Floor Refinishing in Larkspur

What's Under the Finish

The City's Planning department administers a Slope Use Permit (Municipal Code §18.34.060) for development on steep terrain, which requires a preliminary soils and geological report prepared by a licensed geotechnical engineer addressing slope stability, including recommendations for foundations and slabs on grade.

Regionally, crawl space use in Pacific-division construction has declined long-term and dropped sharply only in the past decade, against 89.9% slab in new 2024 builds — so raised floors turn up more often in Larkspur's 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s stock than in anything recent. We confirm on site.

Raised floors are where the best refinishing candidates live: solid wood over a crawlspace, often with decades of wear and plenty of thickness left. It is also where cupping comes from. Sanding a cupped floor flat before the crawlspace moisture is fixed produces a floor that goes concave the other way once it dries — so the moisture reading comes first and the sanding comes second.

Source: NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau Survey of Construction, foundation type by region (2024)

Larkspur Homes We Work In

Larkspur sits at about 10 feet in Marin County. ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates put 59.4% of Larkspur's 6,431 housing units in the 1950-1979 range, split almost evenly between the 1970s (23.2%) and 1960s (23.1%), with a further 9.6% predating 1940. Larkspur's 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s stock is where refinishing pays off most: homes of that period often have original wood under carpet, and when the wear layer is intact, refinishing keeps a floor that cannot be bought new. We check thickness at a vent or a doorway before recommending it.