How to Troubleshoot Hardwood Floors

Scratches, Gouges and Small Holes

• First try wood putty sticks, crayon-like sticks of soft, brown, waxy putty you rub directly into scratches. You can also try lightly rubbing super fine-gauge steel wool over the area. Buff in the direction of the wood grain to avoid creating more scratches on the floor. Wipe away resulting dust and rub mineral spirits, paste wax or matching stain over the area to hide the appearance of scratches. To cover up gouges, fill in with wood filler, wipe flat, allow it to dry, re-sand, apply stain and coat the area with polyurethane.

Replacing Planks

• Sometimes an entire plank or small section of flooring is unsalvageable due to wear, rot or other damage. You can replace these small areas without replacing the entire floor. Draw a perpendicular line across the section you need to remove, then drill holes along the line with a spade bit. Split the plank apart from this line with a wood chisel, awl or similar tool. Use the chisel to pry away the board’s pieces and use a small saw to create an even line where you broke away the board. Cut a new piece to match. If your hardwood floor is tongue and groove, cut away the tongue of adjacent boards or you won’t be able to fit the new piece into place. Attach the new piece to the subfloor with construction-grade adhesive.

Refinishing or Painting Worn or Stained Floors

• For badly worn floors with many areas that need repair, you’ll find it easier to refinish the floor than to troubleshoot individual areas. Refinishing hardwood floors requires sanding, dust removal and new coats of polyurethane or stain. It’s costly, time-consuming and messy but will restore your floors to close to their original state. You can only refinish floors that haven’t already been excessively refinished. Each time your floors endure the resanding process, they lose a fraction of height from the surface. If your floors have been sanded and sanded again, they may not have any surface left to lose. If you can’t refinish or replace your floors, you can clean and paint them with a polyurethane-based stain.

Repairing Squeaks and Creaks

• As your floors age, the timber used in construction slowly loses moisture, and the boards settle into a slightly different position. As these shifted boards rub other planks or pull away from their supporting joists, they start creaking and squeaking. If untreated, the noises tend to get louder over time. If you can get beneath the floor from a basement or crawlspace, you can wedge or glue a shim into any open spaces between joists and the subfloor. This will stop the squeak-causing movement. If you must work from above, use a squeak repair kit for hardwood floors. These kits have special screws that easily break away after installation. Cover the resulting holes with wood putty and stain.