| Hardwood floor scratches are inevitable. At some | | | | hardwood floor scratch repairs. Repairing scratches on |
| point, scratches will happen. If you have hardwood | | | | hardwood floors is pretty simple; you don't have to hire |
| flooring, it's important that you learn how to do simple | | | | a professional to do it for you. |
| scratch repairs yourself. However, before you start | | | | Follow these steps on repairing hardwood floor |
| fixing any scratches, you'll need to learn how to | | | | scratches: |
| differentiate between scratches and gouges on your | | | | 1. Using a fine steel wool or sandpaper, rough up the |
| hardwood floor. | | | | scratched area. |
| A scratch is typically a visible, but not deep, marking on | | | | 2. Rub the whole length of the scratch. Cover both |
| your hardwood floor's surface. Hardwood floor | | | | margins. |
| scratches can be caused by dragging furniture across | | | | 3. Make sure to rub in the direction of the wood grain, |
| the floor or by glass that has fallen and cut the | | | | or rub in a circular motion to avoid damaging the wood |
| surface of the floor. A gouge, however, is much | | | | and floor finish too much. |
| deeper than a scratch. Think of a gouge as a "flesh | | | | 3. Dampen a soft cloth with mineral spirits. Use the soft |
| wound" a hardwood floor could sustain. | | | | cloth to wipe off any wood and dust particles on the |
| Dealing with a scratch is much different than dealing | | | | scratched area of the floor. |
| with a. For instance, it's useless to apply hardwood | | | | 4. Let the solution dry up on the floor. Depending on |
| floor scratch remover on gouges. | | | | how big the scratch is, the scratch removal solution |
| You'll need to be sure that you really are dealing with a | | | | and how much of it you use, drying time may take |
| scratch instead of a gouge before you can initiate any | | | | from several minutes up to a few hours. |
| kind of scratch repair work. Between scratches and | | | | 5. Take a fine paintbrush, dip it in the finish originally |
| gouges, scratches on hardwood floors are much more | | | | used on the floor and brush it across the scratched |
| common. It's near impossible to keep hardwood floors | | | | area. Wipe with a soft cloth. |
| from getting scratches. | | | | 6. Be careful and gentle when you brush in the finish |
| Moving pieces of furniture across or dropping sharp | | | | onto the scratch. Too much or too little and the area |
| objects like glass are not the only things that can | | | | will look much different from the rest of the hardwood |
| cause scratches. You may be causing scratches on | | | | floor. Brush in just enough finish so that it looks almost |
| your hardwood floor when you sweep it with a broom | | | | the same as the rest. |
| with not-so-soft bristles or you wipe off spills using a | | | | 7. Give the new finish some time to dry. This may take |
| hard piece of cloth. | | | | between 30 minutes to a few hours. |
| Again, hardwood floor scratches are nearly impossible | | | | If you followed the directions carefully, the scratch on |
| to avoid, so the best thing you can do is learn how to | | | | your hardwood floor should be gone. |
| deal with the scratches, like learning how to do simple | | | | |