr for 45 m2, 11.375 kr for 65 m2 and 14.000 kr for 80 m2. These are calculations, not historical project invoices. In our experience, lacquered floors often last around 10 years before resanding, while oiled floors usually need re-oiling every 1 to 2 years and can often be repaired locally. Solid wood can typically tolerate 4 to 6 full sandings over its lifetime; engineered flooring allows fewer, depending on the wear layer. Read more about floor sanding prices.

Call 20 98 88 11 or write via the contact page, and we will plan the stages together with you. You will receive a fixed price before work begins, a response within 24 hours, and a workmanship guarantee on the work.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Written by

Øens HåndværkerCentral

We sand and finish floors, stairs, balconies, wooden decks, and worktops - based in Aarhus Ø and working nationwide. You get a fixed price before work begins and a workmanship guarantee on the work performed.

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