Aubrey Nelson
From the amber glow of heart pine to the deep dark polish of walnut, hardwood brings a bit of nature into your home and sets an inviting mood from the living room to the kitchen. Generally, hardwood floors are durable and easy to maintain (not to mention better for allergies), but they do get the occasional gouge, scratch, or area of wear. Fortunately, you can usually fix these blemishes quickly and easily yourself with no need for expensive replacement boards.
In high-traffic areas, the finish and stain can wear away from your hardwood floors, leaving the wood exposed and creating a visually unattractive patch. In such cases, you’ll want to sand the affected area, extending beyond the damaged section of the floor by about an inch. Water-based urethane will dry clear, while oil-based formulations will impart a slight golden tinge to the floor.
Water-based urethane will dry clear, while oil-based formulations will impart a slight golden tinge to the floor. Now that you’ve nailed down the stain and urethane, make sure the worn part of your floor has been sanded completely smooth.
Grit on shoes, overly enthusiastic pets, and heavy items that have been dropped or moved can all leave scratches on our precious hardwood floors.
Find licensed flooring experts in your area and get free, no-commitment estimates for your project. If the damage to your hardwood floor goes beyond a simple scratch and moves into the category of a gouge, then you’ll need some type of filler to repair the nick before sanding, staining, and finishing, because it would simply be impractical to sand to the bottom of the blemish.
