Hardwood floors are among one of the top favorite options out there among homeowners. It’s no wonder since they bring all kinds of benefits to their homes. With this type of flooring, you get to enhance the look of your place, add value to your home, and count on cleaner air for your home. However, your floors can get damaged over time. For this reason, we bring you some easy hardwood floor repair techniques to make them look like new once again.
We are not here to talk about the many benefits of hardwood floors. Quite the opposite, we’re here to talk about what to do when you count on a damaged hardwood floor.
Let’s be honest: having a scratched wood flooring brings down the look of your place by a lot. And most of the time, we are often stuck in a rut in not knowing what to do!
Don’t worry, because that’s what we’re here for today. With these simple methods, your floor will be smooth and shining like brand-new!
Fantastic Hardwood Floor Repair Methods for Scratches, Dents, Burns, and More!
First and foremost, you must first assess the damage your floor has. Based on the type of injury it has, you’ll then use the specific hardwood floor repair treatment that’ll leave your floor looking amazing.
Bring in the Homeowner’s Nightmare: Hardwood Floor Scratches
Being among the most common type of damage for hardwood floors, scratches are almost inevitable. From high-heel shoes to the moving of furniture, the reasons for your floor’s scrapes are countless.
In most cases, the scratches your floor may count are at the top surface, making them easy to fix. With a fast yet simple use of sandpaper, you’ll be able to get rid of them! Before sanding them, remember to have by your side wood or acrylic filler that’ll match your hardwood’s stain.
Start by sanding the scratch. You can use either sandpaper or steel wool pad. Keep in mind that you’ll need to use the right grit (this will depend on the coating your floor has).
For instance, when you have a hardwood floor with a heavy adhesive, you’ll need to use the very coarse grit. Coarse grits are perfect as starting grits. We then have the medium grits, which are the ones intended to take the scratch out the floor. Last but not least, we have the final grits, which are the fine grits. These grits are the ones meant for most standard hardwood floors.
When counting on more severe scratches, it’s always best to leave your hardwood floor repair to professionals. That way, you can be sure that your floor will be left in great shape at the end.
Your Planks Have Gaps Between Them
As time goes by, your floor’s planks may start to have unattractive gaps. These gaps tend to happen because time can start to shrink, especially if exposed for long periods to humidity.
Many times, gaps can close up again. However, there are times in which you’ll need to take action. For example, during the cold and dry season, our advice is to increase the level of humidity. That way, your boards are more likely to expand.
Additionally, you can also fill in the gaps with hardwood filler. This can help the planks adapt to the shrinking and swelling of the floor. You can make your own hardwood filler by mixing sawdust with varnish.
Firstly, you’ll need to place the hardwood filler pressed between the planks. You can also use a hemp rope for any cracks that are too deep.
Lastly, when having wide gaps that simply don’t give up and keep appearing throughout the year, you’ll need to fill in these with wood strips. However, when doing this, you’ll need to be careful, since it can worsen the situation sometimes. You’ll need to nail the wood strips to the subfloor. Finally, you’ll need to sand the strip to match the floor’s level.
Water Damage to Your Hardwood Floors
One of the worst enemies of hardwood floors is water. It can cause several damages to your floors, including damage to the finish, discoloration, mold growth, and much more. Thus, it’s vital that you assess the water issue before it is too late, and you have to replace your entire floor.
Water damage can happen for several reasons. For example, if you have a potted plant inside your home sitting on your floor and it leaks, this causes damage to the wood. Also, when an appliance supply hose bursts, it can also damage the floors. And finally, your hardwood floors can get damaged when major flooding happens.
Hardwood floor repair for water damage will depend on how severe the problem is. If your floors have water stains, such as rings from cups or glasses, then you can extract the stain or mark. You can do this by placing a cloth or rag over the stain and ironing it with medium heat. Be careful not to cause more damage to your floors by doing this slowly and always checking the state of the stain. If your floors have bigger stains, then you’ll have to sand or bleach them.
Sometimes your hardwood boards will warp because of more severe water damage. If this is your case, then the best solution is to replace them.
Unsightly Dents on Your Wood
Dents are slightly more severe than scratches. This is because it is an impression on the wood that is caused by a heavy object sitting on your floors. There are several ways you can repair damage to your hardwood floors caused by dents.
One of the first hardwood floor repair techniques to get rid of a dent is wood putty. This is a material that you can find in your local hardware store to fill in the dent on your floor. You can find the putty in a variety of colors so that you can match the exact shade of your hardwood floors.
Once you’ve found the right color, you just apply the putty with your finger to cover the dent. Then, you let it sit overnight and finally remove the excess. If the dent is much larger, we recommend sanding it.
The other way to remove a dent is with steam. Some people choose this since putty can be quite noticeable sometimes. You first take clean cotton pieces and place them in the dent. Then, you place an iron on the highest setting for several minutes. By doing this, you’re pulling the dent out with steam. This process takes longer since you have to check the dent until it is gone.
We hope that these hardwood floor repair techniques will help you bring life to all your floors!