Rejuvenating Scratched Hardwood Floors
Constant foot traffic and the inevitable knocks of everyday living eventually take the gloss from any hardwood floors. Many buyers highly value a beautiful wooden floor. It's an elegant foundation that sets the tone for the rest of the property. These tips will help restore these floors to their former glory.
Return on investment
If you're wondering whether it's worth the work and expense to improve your floor, you can be confident a quality floor will more than pay you back when you decide it's time to sell.
Looks are deceiving
If your hardwood floor has lost its luster, rejuvenating it may not require as much effort as you might fear. Check out various cleaning alternatives before hiring a contractor to resurface and reseal the floor or replace boards.
Rug up
A temporary solution is to buy larger or more rugs to cover up the problem. Of course, that's not fixing the issue. A good quality silk or wool rug can be expensive, so you may as well use the cash to rejuvenate the floor.
Finishing solutions
For as little as $30, you can buy products that will help bring back to life a wooden floor with a satin or high-gloss polyurethane finish. These products will also do the trick on floors of exotic woods, such as bamboo and engineered wood floors.
Get buffing
If the floor has a polyurethane finish, you can hire a commercial-grade buffer to remove scratches from the existing finish. However, it won't remediate scratches deep in the wood. These machines can be hired for as little as $50 from stores such as Home Depot.
Seal the deal
Try out a polish and restorer such as Weiman, which has excellent product reviews. Ensure the floor is free of dirt and dust before applying the polish with a mop or microfiber pad.
Chemical kits
If your floor has a wax finish, consider a special chemical abrasion kit. For this to work, you'll have to remove the wax. It's hard work, and you may want to talk to a specialist contractor.
Go for a recoat
No doubt the easiest option is to hire a contractor to sand back the wood lightly and reapply a fresh polyurethane finish.
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