Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with floors

Office Floor Materials

Raybun — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:54:48 -0800

What flooring for my home office can withstand constant pressure from office chair casters? The chairs and users will be moving between different stations in a very small office area. This makes chair floor guards unusable. I would even consider natural stone if it would stand up to the chair movement. I have also considered machining large circular pads with carpeting or some other sliding material on the bottom to replace the chair casters. These would spread the weight of the loaded chair over a larger area.

A Not Quite Fix for My Poor Hardwood Floors

aabbbiee — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:30:55 -0800

How can I limit damage to my virtually-unfinished hardwood floors without the trouble/expense of refinishing? I have an 1800 sq foot ranch-style home built in 1994 (in Missouri, USA). All of the flooring is hardwood, with the exception of a small utility room and the two bathrooms. This is a slab home, and the wood is directly on top of the concrete. I cannot be very specific about the type of wood it is- possibly oak? It's very standard early-90s suburban house wood flooring.

When I bought this house in 2006 (at the top of the market, of course), the floors were not in great shape. I didn't care because I own a dog and do not want to live a lifestyle where I have to place a lot of emphasis on keeping my floors scratch-free. My house is not worth what I paid for it, and I've had to put some very expensive work into it (roof, foundation repairs, new a/c, just to start). This is not a house I wanted to own forever. I will likely sell or rent the place out in 5 years.
In addition, refinishing of any part of the house would require refinishing of all the floors of the house, because the wood flows through all the rooms. I have had a casual estimate of $4000 to refinish the floors of the house. This is not chump change for me, and that new a/c unit was installed just two weeks ago, so I am not exactly rolling in it right now.

Until this past weekend, I didn't worry too much about the floors, but they were not in great shape. I cleaned them regularly by sweeping or vacuuming. Maybe once a year I tried to clean them with Murphy's Oil, whereupon it became obvious that they had almost no finish left. The water soaked in and there was a smell of wet wood.

This past weekend, I had the excitement of coming home to find that a washing machine hose had burst (the washing machine was not even in use at the time) and flooded about a third of the house with an inch of water in just forty-five minutes. (Fantastic entertainment for a Saturday night!)

After the immediate cleanup, I am happy to see that there was very little long-term damage to my house. The floorboards have dried out without buckling. We've had very low humidity this week (totally unusual for Missouri in summer) but the new a/c has been very helpful, and I think I removed the water fast enough that there may not be mold damage. Furniture and other possessions were largely untouched. Rugs are all cotton and can be washed. I was remarkably fortunate.

The only thing that was ruined was [whatever was left of] the finish of the hardwood in that part of the house. In the living room, I can see where the water was and where it stopped. It's not a bad stain and it would likely come out with sanding, but the floors are clearly in even worse shape than they were. Refinishing them would fix them perfectly, I'm sure.

I don't want to refinish. See paragraph #2.
What can I do with these floors? My priority is to decrease the amount of damage that my dog and I could incur if we live on pretty-much-unfinished wood floors. Making them pretty is not really my priority. I just want to limit the damage. (I can't put rugs everywhere.)
Google lists different products on the market that swear they will help me, but I don't know enough to tell the useless & destructive from the magic miracle tonic.
Things that involve sanding seem to be a little beyond my comfort zone as far as things I can do myself (and I don't want to hire someone else).
What options beyond refinishing do I have? How should I be cleaning this floor?

Is it safe for my pregnant wife to be around polyurethane fumes?

bingwah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:09:49 -0800

I want to have 2 bedroom hardwood floors refinished. My wife is about 14 weeks pregnant. Is it safe for her to be in the house with the polyurethane fumes from the floor finish? I have a raised ranch house. The 2 bedrooms being refinished are on the upper level. We have another bedroom on the lower level on the opposite side of the house where we can sleep.

I know polyurethane and pregnancy do not mix but I figured she can mostly avoid the fumes by staying on the lower level as much as possible. The kitchen is on the upper level so there would be times when she's exposed to the fumes.

Are the fumes very dangerous? As an aside does anyone have experience with water-based finishes for floors?

Minding the gap

Mountain Goatse — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:36:07 -0800

Best way to seal tiny gaps between the hardwood floors and the baseboards? Ants are coming in through the gaps. What compound should I use to seal off the openings?

Hardwood floor protective coating?

Mid — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:44:52 -0800

How to protect hardwood floors from my dog and child? We are moving into a new house that has very nice new-ish floors. The floors were either refinished or perhaps replaced about 1-2 years ago. They look great. I'm told they are "cherry," if that matters.

In the house we are leaving, the floors are destroyed. Our dog and our kid have just beaten the heck out of them over the years.

So, here's the question: is there anything we can do for the new floors before we move in to protect them? We have talked with a couple of floor guys, who both say that they would put "a couple of coats" on the floors before we move in. But, other people have told me that putting coatings on the floors will just make the eventual scuffs and scratches look worse. I have no idea what kind of coats we are talking about.

Obviously, we will put rugs and runners where we can.

Any clues here? Thanks

How to deep clean vinyl floors

otherwordlyglow — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:03:52 -0800

What's the best way to deep clean vinyl floors? We have a vinyl floor in our kitchen - you know the kind that's supposed to look like individual tiles but is actually a rolled out sheet of faux tiles. It's a rental, not my choice of floors but it'll do. I'm kind of lax about regular cleaning though I've been trying to be better and at least use a Swiffer Wet Jet every other week on account of the baby crawling all over the floors. It's hard to ignore the state of the floors when the evidence is smeared all over the knees of your child.

Occasionally I do the old hands-and-knees service with a bucket and a scrub brush. However, it seems to me that there's a layer of grime that I'm not getting to. I've heard all kinds of things to try: ammonia, borax, vinegar, isopropyl alcohol but really have no idea what I need to do to strip the floors of grime. Hopefully this is the kind of thing I can do once or twice a year and then return to my swiffering for more regular maintenance. And then, once I really have them clean, do I seal them somehow? With what?

Ideas? The less toxic the better.

Hardwoods? More like Bore-aphyll.

AsRuinsAreToRome — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:43:04 -0800

Need a hardwood flooring recommendation for West Los Angeles - specifically, the Culver City area. So I bought a condo last April. So far its great. But the entire thing is covered in white carpeting which, unfortunately, has taken a beating since we've moved in. Although we have rugs all over the place white carpet is a dirt magnet and my girlfriend and I own a dirt-loving pug.

Basically, I'd like a guy who's available to come out on the weekends and do a free estimate of how much it'd cost to either a) refinish the existing hardwoods beneath my carpeting or b) install laminate over the existing hardwoods and re-do all the white molding on the floor.

I'm actually not even sure how this even works. Does the guy come out and just rip up a little corner of your carpet to inspect the wood underneath and write me a quote based on that little section of flooring? Will I get options if the entirety of the floor isn't salvageable?

I searched using Google Maps but there are literally THOUSANDS of hardwood flooring showrooms and independent contractors in Los Angeles (most with no reviews to speak of), and I have no idea how to ensure I get a competitive price and a quality job done.

Does anyone have a guy they used that can do the job well for a fair price?

Quartz floor tiles?

brujita — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:39:43 -0800

Has anyone installed quartz tiles on their bathroom/kitchen floors? Were you happy with the results? I currently have polished marble tiles in my bathrooms installed by the former owner--which I didn't realize weren't sealed. I'd like a rougher surface, but the company sites I've found don't give much info about alternatives.

How to remove dye stains from hardwood?

Felicity Rilke — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:38:45 -0800

Ho do I remove confetti and streamer stains from hardwood floors? We held an election party last night complete with streamers and that metallic confetti which shoots out of poppers. Some of the streamers and confetti sat in pools of alcohol all night and today I am faced with candy-coloured marks all over my light-coloured hardwood. What's the best way to get rid of them (or, at the very least, fade them so they're less noticeable). I don't want to ruin the floors with my experimentation.

I'm floored that I'm writing the HiveMind about THIS.

canine epigram — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:43:35 -0800

How best to protect hardwood floors from chairs? I did a search on "protecting hardwood floors" and didn't find much.

We've just moved into our nearly-new condo, and have company over quite a bit, and we sit around the dining table in wooden chairs. Despite putting those sticky felt pads on the chair feet, the dining room floor is still sustaining a lot of surface scratches and scuffs - the pads shift under people's weight, they slowly slide off the chair feet, deform unevenly, etc.

We're likely eventually to get a rug in the dining room (partially for this reason, and also to cut the echo), but until we do, how best to protect the floor, because the pads aren't cutting it?

I suppose we could get a cheap(ish) remnant and put that down until we can afford a real rug, but even a remnant would run near $100, not look terribly great, and then only get used for a few months until we've got a rug - but at the rate this is going, I can't wait a few months to deal with the problem.

Help me hivemind!

Ooh, what's inside there?

sixcolors — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:43:46 -0800

So what's inside areas that are closed off to the public, in buildings? I know places like hospitals have certain areas that are closed off to the public because they are morgues, have hazardous materials inside, or whatever...but there's other places I have trouble guessing why they restrict access.

Some examples:

On my campus, the library, business, and education buildings have areas where students and sometimes faculty aren't allowed. Same thing with the dorms, but it is even weirder. Some of the stairwells are locked. Isn't that a fire hazard? One of the dorms obviously have a fourth floor, yet no one lives up there, and you can't get there from the stairs or elevator.

Not too long ago, I looked at the floor plan of my favorite casino, and noticed that there was at least five rooms that didn't have a number or name.

As for elevators...I sometimes see keyholes instead of buttons on certain floors. It's usually the very top or very bottom floor(s).

I don't know if this is urban legend or not...I heard that the 13th floor in some buildings aren't open to the public. Superstitious much?If that's true, what's there?

Well, maybe we could play skee-ball during dinner parties...

TryTheTilapia — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 11:46:37 -0800

Should we pass on this great apartment we've found because the floor slants a bit? We've found an apartment in Brooklyn co-op we interested in buying. There is one problem - the floor slopes a bit in the hallway and into the master bedroom, and there is noticeable crack in the wall above the bedroom doorway where the foundation has settled. Welcome to New York real estate if you're not a millionaire.

The apartment is in great shape otherwise and a good size. The problem is concentrated to one patch of floor. The price is a little high, but the seller is motivated (he has a job offer in another state) and we feel we could get the asking price down to within a more comfortable range. We love the neighborhood and the street, there's public transportation nearby, the building has no underlying mortgage so our maintenance would be considerably lower than other places we've viewed. The building is well-maintained and managed, and the co-op board consists of all of three people. Average approval, we're told, takes one week.

The building was built in 1930. We're told by the real estate agent that co-op investigated the matter and it was determined there wasn't much that could be done - old buildings settle, and so forth. One owner in a lower unit apparently had their floors evened out for about $13,000. Of course, the agent is trying to sell the apartment, so we're taking this info with a grain of salt.

Questions - how big a problem is this? Anybody have experience leveling out a floor like this? Would this be a deal-breaker for you? Is this just the price of wanting to live in a Pre-War building? If we went for it, what kind of reduction in the asking price would be appropriate? Too big a risk? Any experience, advice, cautionary tales, encouragement or insight appreciated.

Keep us up off the killing floor.

jquinby — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:31:01 -0800

Water damage to our hardwood floors - what can/should we expect? Help!

We had a new dishwasher installed a week ago and discovered last night that it had been leaking from the elbow joint. Our kitchen floor is hardwood, but the planks don't extend all the way under the dishwasher space, so the leak pooled there and then seeped under the boards. It was the discoloration around the seams and some noticeable buckling that tipped us off that something was wrong, but it was so gradual that we really didn't start digging around until last night.

The big-box home improvement store re-dispatched their contractor/installer, who addressed the leak first thing this morning, so at least that's fixed. Their installation service manager is coming out on Monday to inspect the damage.

We've never owned a place with hardwoods, so I'm not really sure what to expect with regards to remediation. I'm doubtful that they'd be able to match the finish/color of the rest of the kitchen, so my opinion is that they're going to have to patch the area and refinish the whole kitchen floor. But then there's the plywood subflooring to consider (we have a crawlspace). The total, visibly affected area is roughly 4-foot by 3-foot. Should I be concerned about mold and such?

I don't *think* they're going to try to shaft us on this, but what should I be looking for regarding the repair? They're clearly on the hook for it - the contractor said as much. I just want to make sure that we don't settle for something half-assed.

So, hivemind: any advice or further considerations?

Creeping myself out.

Jess the Mess — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 13:17:09 -0800

What are these reddish brown stains on the floor of my "vintage" apartment? I'm not sure if I really want to know the answer to this question but here goes: I live in an old (circa 1920's or older) apartment in Chicago with wood floors. Both this apartment and the one I lived in before (also quite old) had very dark reddish brown stains on the floor when I moved in. In this apartment, they're in the bedroom. The other one was in the bed/living area of the apartment, which was a studio. Both were groupings of several stains of varying sizes, the largest being about a foot in diameter.

The morbid part of me wants to think they're blood stains, but could they just be from a drippy plant or something? Also, why is this apparently so common, if it is blood? As far as I know there hadn't been any murders or anything in either apartment.

Why won't the paint strip off my hardwood floor in one particular area?

sciurus — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:00:12 -0800

Why won't the paint strip off my hardwood floor in one particular area? Before - After I'm using Bix Stripper, which is your basic stinky multi-purpose stripping agent. It works great except for one part the room. Any ideas why that is?

The floor is painted gray with random white globs of what looks like spackle. Someone did a half-assed job doing whatever it was they were doing when they decided to paint the floors, since it isn't uniform anywhere.

Anyway, there is no visible or textural difference between the spots that strip and the spot that won't, in terms of the paint. It does appear that the wood in the non-stripping portion is a bit drier and more brittle and liable to peel than in the rest of the room.

Any ideas why it isn't working? Am I going to just have to suck it up and sand the sumbitch? What other options are available to me?

Removing stains from floor.

zenpop — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 12:05:56 -0800

Any 'real' success stories with getting water/mildew stains out of an oak hardwood floor? While renting I've taken great care of my landlord's house. But was bummed to discover a big discoloration on the hardwood floor when I moved a large potted plant that I'd had sitting there through the year. (Yes, I had a water catch under it, but I think condensation gathered and did the dirty work).

I've Googled this and found various suggestions -- which are fine and good. This one sounding the most involved. But I'm wondering if anyone here has had real success in doing this. Or if anyone might have some other, less involved directions/suggestions. Or other stories to share.

I'm dreading the house 'inspection' when I move out end of July.

Did I choose the right company to refinish my hardwood floors?

Lorna — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 11:51:42 -0800

I'm having my hardwood floors refinished by professionals. It will take 3 days and in addition to the sanding they'll be applying 4 layers of polyurethane (no sealer) Does this sound good to you? Did I pick the right guys? Some of these companies come in and do it all in one day and use one coat of sealer and one of polyurethane. And some other companies bad mouth these guys and say that their work doesn't last. I plan on staying in this house for another 25 years, if not longer so longevity of the finish is important.

bamboo floors

TheLibrarian — Sun, 27 May 2007 21:28:49 -0800

bamboo flooring...its been discussed in the past but was wondering if anyone had new advice or anecdotes.. we have 2 large dogs (50lbs and 75lbs), 2 cats . I have heard it is soft and will scratch/show dents. someone in the previous linked post felt that the blonder bamboo was harder than the darker variety...doesn't seem likely since the color is a function of the stain not the bamboo I would think.
anyone know anything about that?
anyone out there with 120lbs of dog and bamboo floors that is happy with their flooring decision? if this is the case--how much per sq ft? what brand? or what about your bamboo floor do you think has made it more resilient or scratch resistant?
also our realtor said bamboo was "so over" [my paraphrasing]---would bamboo floors discourage future buyers?

Security deposit vs. wood floors

juliplease — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:00:59 -0800

I'm moving out of my San Francisco apartment, after renting it for almost 4 years. My wood floors have taken a beating. Any ideas what I can do to make them look their very best for my final inspection? Is there a definition of normal wear and tear? I had a futon in my studio to save some space for awhile. I put carpeted pads on the feet of it, but there is still a superficial track of wear from the months of pulling out the bed every night. It's not terrible, but I think it will be noticeable. I have plans to apply Murphy's Oil once or twice before my initial inspection, but I'd like to be prepared. I've searched SF Tenant's Union website and a few others but can't find what normal wear and tear on a wood floor constitutes. Also, with over $2000 invested in the deposit, what worst-case scenario can I expect if they ask me to pay for any repairs to/refinishing the floor.

I don't know what kind of wood it is or how it's treated/finished.

The rug was put there to protect us, but who protects us from the protector?

mzurer — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:55:17 -0800

Jute rug damaged my floor! My wife and I are moving out of our apartment, and when we rolled up the jute rugs, there seems to be damage to floors underneath as though the actual rug wore into the floor. We had thin anti-slip rubber mesh underneath. If you can imagine the pattern of the rug weave worn into the floor, that's what it looks like. Murphy's oil soap+elbow grease has made it less horrible looking, but still there. Any ideas? Any floor-reconditioning products you can reccomend? The floors are worn and water-stained anyway, but it's not clear if the landlord was going to redo them soon. I'd prefer not to fund refinishing with my security deposit.

Is my kitchen floor real linoleum?

peep — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 13:06:08 -0800

Is there a way to tell if my kitchen floor is real linoleum, or vinyl? It's one big sheet, not squares. The house was built in 1964 and the floor is original. There is one place where it's pulling up, and I can see that it has a paper-like backing. I can't pull it back far enough to see any stamp or writing without ruining the floor.

I am thinking it's vinyl, but it's so hard to clean and keep clean that we've started to wonder if it's linoleum and needs to be waxed.

Is there a definitive way to tell? Is 1964 late enough to know for sure that it's vinyl?

Hardwood > Carpet

disillusioned — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:23:45 -0800

FloorFilter: Is the idea of "temporary" or easily removable hardwood flooring or some derivative thereof completely out of the realm of possibility for an office space? It's pretty ridiculous, I realize, but I'd love hardwood floors in my tiny (320 sq. ft., 22' x 15') new office space. It's completely empty (actually it's a building shell, being built into, but the landlord wouldn't be too keen on hardwood-flooring just our office, methinks) so I was wondering if any sort of "temporary" or lay-down flooring options exist that reproduce the hardwood floor look and feel while resting on low-traffic office carpet?

I know it's pretty ridiculous, and there'd be a bit of a step into the office, naturally, but is there anything that wouldn't have to be "installed" outright?

How to remove paint from a parquet floor?

huskerdont — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 08:14:10 -0800

How to remove paint from parquet floors? I recently moved into a new apartment that was painted over in a quickie job by the landlord before I came in. As a result, there are small splotches of latex paint all over the parquet floor in the apartment.

Unfortunately, the landlord has shown little interest in fixing it so I'm stuck with the task. We're talking around two dozen small splotches of paint on the parquet floor. Out of all the traditional methods (scraping off with a razor, sanding, using remover in conjunction with either of the two) what would be the quickest and most painless way to remove them?

Water damage on a wood floor--hurry, it's still damp!

werty — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 18:23:56 -0800

I just discovered a bottle of water has leaked onto my hardwood floor. What can I do to minimize the damage while the floor is still damp? Some details: the water was about 8 oz. of San Pellegrino from an apparently busted screw cap. It dripped over the last 30 hours or so. The floor is a small parquet hardwood. I have cleaned up the surface water but some of it has seeped into the cracks and is darkening the wood.

Short term, what do I do to pull as much water as possible away from the wood as it dries? Long term, what can I do to minimize any discoloration?

How to prevent a dog's toenails from scratching a wood floor?

chippie — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:24:21 -0800

How can I prevent my 75-pound dog from scratching my wood floors? I keep his nails trimmed and discourage lots of running in the house, but the floors are getting scratched. Short of putting rugs anywhere, or making the dog wear booties, is there any way to minimize the scratching? Or is there an easy way to remove scratches that doesn't involve refinishing the whole floor?