You Won't Believe How Easy These Hardwood Flooring Fixes Are

Do you love the hardwood flooring in your home, but wish you could get rid of some its imperfections?  Believe it or not, but you most certainly can.  There are some relatively simple repairs you can make to your hardwood flooring to make it look and feel like new again.  Here are a few flooring issues that have simple fixes:

1- Stains: Do the stains on your hardwood flooring just drive you crazy?  As hardwood flooring installation experts we understand how important the appearance of hardwood flooring is to homeowners.  Proper hardwood flooring installation and hardwood flooring maintenance truly does go a long way as far as how aesthetically appealing hardwood flooring remains over the years and let's face it, hardwood flooring tends to take a lot of abuse over the years.  If moisture has gotten into your hardwood flooring and stained it then sand off the finish and consider scrubbing with a wood bleach.  Rinse it a few times with water. Once the stain is gone, which could take a couple of treatments so don't get discouraged, apply a new finish.  Just make sure that the wood is completely dry.

2- Scratches:  Scratches on hardwood floors are unfortunately quite common and have a simple solution.  If the scratches are light, touch up any scratches on your hardwood flooring using a stain-filled marker.  Stain-filled markers are sold at most hardware stores and hide scratches quite well.  Some scratches, if they are more extensive, could require sanding.  It depends on the severity.  Scratches can be avoided by placing felt on the bottom of heavy furniture to avoid scratches if the furniture needs to be moved.

3- Spots: Spots on hardwood flooring can be fixed rather easily as well by the process of refinishing.  Tape around the damaged board and sand with 80-grit paper until the imperfections disappear.  Sand again with 120-grit paper and then brush on polyurethane.  Allow drying time and say goodbye to the spots.

4- Open joints: If you have big gaps that open up between planks, they can be stuffed with manila rope or no-tar oakum, which is a jute fiber that is commonly used by plumbers.

5- Squeaks: We mentioned squeaking and sounds in a previous post.  Taking the sounds out of your hardwood flooring can be a simple fix.  Figure out first which board is causing the squeaking, drill at an angle through its face until you reach the subfloor.  You must avoid splitting so be sure to position the bit at the center of the board at least 3 inches from either end.  Hold the board as you hammer a nail into the hole.  Recess the head with a nailset.  Lastly, fill the divot with wood putty.

Looking more tips and tricks on doable hardwood flooring fixes?  Leave us a comment or contact us.

5 Things You Need to Know Before You Can Refinish Your Hardwood Floors

One of the more popular jobs my Chicago hardwood flooring company gets called to do, besides installation, is refinish hardwood floors. Some floors are close to 100 years old and can be a major undertaking to restore.

While for sake of time and sanity, it makes sense to hire a company, should you decide to do the job yourself, here are some tips to know.

1. It is a lot of hard work. 

Indeed, a lot of work. Depending on the size of your house and how much flooring you plan on refinishing, it can range anywhere from five days to seven or eight. And they will be long days. On one of my first jobs, it was a refinishing job for a house that wanted to redo their four bedrooms, the hallway, large living room, and the kitchen; I thought this was going to be a three day job. No sir! It took six days.

2. Know what is covering your floors. 

Back to the house I just mentioned in my first job. It was old and a little run down. Someone just bought it at an auction. Each room had a special challenge. A few of the rooms had no finish left on the floor and the previous owner had painted over the floors with this ugly yellow paint. One of the bedrooms had carpet covering the floor, then a thick layer of blue paint, then the hardwood floor. Due to the differences in coverings on the floor, we had to adjust our sanding style.

3. Price out your equipment. 

You will want to get a drum sander and an edger. Both are must-haves. Shop around and find the best price.

4. Stir up the poly between each use, okay? 

Some novices will make this mistake and it can be frustrating. If you use polyurethane, know that it is shiny but you can add a powder to reduce the shine. However, this powder will settle to the bottom so you have to stir the poly to keep it all mixed up. If you do not do this, then you might find some spots in your floors that are very shiny amongst more matte looks.

5. Know when to be done. 

Know when enough is enough. When you are refinishing old floors, there are going to be uneven spots; if your floors are covered in paint, you might find that you can't sand off the paint without ruining the floor. If you can't get the uneven spot or paint to go away without ruining the floor, do not ruin the floor. Sometimes, those little paint cracks or dip in the wood can make your floor feel and look vintage and organic.

Of course, if you cannot get a large bit of paint off or the floor is just in too bad of shape to restore, you can always cover with laminate hardwood flooring.

If you are unsure of what to do or would rather hire a company, then contact Chicagoland Pro, a hardwood flooring company in Chicagoland.



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