Hardwood floor messed up

September 10, 2007 6:38 PM

How do I fix my hardwood floor which I messed up?

I just moved into a rental apartment with a hardwood floor. The movers made a few marks in the floor, and I wasn't sure if they were scratches or just marks, so I rubbed them with a rough kitchen scrubber, and lo and behold, all that did was remove the surface of the flooring. So now where I rubbed is dull compared to the rest of the floor. Moreover, the marks were indeed scratches and now they're even more prominent.

I don't know what kind of surface the floor is, unless that can be ascertained from the fact that it could be so easily damaged. Does anyone know what the surface is likely to be, and how I could fix it?

Thanks a lot!

posted by tabulem to home & garden (12 comments total)

Pictures would really help in this situation, but if it was simply a rough kitchen scrubber, I would start with a good hardwood floor cleaner (like Murphy's Oil Soap) and a clean non-abrasive nylon bristle brush. Then I would apply a long lasting hardwood floor wax, which you should be able to get at Lowes or Home Depot on recommendation.
posted by mrmojoflying at 6:42 PM on September 10, 2007

Does this floor have some sort of stain on it? I live in a 110-year old house and any scuffs on the hardwood floor seem to expose bright wood. That kind of mark is a lot more of a pisser than a messed up wax coat.
posted by rolypolyman at 6:46 PM on September 10, 2007

Put a rug over it and kiss your deposit good bye!
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:28 PM on September 10, 2007 [1 favorite]

You can remove the affected boards and replace them. Contact your local hardwood dealer for details, but it's really easy! I don't know close you are to Rochester, NY, but I recommend Harman
posted by fvox13 at 8:14 PM on September 10, 2007

ah, Murphy's Oil Soap will do no good in this situation. Your deposit is toast. That's what they're for, though, so, there's that.

This has happened to me, and I'm sorry to say, you're fucked. Unless you know, you can equally damage the entire floor evenly. Or you could pay to get the entire thing refinished, which would probably be more than your deposit in the first place.

And if your hardwood floors are tongue-in-groove, it's going to be hard to replace them. How much was your deposit?
posted by mckenney at 9:28 PM on September 10, 2007

Find a good refinisher in your area and eat the cost...if the landlord is in your building and sees the workers (and this is verboten in the lease), play innocent and say you're getting it cleaned. I did this with my last rental (not realizing I wasn't supposed to) because when I moved in the floors were black with NYC grit.
posted by brujita at 9:44 PM on September 10, 2007

There's a company we used to match our new kitchen hardwood floor color to our 60 year older dining room hardwood. They use color stains or something similar and they did a great job on a very difficult match for a reasonable amount of cash.

Nhance floor finishing is the company we used. Or maybe there's someone similar in your part of the woods (pun intended). Look them up. I'm not a shill.
posted by artdrectr at 9:50 PM on September 10, 2007

Is the color of the floor lighter where you scrubbed it, like how it is when you scratch a piece of stained wood?

If so, let me introduce you to the wonders of brown shoe polish. No, seriously. Old trick, and it works well, if the area's not too big. Get some brown solid paste shoe polish (not the liquid squeeze bottle crap, but the stuff in a flat can) shoe polish, rub it into the joint using an old sock or t-shirt, let it dry, and then buff with the clean end of the sock or t-shirt.

The dullness is because you scrubbed off the polyurethane or varnish finish. I doubt very seriously that you could effectively just re-poly that area of the floor and it look good. But masking the color with shoe polish, you might just get away with. It'll be far from perfect, but could very well be enough.
posted by middleclasstool at 10:40 PM on September 10, 2007

I used to work installing hardwood floors (about 9 years ago).

First- If the movers scratched the finish but didn't actually cut some gouges into the floor with some piece of furniture, then you can go to the hardware store and pick up a piece of screen that's above 200 grit. (look for the sandpaper). You will also need some paint thinner, old towel that you can toss after use, and some polyurethane finish (Minwax or similar) that will match your floor... more on that later. Also... look for a lambs wool pad and a throw away paint tray. (You could use a brush, but we used lamb wool pads and had great results.

Use the screen to sand down the scratches....don't be afraid... this is usually used on one of those buffers like the school janitor uses. You can do it by hand. Work in a circular motion.

Next, vacuum up the dust.

Take the old towel and pour a little paint thinner on it. Wipe the area making sure to get as much dust up as possible beforehand. This will remove the bulk of any residual dust that is left.

Pour a little of the polyurethane finish into the paint tray. CAREFUL- Do not let the finish drip. Dip the lamb wool pad in and make long smooth strokes across the area. I am guessing that you will only need one coat to fix the problem since the goal of the sanding is to take some of the scratches out and not eat all the way through the finish.

If there are deep scratches all the way down to the wood.... it will be tough to fix without a good sanding.

NOTE: I am assuming (we know what that can do) that the floor has not been stained and that it has only been coated with polyurethane finish. If the floor is stained, it will be almost impossible to fix without the exact brand and name of the stain . That is more that you will want to deal with. Also... polyurethane finish has a few different sheens-
Satin-dull and soft looking
Semi-Gloss- most common and more than likely what your apartment has.
Gloss- like the name says... VERY shiny.

Also.... your floors are real hardwood floors right?

If you have some pics it will help a lot. This is just something to get you started. GOOD LUCK.
posted by pleuroma at 1:47 PM on September 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm not a proffessional floor guy, but sometimes my work calls for me to act like a facsimile of one, so I have the research tools at hand. Here's what I came up with:

First you need to determine what kind of finish you’re dealing with. Judging by your description of the damage it sounds like a surface finish and not a penetrating oil. There are some tests you can do in an inconspicuous area to find out what you have.

Let a drop or two of water stand on it for 10 to 15 minutes. If the finish turns white you have wax, which can be removed with wax-stripper or mineral spirits and re-coated.

Under the wax you may have either poly-urethane or shellac. Shellac will flake when scraped with a penny or thumbnail. To test for poly-urethane you need to brush on a little paint stripper. If the finish bubbles its poly.

Pleuroma already covered poly so here’s something from a guy who posts on Finehomebuilding.com in Breaktime. He’s a big fan of shellac.


“OK but damage will happen.. when it does you get a rag damp with a little of the denatured alcohol and rub the scratch. face east and say abra cadabra.. poof scratch be gone! (the abra cadabra part is optional and you can face any direction that you want) ;-)
1. when the surface needs to be refinished don't bother a pro, wipe off the worst of the scratches with denatured alcohol and slop another coat of shellac on..
Finishing technique is extremely complex so much so that I think a slow 5 year old could do it.. Here's what you do..
Buy yourself a nice wide paint brush .. some big old house painter thing.. make sure the surface is smooth and clean. I use a slightly damp (with alcohol) old T shirt. Now as quickly as you can slop a lot of shellac thinned out three to one. with denatured alcohol covering the whole surface like you are in the Indy 500 of painting. Fast is more important than neat. It will dry in about 15 minutes and then you can lightly sand the whole surface with 220 grit sand paper..(I use an electric DA and can cover about 500 sq ft. in 15 minutes..) you can then put a second coat on or wait untill you have time.. timing isn't important. sand that coat with the same sand aper. Old here works just fine. the third coat and you're done as soon as it's dry.. I try to give it 8 hours before I walk on it but I've walked on it shortly afterwards with no problems.
Cautions here.. shellac reacts poorly with water so if you spill some wipe it up quickly or it will cloud up which means you need to use some alcohol to wipe off the old shelac and then startover..
Shellac blends like nothing else so one are that needs attention doesn't require redoing the whole floor.. just the area involved..
After a month or so you might want to wax it. I use old fashioned carnuba wax I rub it on and buff it in. I have a buffer I use for my boats and that's just fine.. wax every month or so and the finish will begin to take on this lovely patina that simply can't be faked with any semi gloss whatever.. Shellac has a wonderful depth and a visual warmness that will fool everybody as to what finish you selected.. Nobody will ever guess it came out of a $22.00 dollar can!”

Also there's a pay-site called woodfloordoctor.com that may have the answer to your problem.
posted by Huplescat at 3:10 PM on September 11, 2007

Whatever you do, take care not to make it worse. Re-finishing an entire floor is a major project.
posted by Huplescat at 5:22 PM on September 11, 2007

Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone. It looks like I'll be headed down to the hardware store this weekend... wish me luck.
posted by tabulem at 5:45 PM on September 11, 2007