Even when you take all of the proper precautions to protect your hardwood floors, wear and tear is bound to happen over time. Before you panic, we want you to know that there are steps you can take to make your flooring look new again. Remember, it’s normal for hardwood floors to experience smudges, spots, and scuffs as the years go by.
In this article, we will discuss how you can give your hardwood floors a face-lift using simple treatments that almost anyone can do. Pretty much any minor hardwood flooring issue can be a DIY project. This saves you money in the long run. The key is knowing how to properly tackle the issues with your hardwood floors. We will be teaching you how to do that, here.
Prevention Is Key
Yes, it’s true, all hardwood floors will experience some degree of wear and tear over time. However, you can determine the level of wear and tear by the preventative measures you take to protect your flooring.
Here are some hacks to keeping normal wear and tear to a minimum:
- Make sure to choose a type of hardwood that is known for strength such as teak flooring. Your floors won’t be 100% immune to damages, but they will be more resistant to them.
- If you own a dog, make sure to regularly trim their nails to avoid pet scratches on the hardwood floor.
- Try to not wear shoes in the house, especially high heels. Encourage your guests to leave their shoes at the door when visiting.
- Place rugs in high traffic areas to cut down on wear and tear.
- Always keep your hardwood floors pristine. It’s imperative that you sweep and dry mop every day to maintain the integrity of the floors.
- Heavy furniture, such as couches and entertainment centers, need to have fabric pads beneath them as to not scratch the floors. Avoid furniture with wheels.
- Add a coat or two of varnish to your hardwood floors for an extra layer of protection.
Summary – Take preventative measures to reduce the amount of normal wear and tear on your hardwood floors.
Repairing Scratches On Your Hardwood Floor
Scratches, dents, and gouges are inevitable, especially if you have a busy family, like to entertain guests, or have pets. These dents can be light surface scratches or rather deep. Don’t worry, surface damage can be repaired quite easily in just a few steps.
The first thing you want to do is determine if the scratches can actually be fixed or not. Sometimes, if the scratches are really deep, you are better off replacing the entire plank. If they aren’t so bad, you can begin the sanding process. Once sanding is done, you’ll want to clean the area with a damp cloth to remove all of the fine dust particles. Make sure the area is completely dry before applying the wood filler. You can add the filler to the affected area with a putty knife. Once the filler dries, sand it down until it’s smooth. Lastly, add a finishing product to your newly repaired flooring with a natural bristle brush and allow to dry.
Summary – Getting rid of scratches from hardwood floors is easy to do providing the gouges are not too deep.
Removing Dark Stains
Sometimes, something will happen, and you’ll be left with an unsightly dark stain or spot on your hardwood floors. This can happen due to water damages, corrosive household cleaning products, spilled foods/beverages, or even when a pet or small child has an accident. Repairing dark stains isn’t to terribly hard to complete on your own.
First and foremost, try to clean the stain with a little vinegar. It’s best to get as much of it up as you can before sanding. Once you’ve cleaned the area, lightly sand the rest of the stain away. Use a 100-grit sandpaper or steel wool. If the stain is still there after you’ve sanded, carefully apply some chlorine bleach to the area. Make sure the chemical only comes in contact with the affected spot. When the stain begins to lighten up and disappear, completely remove the bleach and neutralize the area with vinegar. Finally, if the stain has completely gone away, apply a varnish that matches the rest of your floor as a finishing agent.
Summary – Getting rid of dark spots on your hardwood floor can be done in a manner of steps depending on how tough the stain actually is.
Utilizing Replacement Planks
Sometimes, you do all you can do to repair scratches, dents, and stains to no avail. Honestly, don’t sweat it. If all else fails, simply replace the damaged planks with new ones. You may even have a few of these planks left over from when your hardwood floor was installed. If so, that’s great because it’ll save you money.
Replacing damaged planks is fairly easy and only requires you to remove the old planks, measure and cut the replacement plank, secure, and add a finishing agent such as varnish.
Some people even opt to use pieces of old pallets to replace badly damaged planks. Keep in mind that this method may not exactly match your hardwood flooring, though. However, finding the perfect color of varnish will certainly help.
Summary – When repairs simply cannot be made, the best course of action is to replace your damaged hardwood pieces with new planks.
Contact Us Today To Learn More About Maintaining Your Hardwood Floors
Keeping your hardwood floors looking great is a big responsibility. We don’t want you to stress out over it, though. Motor City Carpet & Flooring is dedicated to helping you protect your hardwood flooring from normal wear and tear as well as make appropriate repair suggestions.
Feel free to call or stop by at any one of our three locations. You can also reach out through our contact page. Our friendly and helpful staff looks forward to helping you with your hardwood flooring needs.
WARREN, MI
2395 7 Ryan Road
Warren, MI 48091
(586) 200-0610
ROYAL OAK, MI
28096 Woodward Avenue
Royal Oak, MI 48067
(248) 801-9289
ROCHESTER, MI
1445 N. Rochester Road
Rochester, MI 48307
(248) 801-9288
