Or put kid socks on legs of furniture.

Something is wrong with the floor. I have 15 year old oak floors and they have never flaked like that. They have a natural finish, and I do put the felt bottoms on the kitchen chairs. But I also have pets with nails that have scrambled across the floor a thousand times, and also slobbered water like crazy. Kids clomping in with boots, and a dropped heavy pot or three. After 15 years, no flaking.

Bring a good wood flooring contractor in to see if sanding off the bad finish and putting a good finish on will fix the issue.

This almost looks like the stain and finish are in one product as the color is coming off with the finish. If it is real wood, and you should choose to refinish down the road, go with the natural wood tone. That will show scratches much less.

Its winter time. The home is likely very dry right now. It looks like the floors could be drying out.

Engineered hardwood or solid? Polyurethane finish or hardwax oil? And the humidity levels in the home? Are they ABOVE 40%? If not, try to get the humidity up around 45%...and then leave it there for the next 25 years. The gaps between planks might be telling you something.

@SJ McCarthy - that is not good advice. If the OP puts the humidity at 45%, her windows will have a lot of condensation, and usually that results in rotting window frames, and a year or two of that will end up with the need for window replacement. Many threads on the Houzz Windows Forum about this topic, with the unanimous advice of the Windows contractors on there to set your humidifier at 30-35% in winter, no higher.

To the OP - I have my humidifier set at 35%, and I live in a climate that gets super dry and cold in winter. My wood floors are fine, the 35% is enough to prevent gaps opening between the planks. I do not have the flaking you have. I have real wood, not engineered, and I have a clear multi-layer polyurethane finish. I agree with the recs to hire a wood floor contractor and remove the existing finish, and put on a finish that is more durable.

25 years would be perfect ;-) SJ on point as always.

@Oak & Broad - for a "Pro" you are funny.

[Houzz Windows Forum Thread about Condensation and Humidity[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/major-condensation-inside-with-new-marvin-windows-in-new-house-dsvw-vd~2645224?n=40)

BBB Report on Condensation and Windows

Are these that bumpy "hand scraped" or whatever type floors? Looks sort of wavy in the second photo.

If it's flaking in one spot and you can cover it with a runner until you're ready to deal with it, that's a good plan. When you're ready, have a floor pro come in and offer suggestions. You might be able to refinish it--if so, don't use whatever is on there now!

It would probably be smart to have a floor finisher apply a coat of urethane. I see that your kitchen flows into the family room so it might be hard to find a stopping point but a skilled professional can help with that. The worn spots should be prepped, touched up and spot coated. Then the entire area would be prepared and coated.

This would be far less costly and disruptive than replacement or sanding and finishing. It could be done every few years to extend the lifetime of the finish.

I have dark engineered floors and I hate them. The dark color shows everything and the wood is chipping horribly. I'm not sure whether to replace or refinish. Have a feeling the builder put an inferior product down to save THEM money. So frustrating. I'm constantly using my stain pen to fill in the chipped spots.

Tasnim are your floors american relics denali? I have the same problem

We have dark Mohawk engineered wood floors and have same chipping/peeling issue. Floor wasnt even 6 mos. old and started in high traffic areas. Its the thinner board so you cannot sand down. Its as if paper thin particle board was painted with with a cheap stain. Its an absolute garbage floor and was a huge mistake in retrospect going for aesthetics vs higher quality. Home was built with 3/4” hardwood flooring prior and we went for the more affordable ’new thing’. Lesson: don’t get seduced by the look and do NOT skimp on flooring.

What did you do about problem? Your pictures look like our floors four years ago. You should see them now! Horrible Did you refinish or replace?

Insurance is going to replace them

I’m having the same issue with my American Relics flooring. We’re you able to make a claim on through your homeowners insurance?

I have these same engineered hardwood floors and the same exact issue! our house is not even 2 years old. we started having issues after just a few months….the builder had the flooring company come in and they replaced 12 boards. within weeks we started seeing more areas. Now there are tiny flaking areas all over. there have to be others experiencing the same issue.… can i ask if you reached out to the manufacturer? These are Porto Vista - Wellington.

Amanda Austin:

I was able to get waterproof vinyl floors given to me from American Relics. My insurance company paid for labor through my warrenty. I have the contact info if you want it. I can email it

emilyhama@gmail