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Need some advice to fix damage on hardwood floor

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hi, My hardwood floor was damaged during a recent renovation. I have attached pictures of the damage below. The damaged areas look like as if the polish has been worn away and shows as dusty dark spots on the wood. The damage is in some sections of the floor. Is there a solution, polish or product I can use that would repair it or at least make it look OK? Are there other ways of repairing this without replacing the hardwood? I would really appreciate your suggestions.

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Comments (5)

PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
7 years ago
The finish has been compromised and you are looking at raw wood. You will need to have this fixed sooner rather than later (you have a few months to do it). Whether you need a full sand and refinish or spot patching, will be up to the professional flooring refinisher and what s/he sees throughout the REST of the floor.

For instance, if 90% of the floor is in AMAZING SHAPE (because it was refinished only 5-7 years ago), then a spot-fix is the option you want to look at. If 90% of the floor is in less than decent shape (because the finish is more than 15 years old and it is coming up on it's required sand/refinish event) then the spot finish isn't ideal - in fact it could be a waste of money.

I can't tell how the rest of the floor looks, but by the photos it looks a little dry or "thin". When was the last time the floor had a full sand and refinish? Was it 7 years ago, 17 years ago or 27 years ago? Somewhere in your answer will tell you which is the best way to go.
goodiesforus thanked Cancork Floor Inc.
glennsfc
7 years ago
I agree here. There is hardly any finish on the floor...seen floors like this many a time.
goodiesforus thanked glennsfc
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Both you as the homeowner and he as the professional should own and use a level. There's no getting around that fact. He should have known there was an issue and brought it to your attention. But at the same time, you saw that there was an issue there before the floor was laid. And you just assumed that it would be "handled". That's lesson #1 in ANY renovation. NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING. If you see something that looks wrong to your eyes, bring it up. A good contractor won't mind explaining to you that something is normal at the half finished stage, or that yes, it's a problem, and it needs to have a fix found for it. As Floortech says, the fix for the underlying problem is all on you. But the removal and reinstallation of the flooring should be on him. He should have never gone forward without the out of level issue being corrected. And personally, since he attempted to gloss over it, I would want a structural engineer in to give me an unbiased report as to exactly what the real problem is that is causing the out of level situation for your floor. While home settle, and some settling is normal, what usually results is a low spot, not a high spot. That on a crawlspace foundation is unusual enough that I would want a "second opinion" from someone whose economic interests were not tied in to the actual fix for the issue. The problem could just be careless original construction, or it could be a symptom of a much larger issue. But, you should know and understand that issue before agreeing to any repair for it.
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Poly does not touch up at all well. The entire floor will need to be sanded and recoated, and you will still see the line where you stopped at the threshold. In addition, some of these paint remover products or floor cleaning products that you have used will impair adhesion of the new to the old. If that happens, it may look OK at first, but then start peeling off in a couple of months. If that happens, the only recourse will be to sand to bare wood and start over completely. If you've ever used anything with silicone or orange oil in in on the floors, skip the intermediate peeling step and sand down to bare wood now.
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This is a Centex house made in 2002. The width of the board is 2 1/4". Here is a picture of the stair step near front door that shows the wood in vertical position: There are a couple of closets that have the same wood on their floors. They are not that big so not sure how much wood can be taken from them. How involved is it to take out some boards and swap? Is it likely that the boards get damaged as they are being removed? Any links on how this is done? I don't plan on doing this myself but I like to know what is involved. Is what this guy is doing in this video applicable to such damage? Again I am just gathering information and not planning on doing this myself. Thanks. https://youtu.be/eWi3ngubUS8
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goodiesforus
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you Cancork floor and Glen. The majority of the floor looks like the lower part of the second picture. I have taken pics of the damaged parts. These started showing while we were renovating the kitchen and there was a lot of moving of heavy stuff and traffic in the area. Looks like sanding and polishing the whole floor is the way to go eventually as you say. Is there any product that can be used for a temporary fix for these spots?
glennsfc
7 years ago
My guess is that the floor was finished with an inexpensive waterborne (aka warerbased) polyurethane. You might try some of the big box brands. If it works...great. Whatever the case might be...it won't interfere with a future sand and coat.
PRO
Cancork Floor Inc.
7 years ago
I think you are would benefit from a full sand and refinish. Without knowing the original finish, it is hard to say if a patch will even grab the old finish. And if it does, you will still have gloss changes in those spots.

Go ahead and contact a flooring professional. They will probably charge you a few hundred to patch 2-3 areas. And then you can go ahead and schedule their services in a few more months to do a complete sand and refinish (aka...wasting the first $300 you paid them only months before). The "intact" finish at the bottom of photo #2 is not looking very healthy. In fact, it looks like it is begging for a full sand/refinish.

If you have more renovations right now, I would leave the floors. Let the existing - damaged - finish take the beating and then go for the full sand/refinish sometime in the summer.

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