There is no floor-sanding ticket in this state. That surprises people, and it changes what you should actually be asking for.
No obligation. Takes 30 seconds.
Floor Sanding and Polishing Sydney connects Sydney and greater Sydney property owners with qualified, connects Sydney property owners with licensed local floor sanders for licensing. Tell us the rough floor area and whether you're in a house or an apartment and we'll match it to a licensed contractor covering your suburb. Firm per-square-metre price after an inspection.
New South Wales issues specialist licences for electrical, plumbing and gasfitting work, with no dollar threshold. Floor sanding is not one of them.
It falls under **general building work**, which requires a contractor licence for anything valued over **$5,000** in labour and materials including GST. So don't ask for a floor-sanding licence — ask for a current contractor licence covering general building. Queensland does have a named class for this trade; NSW does not.
**Building Commission NSW**, which took the licensing function over from NSW Fair Trading in 2025. The public register is free to search and takes about two minutes.
Working unlicensed carries fines of up to $22,000 for an individual and $110,000 for a company. It matters to you because unlicensed work sits outside the statutory warranties.
For residential building work valued at **$20,000 or more** including GST, the contractor must hold HBCF cover **before** starting work or taking any deposit.
It provides up to $340,000, claimable for six years on major or structural defects and two years on non-structural ones. Most single floor jobs sit under the threshold, but a large house — or a floor combined with other work — can cross it.
The licence number, checked on the register. Whether HBCF applies at your job's value, and if so evidence of the certificate.
And if you're in strata: whether they've done acoustic-compliant installation before, and whether they'll supply the test report your owners corporation will ask for. A contractor who answers all three without hesitation is the one to use.
Sydney.
Where this job typically sits. Access is usually a bigger cost driver than size.
| Job | Indicative price | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Sand and polish, per square metre | $40 – $70 /m² | Sydney rates run above the national average. Covers sanding plus coats. |
| Typical 3-bedroom home (~110m²) | $4,400 – $7,500 | Whole floor, sanded and finished. Condition drives the range. |
| Typical 2-bedroom apartment (~70m²) | $2,800 – $4,900 | Before any acoustic underlay, which is a separate line. |
| Single room (~15m²) | $800 – $1,400 | Small jobs carry proportionally more setup. |
| Acoustic underlay, supplied and laid | $25 – $60 /m² | Strata work. The test report matters as much as the product. |
| Acoustic test report | $400 – $1,200 | Field testing to demonstrate compliance where a by-law requires it. |
| Board replacement | $100 – $220 per board | Baltic pine and old hardwood profiles are both hard to match. |
| Extra coat of finish | $9 – $15 /m² | Three coats is standard; a high-traffic hallway may want four. |
| Parquetry restoration | $80 – $130 /m² | Slower and more skilled than strip flooring. |
| Recoat only (no full sand) | $20 – $35 /m² | Where the finish is worn but the timber is sound. Far cheaper. |
Prices are indicative only and usually quoted per square metre. What a floor costs depends on its condition, the timber, how many coats it needs and whether boards have to be replaced. In a strata building, acoustic underlay and testing add to it. You get a firm price after an inspection.
The core job — taking a tired timber floor back to bare wood.
Read more →Getting owners corporation approval before the floor goes in — in the right order.
Read more →Meeting the noise rating your by-law sets — and proving it.
Read more →The softwood under most inner-Sydney terraces, and why it's treated differently.
Read more →Tell us the suburb and the floor area and we'll get it to the right person.
Call 0468 165 354