Are your wood floors in need of repair? Restoring them to their former beauty is no brainer! If you’re looking for a good way to spend No Brainer Day this Wednesday, Feb. 27, repairing your wood floors is just the simple but highly rewarding task you’ve been looking for. Wood floors, whether they’re old-fashioned oak, or the Northwest’s traditional favorite, Douglas fir flooring, lend beauty and charm to any home. If you’re lucky enough to have wood floors, No Brainer Day is the perfect day to make them shine.
Fixing a scratch
Scratches are among the most common flaws in wood floors. Whether it’s the sharp-edged rock you tracked in or your pet’s untrimmed toenails, most wood floors have a scratch or two.
If the mark is shallow enough, you can simply camouflage the scratch. Minwax and other manufacturers sell colored wood-finish wax sticks that allow you to trace over the top of the scratch. It won’t take away the indentation, but it will restore the wood to its previous color. If you’re a DIY fan, try this old trick: rub a shelled walnut over the scratch. The oils in the nut will cover a scratch on wood surfaces.
For deeper gouges, you may have to do some spot sanding and refinishing. This is still a simple task; it just takes a few more steps. First, lightly sand over the scratch, remembering to sand with the grain. Fill it in with wood filler, then let it dry completely, which will take a few hours. When the wood filler is hard, sand the area again until you’ve achieved a smooth finish. Stain the area with a stain that matches the rest of your wood floors. Wait again for the stain to dry, and finally seal the area.
Removing a stain
If stains and dark spots on your wood floors are troubling you, there are a few easy tricks you can try. Check pet supply stores and home improvement stores for products designed to remove pet stains, or cleaners labeled as “enzymatic” cleaners. Enzymatic cleaners contain ingredients designed to break down the chemical bonds that are leaving that ugly blotch on your Douglas fir floors. Hydrogen peroxide and oxalic acid are two other products that can help lighten stains and remove discoloration. No matter what product you use, make sure to try a small amount in an inconspicuous area before you spread it widely.
If none of those approaches does the trick, you can always go through the spot sanding and re-finishing process we outlined above.
Replacing a board
Another option, if you can’t get your wood floor repairs looking just right, is to replace the offending floorboard with a new one. If you contact a knowledgeable lumber company, they’ll help you find just the right width and type of wood to match your current floors. At AltruFir, we even carry a wide variety of reclaimed flooring options, so if you have an older home and need antique lumber, we can most likely find it for you. After that, read through our tutorial on replacing floorboards, and you’ll be on your way to flawless floors again.
Once you’ve taken the plunge on repairing your wood floors, you’ll wonder why you ever waited. After all, who doesn’t want to see gorgeous, gleaming wood floors when they come home? It’s a no brainer!
This post was posted in Douglas Fir Flooring, Care & Maintenance and was tagged with wood flooring, hardwood flooring, wood flooring repair, how to fix a scratch on your wood floors, how to remove a stain on your wood floors, how to replace a hardwood floor board, No Brainer Day