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In January we had the carpet in our home replaced with hardwoods (four rooms). The new and older hardwoods were then all sanded and finished with an oil-base finish. Now, 6 months later, the new woods are cupping, not only in the rooms where there had been carpet, but also in the kitchen where new wood was used to patch a small area under a cabinet peninsula that we removed. Our first thought was that the cupping was caused by a moisture problem in the crawl space (we live in an area that is humid during the summer), but if that were true, wouldn’t all the hardwoods on the first floor be cupping, and not just the new wood? Does this have something to do with the installation? Acclimation? Finishing? What do you suggest we do to fix the floors? And can this be done without re-sanding and refinishing?

I am wondering about the long-term appearance of hardwood in a kitchen. We were at a home last night that had light-stained hardwood in the kitchen, and there was a lot of wear and tear on the busier areas of the kitchen (by the sink and fridge). I would like to do hardwood in my kitchen, but this made me question how long it would hold up to the regular busy-ness of a kitchen. Are there types of hardwood or stains that hold up better? Do I just need to prepare to re-finish in the kitchen every 5 years or something?

We’re currently building a house and am having 3” wide maple hardwood put in. Our concern is we have a large German Shepard and Jack Russel. We’d like to plan ahead and try to avoid the fate of some other folks asking questions. What is the best coating we should put on our hardwood prior to moving in to protect from the unsightly doggie scratches?

We’re currently building a house and am having 3” wide maple hardwood put in. Our concern is we have a large German Shepard and Jack Russel. We’d like to plan ahead and try to avoid the fate of some other folks asking questions. What is the best coating we should put on our hardwood prior to moving in to protect from the unsightly doggie scratches?

I own a painting company and I am doing a job for a home owner who is concerned about paint dripping on his unfinished Brazilian walnut hardwood floor. The installer told him that the paint can not be removed and I need to know if this is correct or not. This floors still are going to be sanded and finished when I am done painting.

Is it safe to place small rugs, i.e., runner with a non skid type backing on newly refinished hardwood floor?

We have a tile down the front hallway and wood almost everywhere else. Is it possible to lift the tile and replace it with the hardwood flooring we have left over from the doing the rest of the house?

How long can you wait to sand and finish floors after installing ? We have other tasks to do, like stick on stone around our fireplace hearth. Can waiting too long to sand and finish be detrimental to the unfinished floor?

We want to put insulated batts between the joist under our crawl space. We have a vapour barrier down and vents on all sides for ventilation. Will this effect our hardwood floors? We find the floors very cold in the winter, what would be your solution?

We had a saleswoman come to our house with heeled boots with an exposed tack. We now have over 500 1/4 inch round divots about 1/16 inch deep. The floors were recently refinished! Is there anything I can do about this, or is refinish all I can do?

For some reason after cleaning the floor a couple of days ago, my floor is extremely tacky and dull! I’ve never seen anything like it. I thought that maybe it was just extra dirty from a social gathering we had, therefore, I cleaned it again. Same thing. What happened?

I just bought the house yesterday and had the wood delivered right after the closing, oak, 3.25″. Somehow I haven’t activated my account with the gas company, so the heat has been off just right after wood was brought into the house. The heat will be off till Monday, 28th afternoon. Meanwhile, the temperature is about 18 degrees at night and going to be 16 tomorrow night. I put few electric heaters and humidifier, the temperature was about 59 degrees when I left. Would my wood be ruined or it can restore itself after the heat is back on? How long it should get acclimated after heat is back?

We recently purchased a home with wide pine flooring. We love the look, but we also have 2 dogs and their nails have gouged and taken off the finish in certain areas. What can we do to repair these areas and how can we protect the floors from further damage?

I am building a new house and I am interested in wider boards of about 5 inches but I have heard these can have problems with cupping? Is this true and if it is, is there a way to avoid the problem?

I’m having new cherry floors put into my apartment. The installer says he’s going to put 3 coats of varnish on the floors, with the final coat going on next Tuesday. He says we can move in the next morning. Is that right? It seems awfully quick to move in heavy furniture—I thought new floors needed a week to “cure” before even walking on them.

I’m planning on re-finishing my hardwood floors after discovering black, and I mean black, pet stains. I’d had some boards replaced before for the same reason, and thought I solved the problem with the dog, but not so. I didn’t have the floor resanded and refinished, then, just boards being replaced after being taken from another room.

We are having hard wood floors installed in our living room, hallway and dining room. However, we have dark, shiny trim around the doorways and base/floor trim. we want to paint the trim white. Should the trim be painted white BEFORE OR AFTER THE installation of the hardwood floors?

A few people have told me that they think this might be white oak….I don’t know that for sure. My dog has been running around on the unfinished floor for weeks now (as a test) and only in the sunlight do I see nail marks from his paws. Here’s the questions: I have seen floors sanded and polyurethaned and then the dog gets yelled at all the time for running and scratching the floor up. I don’t want to go through that I don’t want to have to keep sanding and reapplying polyurethane on the floors every year either. What’s a gal to do??? A man at the Home Depot here suggested that I clean the floor really well and just apply turpentine on the bare wood as a natural sealer. Please advise me. I have to complete this task soon and I want to do it right the first time. I’ve seen your Q and A list and those people are kicking themselves for their hard work gone bad. I don’t want to go through that. When I am done with the floor, I will restore the baseboards.

I bought a house last fall that has hardwood throughout a joint living room/dining room area. The floor is in good condition, however, it needs “something.” All I have done since I moved in is to vacuum and dust mop it often. It now looks like it needs a cleaning in some areas. I can see my dog’s paw prints and the floor just looks blurry, not shiny. It does have a couple of lighter spots where furniture use to sit that is now gone, but they aren’t in conspicuous areas to worry about. The problem is…I have NO idea what kind of finish is on the floor. The color is about the same as my medium light oak kitchen table. Each board is slightly beveled on the sides and ends, it doesn’t “feel” waxed…you can actually feel the grain of the wood when you rub your hand across it. If I scrape my fingernail in between the beveled ends I get a tiny yellow finish or something..it’s such a small amount I can’t tell if it feels waxy or what.. I’ve asked at our local Home Depot and Lowe’s and all I get is really scary answers of don’t put anything on it until you know what kind of finish is there. No wax on a urethane finish, no urethane cleaners or finishes on a waxed or unfinished finish…or I will “ruin the floor and it will cost thousands to fix it…………Good grief..I was thrilled to have hardwood, now I’m terrified I’m going to ruin them. I don’t know WHAT to do to them or how to tell what kind of finish is on there. The house was built in the late 70s…BUT…I don’t know that the hardwood is that old. There was an addition built on to the dining room about 10 years ago and the floor has all the same look… Can you please offer any suggestions on what I can do to figure out how to take care of my beautiful wood floors.

I have a 3/4″ oak floor 10 years old with a oil base ******** Polyurethane. I have lived here since the floor was installed and no wax has ever been used. Cleaned only with damp cloth of water and vinegar. Recently I cleaned floor with damp thinner cloth and about two hours later I applied a coat of the same Polyurethane as original used and a second coat six hours later. The floor looked beautiful for about a month and then bubbles started appearing mostly where the boards join. I did not do any sanding, and mineral sprits may have not dried in the cracks.