Q: I have just had my room fully plastered. The laminate flooring was not fully covered when they did it. I have scrapped the dry plaster of with an old credit card so not to scratch the laminate, but the white marks are coming back every time the floor dries.
What can I do to get rid of these plaster marks?
A: Perhaps a little water and vinegar would help. If not, I would suggest you find the floor manufacturer on the web and contact them. They may have their own cleaner to be used. It shouldn’t be a problem to make this disappear.
Related Q: We recently had our 90 year old oak floors stained and sealed with an oil based polyurethane. Since the floors are so old there are some gaps between the boards.
In most of the areas of the house the space between the gaps look fine, but in the entrance way and hall there’s a lot of white stuff between the boards. Does this sound the white lines caused by stretching or could it just be debris from the painting and plastering that we had done as well? What would you recommend our first steps to resolving this issue be?
A: Have you tried to vacuum this white debris out of the cracks or otherwise try to remove it? That will tell you if it is dust or the actual finish. Given the age of the floor, I don’t know of any reason to expect shrinkage of the boards. Of course, if the individual boards are loose and move up and down, that could stretch the finish. First thing is to see if this is dust or not. Try to suction it out.