How to Repair Scratches in Hardwood Floors
Most homeowners especially those who have specifically built the house of their dreams aspire to have the best materials that are aimed to last a lifetime. One of the many considerations in building or acquiring a house would be the flooring and the type of material used. Hardwood floors for instance, are quite expensive but are built to last with the proper care and maintenance.
Usually flooring materials are pre-treated
Homes particularly built during these modern times ensure that hardwood flooring materials are pre-treated to ensure a longer lifespan and to survive regular wear and tear. For older homes, most of the maintenance problems would be how to repair scratches in hardwood floors.
Since dated and older homes were built during times where advanced pre-treatment methods weren’t available yet, they usually require repairs and more maintenance especially if the homeowner wishes to revive the original material used.
Video on the Easiest Hardwood scratch repair you can do
Seek professional assistance or DIY?
Some homeowners seek professional assistance while others simply change their flooring to other alternatives. There are several ways on how you can go about it without having to hire professional help and specifically save on cost. Initially, inspect how extensive the scratches are to know what methods and materials you will need.
It would be best to determine the type of existing floor finish since hardwood vary in terms of materials like Birch, Maple, Mountain Elm and many other types and require different stains and protective coatings. This information will come.
The nobility and resistance of wood for floors
Hardwood is an excellent material that comes from angiosperm trees. In fact, they live up well to their name, and are used in almost all aspects of a typical home, and is most especially used in floorings. But as hard as it is, it is still wood, and is still prone to many kinds of things that can damage it. Fortunately though, we have ways to repair hardwood floors and restore their natural beauty without the need to actually replace them.
Find a drum sander
Find a good drum sander from your local tool rental shop or hardware store. This will be the primary tool that we’ll need to polish up faded hardwood. We’ll be using sandpaper at each grit gradient (20, 40 and 100) to scrub the entire floor thoroughly.
Move each and every movable article out of the room. These items include books, lamps, household appliances, and other similarly sized things. Curtains should also be removed, and larger but still movable house articles, like shelves should also be move out of the room.
Preparation of the sanding process of the wood
Seal off each and every passageway of air, such as cooling and heating outlets and air ducts in the room except for the windows (yes, and I repeat, do NOT close the windows). This is to prevent wood dust from entering these things and harming other users of the room later on.
Before starting the engines, make sure that you are wearing proper protective gear such as safety mask and safety glasses. This will critically protect you from the harmful wood dust that will be formed during our hardwood restoration process.
For a general scrubbing of the older messes, we’ll start by using the 20-grit sandpaper. Go back and forth across the room, but don’t forget that we are using 20-grit sandpaper. If you need to move to the next step, you’ll have to lift the entire sand duster to prevent it from creating holes in your wood. Because the drum sander is still a bulky too at best, it would be wise to use some extension tools to help it reach smaller areas that the entire body of the drum sander cannot reach.
Repeat all of these steps until finish
Repeat all of these steps, now using the 40-grit sandpaper. Then repeat again using the 100-grit sandpaper. Notice how the floor gradually transforms and restores bit by bit during each session. After using the drum sander, inspect the entire floor one last time. If you are already satisfied with the results, then you may now return the equipment back to its owners.
Free the entire room of wood dust, and apply a thin layer of wood coating to the floor. If done properly, the hardwood floor would now as if it had never even been damaged before.
How to protect hardwood floors from furniture
Hardwood floors are very good floor material. Aside from the sturdiness that hardwood provides as a floor material, it is also very attractive to look at, capable of setting the ambience for many kinds of themes and room designs. However, maintaining hardwood takes a little more effort than your regular marble or laminate flooring. It is still wood after all, and to protect hardwood floors from furniture provides us a way to keep those elegant floors for a long time.
How to move furniture by sending damage to the wooden floor?
Never move the furniture by simply pushing or pulling them. This creates scratches on the floor, and eventually destroys the wax coating on the floor. Try to lift the entire furniture before carrying it to wherever you plan to as much as possible, so that you furniture would never even have to scratch the surface of the hardwood floor. Be careful not to drop the furniture unintentionally, not only do you risk damaging the furniture itself, but you also risk creating a permanent dent in the hardwood.
If you can’t lift the entire furniture even with assistance, or if the furniture is just too big or too wide to be carried properly, you can put a piece of cloth on each peg of the furniture, and then push it gently and slowly. This way, your furniture literally has now way of come in contact with the hardwood floor to scratch it. This method is recommended for furniture that are too wide or too heavy to be carried by without assistance.
Plastic wheels can damage your floor
Wheels installed on furniture are of no exception in this one. Some office seats are installed with wheels that are made of hard plastic. This kind of plastic is harmless to harder substances such as granite and marble, but has the capability to gradually harm hardwood over time. Now, just can’t always lift these kinds of furniture, can we?
Doing so is just impractical and plain ridiculous. How to protect hardwood floors from furniture in this situation then? Use customized rubber “tires” for these furniture. Try finding these items at your local hardware store. If you don’t have access to these rubber tires, then you can make your own by cutting strips of rubber that you can find from old machine shops and use it around the wheels as the “tire” (prepare the proper materials for this though).
As an ultimate alternative, choose furniture that uses softer materials and materials with less friction. We have mentioned earlier that you should lift the furniture when moving it as much as possible. Well, if you have safer materials used on the underside of your furniture, then you don’t have to put cloth underneath at all! Just slide the furniture across the room without worries. Never push the furniture too vigorously though.
How to protect hardwood floors from dog nails
Pets are very lovable companions around the house. Just who can resist their very cute antics and earnest demeanor toward their masters? Unfortunately not all of your pet’s tricks and activities are harmless, as dogs sometimes unintentionally mess around the house. If your home uses hardwood, watch out, because your floor is very prone to damage every single day. A proper way to protect hardwood floors from dog nails specifically would be necessary.
Dogs, like any of their other domestic housemates, grow nails from their paws. It is a general characteristic of a standard land mammal. Dog nails usually grow larger and sharper each time, and it can sometimes be painful when they try to cling on your legs or back. If it’s painful for your skin, then how much painful is it for a hardwood floor?
Sure, hardwood floors are far sturdier than your average skin, but these powerful nails can simply just dig into the wooden floor as time passes.
How do you stop an excited dog from scratching your floor all over?
The answer is simple, cut off the source. Give your dog a proper nail trimming session once in a while with your vet. Cut them to a level where it won’t be painful for them, but would make it technically impossible for them to scratch the wood in any way.
So the next time your dog dashes through the house, you won’t have to worry about getting your hardwood floor scratched. Do not forget to do it again once in a while though, or you’ll find your dog again with those deadly arsenals.
Cutting your dog's nails
If cutting your dog’s nails isn’t enough, you might as well teach your dog not to be hyperactive inside the house. Try breaking its habit of always running around the house like an excited little toddler. Train your dog to behave properly inside the house. You can decisively reduce the chances of getting your hardwood floor damaged this way, and as a bonus, you get to keep a smart dog around the house as well.
If modifying the source still did not provide an adequate solution for you, then you can now move over to floor defensive maneuvers. Protect hardwood floors from dog nails by providing good cover for the hardwood floor itself. Applying a wax coating is your simplest arsenal on the list. Scrub all the way around your house, and your hardwood should now have a protective layer of wax coating. This wax coating would help absorb the dog nail scratches instead of being directly inflicted onto the hardwood.
Using cover carpets to protect the floor
Another easier alternative is to use cover carpets and other similar items to cover the hardwood floor and protect it from dog nail scratches. This method is still debatable though, as many people can’t see the point of keeping hardwood if you are going to cover it anyway with another material.
2 comments