Although wood floors are resilient and simple to clean, they are nonetheless vulnerable to unforeseen dings, scratches, and heavy wear. Try some of the simple solutions listed below before you hire a refinisher.
Few things can enhance a space with as much warmth, personality, and charm as hardwood floors. From the deep dark polish of walnut to the amber glow of heart pine, hardwood adds a touch of nature to your home and creates a welcoming atmosphere from the living room to the kitchen. Hardwood floors are often resilient and simple to keep (not to mention better for allergies), but they do occasionally get gouges, scratches, or worn spots. Fortunately, you typically don’t need to buy expensive replacement boards to remedy these flaws because you can usually do it yourself quickly and easily.
Wear Marks
Your hardwood floors may lose their finish and stain in high-traffic areas, exposing the wood and leaving an unsightly patch. In these situations, you should sand the affected area, extending it outward by about an inch from the damaged portion of the floor. Sand the edges of the boards as much as you can so that the repair will appear more natural. Make sure the floor is as smooth as glass when you’re finished with a fine-grained sandpaper.
Find a different, less-visible spot of the floor, such as in a closet or beneath the bed, and sand away a very little piece of finish and stain while you’re still in the sanding mode. You’ll utilize this patch as a test area for some investigative work.
Try a couple different types of floor urethane on your test patch if your floor is made of natural, unfinished wood. Urethane that is based on water will dry clear, whereas urethane that is based on oil will give the floor a faint golden sheen. Check which best fits. Regardless of whether it is satin, gloss, or semi-gloss, make sure the sheen is appropriate.
Try a few different varieties on the test patch if you have a stain on your floor to find the best match. Be aware that the color you end up with will resemble the stain’s appearance the most when urethane has been placed over it while the stain is still wet.
After applying the stain and urethane, check to see that the worn area of your floor has been totally smoothed out. Several times vacuum the dust before moving on. Apply stain (if necessary) after the area has been meticulously cleaned, and then, following the manufacturer’s instructions, apply several coats of urethane, allowing each coat to dry completely between applications.
Scratches
Heavy objects that have been dropped or moved, grit from shoes, and too ecstatic pets can all leave scratches on our priceless hardwood floors. Applying a product like Lumber Liquidators’ Scratch Away (see on Lumber Liquidators), which cleans and polishes floors while decreasing the appearance of scratches, may be all that is necessary to make light surface scratches on the floors vanish. If the scuffs are deeper, you should proceed as directed above, sanding the floor all the way to the scratch’s base before restaining and/or refinishing.
If all this sounds like to much work you can always call us for your hardwood flooring repairs. Call (864) 535-1051