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Yikes! Those nasty
scratches on my new
hardwood floors! What to
do? Some scratching can
easily be fixed with
wax sticks sometimes
offered with prefinished
hardwood floor
manufacturer care kits.
Often with non
glossy
floors a simple magic
marker similar to
the stain color of the
floor can be used if the
scratch has penetrated
the finish and into the
underlying wood itself.
For
minor scratching on most
new prefinished floors a
q-tip and matching
finish sheen can be
applied to the scratch,
making sure not to over
apply, otherwise you may
see it in the right
amount of light looking
across the floor. It is
important to check with
the manufacturer to see
what type of finish was
used on the floor itself
if handling larger
problem scratches.
Major Scratches from
Furniture or Appliance
Movement
We
see the emails often.
The appliance guys
pushed the new
refrigerator back into
place and left some very
deep scratches in the
new floor. In this case
there may not be an easy
fix. The only real
solution to some floors
if they are engineered
for example, and cannot
be refinished and
stained successfully is
removing and replacing
the boards that are
damaged.
In
our serious case
scenario, it is
important when buying a
prefinished floor to buy
extra material in case
problems like this
occur. It may be a few
years before the
material is actually
needed. However, a few years
down the road you may
find the product color
or style has been
discontinued. Finding an
extra box can be
extremely frustrating.
Often you are left with
three choices; live with
the scratches, cover it
up with a large rug that
doesn't look right, or
replace the entire area.
Site Finished Hardwood -
Spot Sanding
Let's say we have an
area that has affected
two boards. Once again
finding the matching
sheen that was used for
the original surface
coat is important as any
old finish type will not
work well. Using 3M blue
type tape, mask off the
repair perimeter at the
board seams. Hand sand
gently and consistently
over the entire area
until the scratches are
removed. Apply finishes
in the same manner the
original floor was done.
Sealer, allow to dry,
screen by hand sanding
with a progressively
finer grit, tack and
apply finish coats.
Always remove tape after
coating.
Aluminum Oxide or
Ceramic Type Finishes
These types of finishes
will be much harder to
repair by using the spot
sanding method mentioned
above. Better solutions
lie in obtaining a
matching finish sheen
applied with a Q-tip or
individual board
replacements. |