How To Repair Dent In Wood Floor

Fixing dents and scratches in hardwood floors is non as straightforward and simple a process every bit it may seem. There are numerous factors involved in correctly addressing the damage and restoring the floors to their original appearance, and a few problems can turn a uncomplicated touch-up task into a big project.

If y'all or your clients have hardwood floors that have sustained scratching and denting resulting from high heel use, furniture marks, or general wearable and tear, hither's a how-to guide for repairing the bug to the best of your ability.

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Your starting time step: Determine the extent and cause of the damage

Offset, figure out how deep accept the scratches or dents accept penetrated. Small scratches on the uppermost layer of stop are easier to repair than scratches that accept penetrated through the cease and impacted the woods itself.

In mapping out your repair plan, you should too consider the location and noticeability of the scratches. If the scratch crosses v floor boards and it's in a high-traffic area of the room, such as at the threshold of a doorway, you'll have to practise more than all-encompassing repairs that may crave a drum sander rather than simply trying to fill up it in with a bear on-up marker.

In one case you have determined the extent and noticeability of the impairment, you're on your way to figuring out which method of the following three volition be all-time to use in your situation.

Method #1: Mechanical abrading for simple but less concealable repairs

To repair a scratch that doesn't fully penetrate through the finish, you may be able to mechanically abrade or vitrify out the scratch. Polish it out of the finish, then lightly recoat or impact upwardly the area. This is a very similar arroyo to buffing out a low-cal scratch on your auto then waxing it.

For an oil-modified finish, use a fine steel wool pad to gently buff out the scratch, taking care to move the pad forth the grain of the wood.

You cannot use a fine steel wool pad if y'all are planning to apply water-based terminate. The steel wool will leave dust behind that volition turn into rust when it interacts with the h2o in the end. In this case, utilise a surface preparation pad (SPP) instead.

Subsequently buffing the scratch out of the surface of the terminate, recoat the spot.

Yous may also be able to get away with using touch-up sticks that match the colour of the finish if the scratch is very calorie-free and shallow.

For quick buff and sand jobs, shop our line of sanding screens.

Method #2: Woods filler or woods putty for deeper scratches

If the scratch is a bit deeper than surface-level, fill the scratch with wood filler that matches the colour of the forest, and and then recoat.

Like the previous method, this type of fix is simply recommended if you lot are dealing with a pocket-sized scratch in a minor full-bodied surface area. Wood filler is non a skillful product to use if you're looking to muffle huge, deep scratches because it can't mimic the grain of the wood.

Method #3: Replace the boards or recoat the floors

In cases where bare woods is exposed, all-encompassing damage is likely, and you may need to supervene upon the damaged boards. If the damage is concentrated on i or two boards, you should remove and replace the damaged boards.

If you do decide to recoat an isolated area, it will be difficult to friction match the sheen level in the new end and thus to hide the repair. Very often, the repaired area of the floor will stand up out from the remainder of the floor, fifty-fifty if yous endeavor to achieve an exact lucifer betwixt the sheen levels.

If the damage is spread out across the entire room, like dents resulting from high heel use, yous may want to consider a good make clean and recoat.

This is as well expert method to use for repairing extensive scratches that are not deep enough to damage the wood itself—you can screen just deep plenty to buff out the scratches while leaving the woods untouched.

If you have to recoat, brand certain to clean up first.

Cleaning and immigration the floors of all grit earlier applying the finish coat is essential to get a beautiful finish.

After vacuuming up as much debris every bit you can, get over the floor with a rag soaked in pure mineral spirits if y'all are going to recoat with an oil-modified urethane stop. If you're going to use a water-based finish, soak the rag in water instead of mineral spirits to make clean upward.

Make certain to wring out your rags tightly. They just need to be damp to get those last dust particles off the surface.

Allow the floor dry out completely before y'all go along onto recoating the flooring. Terminate can only be properly applied to surface that is completely clean and dry.

Need to recoat? Browse our selection of hardwood floor finishes.

Be sure to permit for enough dry time in between coats too.

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Now that we've described the possible methods you tin use to remove scratches from your floor, hither are a few pitfalls that you can come up across that may force you to modify your repair plan.

Problem #1: Above average damage for unproblematic wear and tear? Perform an adhesion test.

If you detect that your floors are sustaining scratches from unproblematic wear-and-tear usage, such as kitchen chairs scraping across the floor, finish failure might exist the crusade of your scratching trouble. This means that the finish is not properly adhering to the wood.

You can exam for floor-to-finish adhesion by conducting what'due south called a "tic-tac-toe" adhesion test.

In an inconspicuous expanse of the flooring, use a knife to cut a cross-hatch design into the cease over several different boards. Put scotch tape over the pattern and and so rip it upward.

If a high percentage the finish transfers to the record, this ways that the finish is not adhering to the wood, and you lot take to sand the whole flooring down to bare forest and refinish. If information technology's just one or ii boards that are scratched upward and fail the adhesion test, y'all can replace them.

Some other thing to consider is that some prefinished floors contain additives such every bit ScotchGard and or StainMaster to protect the floor from stains, and their presence volition forbid new terminate from adhering properly to the previous layers of cease.

To bank check for the presence of additives in the previous layers of finish earlier attempting a recoat, utilise an inconspicuous spot on the floor to test out your new finish. If an condiment is nowadays, the new finish will dewdrop upwards.

If the previous terminate contains an additive, you lot cannot just recoat the floor—yous must sand downward to blank wood and apply new coats of stop in club to restore adhesion and eliminate the scratching problem.

Problem #ii: Wax- and/or shellac-coated floors? You cannot apply a simple surface re-glaze.

Before you can movement on to repairing the damage, you should do a spot test to determine whether at that place is wax, or shellac on the surface of the floor. Some of these may force y'all to recoat the floor with the same fabric rather than using a polyurethane.

You tin can do a elementary spot test to determine whether any of these are nowadays earlier recoating the floor.

To check for shellac, scratch an inconspicuous area of the floor with a sharp object, such as the edge of a coin. Flaking tin can point the presence of shellac, and this means that floor must be refinished in a particular way.

You lot tin likewise use denatured alcohol to test the area. If the denatured alcohol causes the end to dissolve, it is shellac.

If shellac is the top glaze you can use a 100 pct dewaxed shellac every bit your first coat and then put poly urethane over it or recoat with 2 coats of 3lb shellac.

To check for wax, apply mineral spirits to a clean, white rag. A slightly brown or xanthous color on the rag indicates that the floor is coated in wax.

If the floors are coated in wax, you must use wax when recoating. If y'all're dealing with a small scratch on a wax-coated hardwood floor in an isolated surface area, tape effectually the affected board to isolate it. Rub off the wax, repair the scratch, and then rewax the expanse.

If the floor isn't coated in wax or shellac, you can go ahead and recoat with a regular surface end.

Problem #three: Dents and gouges usually require flooring replacement.

Stilettos are not friendly with hardwood floors. If you notice that your flooring is riddled with dents from high heels, you lot're not going to have an easy time fixing them because they usually impairment the wood fibers.

Gouges resulting from incorrectly moving heavy furniture across the floor volition leave you with a like problem.

If the damage is concentrated in a small expanse, such as on a single board or a cluster of boards, consider replacing the damaged boards and the surrounding boards to ensure a compatible appearance and a less noticeable repair job.

You lot can also consider sanding down to the bare wood and filling the gouges or dents with wood filler, and so refinishing the surface area that you've repaired. But this is not likely to consequence in the nice, compatible appearance that yous're after. Unless yous're exceptionally good at blending woods fillers to friction match the rest of the floor, the repair will probable stick out like a sore pollex.

If dents are spread out over the entire floor and have impacted the wood itself, replacing the floor may exist the just solution to get rid of them.

The technique of applying a clothing fe to the woods to "buff out" the paring rarely works, and you can actually further harm the floor if you're not careful.

Forestall damage by taking precautions.

Prevention is always the best medicine.

Though it's best to recoat your floors every several years to go along them looking fresh and new, you can take a number of steps to preserve your floor'south longevity.

To prevent dents, take high heels off past the door. If you, your housemates, or your guests insist on wearing high heels effectually the firm, make certain that the protective caps on the heels remain intact.

Trim pet nails regularly to prevent them from scratching upward the floors, banish pets from areas of the house with hardwood flooring, or live with the pocket-size scratches (similar nosotros do).

Vacuum often to avoid a buildup of dirt and grit that will exist tracked over the floor and stop up scratching it. Put mats nigh doorways to minimize the amount of dust tracked into the house.Click hitherto scan our choice of hardwood floor cleaning products that won't damage your cease.

Most importantly, affix furniture pads to the bottoms of chairs, couches, and other heavy article of furniture, and avert dragging them across the floor when moving them.

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Feel gratuitous to contact u.s.a. if you need aid repairing impairment to your floor, determining what type of repairs will be necessary, or locating a hardwood floor professional person in your area who can exercise the chore. You tin reach u.s. at (800) 737-1786 or info@cityfloorsupply.com.

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(Paradigm credits: freedigitalphotos.net; pixabay.com; "Shellac board" past Nuberger13 at en.wikipedia – Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Eatables – http://eatables.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shellac_board.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Shellac_board.JPG)