Q: I have pine wood floors coated with polyurethane. They are about 80 years old. Some of the wood, usually under a bed or throw rug, has lost it’s color in spots. It’s the wood itself, not the coating. It looks like bleach has taken the color out of the wood in streaks, bleach like [...]
Repairs
Q&A
May 012013
Apr 242013
Q: We had our apt floor put in 4 years ago when we renovated. A few months later small black spots started appearing and have grown in number. They are mostly circular and dark black and mostly around the dining room table, but not all right under it. I don’t believe they are from anything [...]
Mar 052013
Q: We have prefinished hardwood, birch floor in our home (M*****). Within one week of ownership it was terribly scratched from our small dog. After 3 years now I would like to have it ripped out and tile put in (personally I don’t feel it is a very durable product). However, I was wondering about [...]
Feb 132013
Q: I have an engineered vertical carbonized bamboo click floor (made with plywood, not paper). A few weeks ago a small amount of water oozed out of my dishwasher and sat on the flooring. The bamboo sucked the water in a few inches at the crack between the planks, and though it seems to have [...]
Jul 162012
Q: We have cupping from a recent leak. We had our red oak floors refinished a few months ago. Unfortunately, we recently had a water heater leak on to our floors and several boards now have cupping. The floors had water on them for an hour or two and we dried them with towels and [...]
Q: There are oak floors in my 1960′s house. The floor furnace vents are no longer functional, but are metal lined holes. Is there a way to patch or cover them with oak flooring? A: Oh sure you can cut out or stagger back all the boards involved and knit in new oak strip. Trying [...]
Apr 032012
Q: Help! We just removed linoleum from our wood floor and the guys used 747 silicone grease remover to remove the glue. It has seeped down into the floor and I can’t get rid of it. I’ve used Simple Green several times, and then tried 409 (per the grease remover manufacturer). It looked like it [...]
747 Grease remover was used to remove glue, now it is seeping back up between floor boards
April 3, 2012
Removing Gunk Comments Off
Q: Our 3 year old 3/4″ maple hardwoods (nailed down with a nailer) are creaking all over and some boards actually feel loose. It was nailed down to OSB on top of I-joists. I’ve checked the sub-floor (our basement is un-finished) and it is secure to the joists. I have tried adjusting the humidity and [...]
Pilot holes through the sub-floor to stop creaking
March 27, 2012
Loose or Creaking Boards & Tight or Popping Boards Comments Off
Nov 282011
Q: Due to a hardwood refinishing job w/ improper preparation my entire home has polyurethane pooled in all the heat vents. What are the health concerns and how do I remove it? A: There shouldn’t be any health concerns. Once the finish is hardened the mineral spirit solvent has left the film. I would probably [...]
Nov 032011
Q: My question is related to your posting on “popping” or “cracking”, wood floor popping sound Q&A. In my 2nd fl bedroom I recently replaced the old carpet to hardwood floor (not the pre-finished kind). We have, several times, been awoken by the loud popping sounds from the wood floor around 2-4 AM. What is [...]
New floor popping loudly in middle of night
November 3, 2011
Loose or Creaking Boards & Tight or Popping Boards Comments Off
Q: Can previously wet underlayment cause cupping in newly installed wood flooring? A: Yes, if it hasn’t thoroughly dried before installing the new floor.
Aug 072011
Q: Before applying finish to my fir flooring, I want to know whether my fir floors have been properly sanded. There are numerous areas of darker color, for example, a 3-inch band of darker wood parallel to the wall and offset by about 6 inches. It seems like this strip simply was not sanded as [...]
Jul 042011
Q: I inspected a job today where the oil poly was pushing up through the seams. The sanding was done in Feb., there was heat in the house. It was a sand, sealer and two coats of oil semi gloss. No stain? I am going back in August to resand, this time using waterborne product. [...]
Please don’t laugh too hard when I tell you that I applied peanut butter to my kitchen floor. This had worked beautifully on a linoleum kitchen floor years ago when I accidentally dropped some peanut butter on it. It restored the colour that had been ruined by my son spilling turpentine on it. With this information, the contractor did not want to touch my floor.
Q: I bought some “no warranty” wood from a popular wood flooring store. It was advertised as damaged w/ split, knots, damaged grooves and burns. I bought 15% extra for waste. I’ve noticed that some pieces have obvious termite damage. Should I be concerned? Is there a possibility that some of that wood may still [...]
May 272011
Q: We have laid an oak hardwood in our living room. We notice some areas with a little residue, where it looks like something has burrowed in it. What would be causing this and can we fix it? Is there a bug that burrows in wood floors? A: Something burrowed into your floor? Does it [...]
Q: Problem- Floors have cracked, gapped, and some planks slightly cupped. Floor Description: 3/4″ Thick, 5″ wide new poplar floors, installed fall/2008. Finish: A water-based polyurethane finish was applied to unfinished boards after installation. There is a full size, unheated basement below the floors. Humidity readings we started taking in late winter of 2009 have [...]
Poplar floors have cracked, gapped, and some planks slightly cupped
May 26, 2011
Gaps, Splitting & Cracks Comments Off
May 262011
Q:What is the fastest, cheapest way to make hardwood floors with tons of stains and damage look nice? My husband and I are renting our house and want the floors to look nice, but don’t want to put too much money and time into refinishing floors in a house that doesn’t belong to us. Our [...]
What is the fastest, cheapest way to make hardwood floors with tons of stains and damage look nice?
May 26, 2011
Repairs Comments Off
Q: I recently moved home and had several floors sanded. Unfortunately, one room subsequently required some plasterwork. The plasterer was a dirty worker and the floor is now covered with plaster stains. Is there anything I can do to remove this? Or will we need to have the floor re-sanded? A: It can be irksome [...]
Plasterer was a dirty worker and floor is now covered with plaster stains
May 26, 2011
Removing Gunk Comments Off
Q: We have a brand new home with hardwood flooring throughout. The builder installed the furnace in the attic. The condensation hose was faulty and water poured onto the hardwood flooring below. This resulted in a huge buckle/hump along one row of the hardwoods, smack in the middle of a room. How do we repair/flatten [...]
How do we repair/flatten the hump without removing the entire floor?
May 26, 2011
Moisture Damage, Spills & Flooding Comments Off
