Mopping left gray water stains in unfinished spots

Q: We had an assistant to our cleaning lady mop our hardwood floor two or three times before we found out what was going on- we of course immediately told them to stop. The finish in a few small spots has come off and there are a few spots that look gray.

The spots are small (dime sized and smaller) and they are all within a 3’x 3′ area. What can we do to fix this?

A: Sounds like the finish has come off the floor and left the wood water stained. You will have to sand those stains off to clean wood and apply a thin coat of polyurethane to just the spots.

When dry, lightly buff or abrade the entire boards affected with fine sand paper and coat the entire board. It helps to apply painters tape around the affected boards before coating, but remove it as soon as you have finished brushing on the finish.