Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors: We removed carpeting to find that pet stains have penetrated our beautiful hardwood floors – some areas are very dark, other areas appear almost “bleached” out.
Black Stains (a.k.a. Pet Stains)
Decades of Q&A about black urine stains in wood flooring, which are incredibly hard to get rid of. AKA Pet stains.
Enzyme residue from urine stain discoloring floor
Q: We just had our floor refinished with a dark walnut stain and 3 coats of semi gloss polyurethane. My dog unfortunately found that to his liking and urinated on the surface. We immediately wiped it up with a wet paper towel but the surface around that spot has now turned grey and is very noticeably different from the rest of the floor.
Dog urine stains stink when it’s damp
Q: My old real hard wood floors have dog urine stains in some spots, past the finish. Now whenever it is damp outside the house stinks. What can I do? I cannot afford a new floor.
Repair job looks very bleached
Q: We used peroxide to bleach out some urine stains on our wood floors, then sanded them, and conditioned those spots. The rest of the floor has the polyurethane coating that was put down years ago, while the spots are very bleached. I’ve tried every color, trying to match up the sanded down spots to the rest of the finished floor.
Dark brown spot on my floor where cat peed
Q: I have a wood floor in our living room. We have an older Siamese cat that has accidents every now and then. I found a spot this morning on the floor where she had just peed, and now there is a dark brown spot on my floor. Any suggestions on what I can do to lighten this spot?
Pet urine has bleached out a couple of spots
Q: Pet urine has bleached out a couple of spots on our red oak floor. Is there anything I can do to restain and match the floor to minimize the white spots from the pet urine bleach effect?
Bleaching pet stains out of hardwood floors, before or after sanding?
Q: We just purchased an old house that has dark pet stains on the hardwood floors. I have read several tips regarding bleaching pet stains out of hardwood floors and I am thinking that I should use the 50%-50% bleach and water to start. Should the floor be sanded first?
Why do pet stains reappear?
Q: Some friends of ours had their hardwood floors refinished by professionals. The floor looked perfect after sanding, before the finish, but after the finish was applied, dark pet spots appeared. Why do pet stains reappear?
Stains that won’t come out
Q: I just sanded an old oak floor. There was old carpet over it. It was very filthy. I sanded with 20 and 36 grit, but there are stains in the wood that won’t come out.
New dark/black spots on my hardwood floors
Q: I’m noticing new dark/black spots on my hardwood floors.