Scratches on your wood flooring can be a common problem, almost inevitable. Even with the most careful owners there are a number of issues such as pet’s claws, moving furniture or even simple things such as walking around with dirt on beneath your foot. Here is Real Oak Floors 5 things to do to remove scratches from your wooden floors;
- Inspect the damaged area to determine how serious it is – There are two ‘types’ of damage that can be done to your wooden floor depending on the severity of the scratch. If the scratch is just on the surface of the wood this is called a scratch, however if the damage goes beyond surface then this is often referred to as a gouge. Both types of of scratches are repairable but a gouge may require a professional or a replacement board.
- Clean the damaged area – By cleaning the damaged area you are removing all the dirt from the scratch, this can help determine the severity of the issue and help you make a decision on the next step.
- Conceal small and light scratches - Once you have determined how severe the scratch is the next step is to conceal the scratch from any further damage, this can be done in a couple of different ways
- Touch up kits – Many wood floor retailers will stock touch up kits to help remove the appearance of scratches from wood floors. Ensure you purchase the right touch up kits for the wood floor you have
- Stain Markers – Stain makers allow you to add a fresh color to the wood floor and you hide the appearance of the scratch by dabbing this in with a piece of wool or cotton buds depending on lengths. Once you have applied the stain to the floor it is important to dry the area off to ensure the stain has been applied correctly.
- Fix large and deep scratches – If your scratched area is quite severe then there are a number of steps that you cant take to ensure that you get your floors looking there best.
- Rough up the damaged area using sandpaper – Find the scratched area and roughen up the scratch by performing circular motions following the grain of the wood.
- Clean the area – The next step is to clean the area with a damp cloth removing any excess sawdust, this can be done by using luke warm water or mineral spirits. Leave this to dry.
- Stain the floor – Once you have roughed the area up and cleaned off any excess the next step is to stain the floor to match the rest of the room. To apply stain to the floor apply lightly with a paintbrush using a dry cloth to push into the damaged areas.
- Repeat process until complete
- If the steps above don’t work and you still have an issue, you may need to replace the boards causing the issue. One thing that may help is to swap boards of a similar size however this can cause issues with how level the floors remain.
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