Question: Is Asian rosewood a good selection for hardwood flooring? Can you give me the advantages, disadvantages, installation tips, cutting tips, etc.? Thank you very much for your help! Answer: Dear Quan Try to get back to me with the botanical name. I only have info on Indian Rosewood (excellent stuff), but this may not be what you are buying. If the salesman won’t tell you the proper name, or can’t, stay away from it, unless you can find it in a home installed over 1 year ago. Some woods have problems holding finish due to their oiliness, and some have too much movement during humidity changes.

Question: We are removing damaged hardwood floors that were glued onto the concrete. What is the easiest way to get the glue up? We will be putting glued on hardware back on the floor (water damage). Answer: Dear Tina Try warm water and a strong detergent with a paint scraper first, this is the safest, and may dissolve some adhesives. You can then try odorless mineral spirits, and if that fails lacquer thinner. And lastly Goof-Off (www.goof-off.com, they make some adhesive removers also) Squirt the solvent under the glue and try pushing it off with a good quality putty knife. In some cases a heat gun and the putty knife may also work, there are lots of different glues out there. If all that proves ineffective try a safe paint stripper (Citristrip at www.cirtistrip.com). Also read my article on this great stuff in the “Product Reviews” section of my web site. But as a last resort you can use some of the more dangerous methyline chloride strippers, just leave the house as the stripper does its work.

Question: Erik I have an old yellow pine hardwood floor. We just had floor refinished about a year ago. The floor is starting to become dull again and can see scuff marks. Can I have another coat put on the floor or does it have to be resanded and then recoated? Answer: Dear Erik You’ll find this rather soft wood needs a little more care than most hardwoods. And a finish getting dull doesn’t mean it’s wearing out. Best thing I can recommend is to not wear outside shoes on this floor. You are bringing grit and sand in and sanding the floor finish dull. You should have started with at least 4 coats of an oil modified polyurethane, and normally should re-coat the floor every 5-10 years. Wear socks or indoor slippers on the floor and you will be polishing it smoother year after year. Read my floor maintenance article in the Floored News section of this web site. It’s a bit early to recoat, and about 20 years too early to resand. But if you floor guys didn’t start you out with 4 coats of poly, screen and re-coat, with a good poly until you do. I would, in any case, stay away from the gloss finishes, and use a satin or low luster finish. It will look better longer, and will wear as well as gloss (it’s a myth that gloss is more durable, just easier and cheaper to apply, some floormen can’t satin finishes well). Oh, and let me explain what screening means. It’s simply a scuffing of the finish, to create fine scratches in the old finish, so that the fresh coat will have a greater surface area to stick. A floor maintenance machine (buffer) is fitted with a screen abrasive disk to do this job. It was done presumably between all the coats of the finish you had applied originally. Polyurethane has no ability to stick to itself otherwise. So by all means yes, have the floor screened and recoated. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor

Question: What is the best way to repair a scratch on a wood floor? We just had an oak floor installed and a snow shovel took a gouge out. Is there a way to wax that area or camoflage it somehow without replacing the entire board? Answer: Dear Marty You have to determine if the wood is missing form the gouge, in this case you can deepen it with a nail punch, and fill with a light colored epoxy putty. Let the putty cure, sand flush, and stain and color the grain until it is blended in with the wood. then touch up the floor finish. But if the wood is merely compressed, you will have to remove the finish from that spot, by chemical stripping or sanding to the bare wood. Then use a hot clothes iron and a clean white rag wetted on a corner, and steam puff the dent back to the surface. Wait overnight for it to dry, and touch up the finish. Read my article in the Floored News section about floor maintenance, both parts, to determine your floor finish, and other methods for general maintenance. This may be all to much trouble, and you might instead just enjoy the character marks your wood floor is gaining as it ages, just like us humans. If you found this information helpful, please explore the Wood Floor Doctor.com by visiting the rest of our website. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: I have a 1 year old 3/4″ prefinished floor by Harris Tarkett. The other night at a New Year’s party, a guest put a good scratch in the floor with a kitchen chair. Any help with this? I was going to sand the area with a very fine steel wool and then apply several coats of poylurethane (brush applied) and sand in between coats. Please help me, my wife is goind nuts over this. Marc Answer: Dear Marc Here’s an excerpt from my new floor maintenance article (found in the Floored news section). But read the whole article, both parts before you or your wife go nuts or worse yet, use the wrong finish on this floor. All film finished wood floors, no matter how tough the finish is, will, in time get scratched. So now there are two ways to go. The first is to ignore all but the deepest of scratches and plan on recoating the floor every so often. This is what I do on my floors. On the deep scratches, I will however, fill them with floor finish applied with an artists brush. A couple of coats will be needed to fill up the scratches that have gone down to the bare wood. Use the floor finish according to directions even with these minor touch ups. A kitchen floor needs to be recoated every 2-4 years and the rest of the house every 5-10 years. A flooring contractor can do this for as little as 60 cents per sq. ft. In every case the old finish needs to be prepared by scuffing (a light sanding of the finish, not the wood) and good cleaning to remove all the fine dust that the scuffing made. I use lint free rags wetted with paint thinner. Be sure to let the paint thinner dry off before brushing on the new finish. The very nature of these durable crosslinked floor finishes make them very difficult to blend in a small touch up. Don’t be tempted to paint a fresh coat of floor finish where the surface has not been scuffed-sanded and cleaned. The finish will certainly not stick. You may find that you have to recoat a whole board that has been scratched, or a whole area of the floor from wall to wall. Before you go out to purchase a prefinished floor, see if they sell or provide free, a matching touch-up kit, with this rather expensive floor. Don’t be too disappointed if the finish in the touch-up kit doesn’t match the floor. Most factory applied conversion finishes are almost impossible to imitate with a site applied finish. In a few weeks of wear and tear, these will be less noticeable. After all it’s only a floor. READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE IN THE FLOORED NEWS SECTION OF THIS SITE. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: We had a cherry plank floor installed in a new home 2 yrs ago, it was a pre-finished satin floor. Last year we had it screened and a semi-gloss coat of urethane (water base)for a shinier finish. My question is, we have got a lot of minor scratches in the urethane that are quite visible and take away from the beauty of the cherry floor. Is there a way to rid the scratches? They are not down to the wood in most cases. Also, we have many small dents in the cherry wood due to it’s softness and either small stones or heels on the floor, any help for them too without sanding and refinishing? I appreciate your help. Brian Answer: Dear Brian While I adore cherry wood floors, they do have their drawbacks. The wood is quite soft, and easily dented. Before they recoated the floors they should have tried to remove some of these dents, touched those up spots and then re-coated. But because this was a conversion factory finish, this may have been difficult or impossible. I always sand finish cherry on site with 3-4 coats of oil modified polyurethane. OMP ages well on cherry and darkens the wood nicely with time and (the finish) gets harder as it cross links. The wood never gets harder. And I would always suggest a satin finish, period. The flat non porous nature of the wood makes all the little scrathches very noticeable, and there is little you can do about this. That’s the nature of the beast. It’s very early on in the history of your floor to be recoating. I always wait at least 5-10 years before the first recoat. And I am not sure that the water based coating you used will stick to this factory conversion finish. What brand did they use, did it have a catalyst additive ? But I think part of your problem is how you are teating the wood. You should NEVER walk on the floor with outside shoes. This brings in outside grit, and sands the finish off. You can continue this sanding or wear soft slippers and socks and buff the finish smoother every year. It’s your choice. Please read my new floor maintenance article in the Floored News section, so you will have a better idea on how you should be caring for this floor. So all things considered I would simply wear out this finish (10-15 years), sand the floor to the bare wood, and finish it with OMP instead. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: I recently bought a 100 year old house with original pine flooring. The contractor refinished them improperly (or with too few coats) because the finish became scratched in just a few weeks and after 6 months it looks like the finish is many years old. Can I recoat it without having to sand it? I’m afraid the floor will not be able to handle any further sanding. Greg Answer: Dear Greg Yes, you can and should recoat it. A pine floor should have at least 4 coats of an oil modified polyurethane. If you only have two, apply two more. You will have to rent a floor buffing machine, and buy a white pad and a 80 grit screen. Screen the floor until it is full of small scratches. Do the edges by hand. Run the buffer in both directions so that all of the floor is thoroughly scuffed. Vacuum really well, then wash the floor twice with odorless mineral spirits, so no dust is left. Do it in a sweeping motion so as to draw the fine dust in the direction of exit. Let the solvent dry. Then BRUSH on a heavy coat of poly. Don’t use a lamb’s wool applicator it will cause bubbles. Let that coat dry for at least 2 days, or until when screened, it powders and scratches as before. Let it dry for 48 hours, and be aware that this finish will take 30 days to cure.

Question: My hubby and I are refinishing our hardwood floors. Are sanding sealers still being used, If so, where can I find it? Marti Answer: Dear Marti No, good floor mechanics never use sanding sealer under an oil modified polyurethane finish. Only when you use a water based finish is an acrylic sealer used. Sanding sealers are usually a stearated lacquer, and the poly will not stick well to it. It is meant only for production furniture use, as the sealer dries fast and when sanded doesn’t clog up the sandpaper. But it is a poor and possibly dangerous finish. Be sure to read my article on Lacquer Finish Floor Fires in the Floored news section of this web site. Suffice to say, all you really need for the most durable, longest lasting floor finish is 3 coats of a good Oil Modified Polyurethane. If you want an article that will walk you through the use of Oil Modified Polyurethane, we do have a Pro Series article, normally meant for the WWW directory trades people. But we offer emailed copies to the public for a modest donation of 5 dollars. It’s very detailed, and will teach you how best to apply the poly without bubbles and pits that most people experience when using this material. Well worth it. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: I have a Bruce prefinished wood floor that is 6 months old and in awful condition. The boards are cracking down the center and splintering along the edges. This is the case with at least 60 of the boards. It is impossible to walk and not have your socks catch. The vendor says it’s a defect and that the cracks and splinters are in the finish layers of the product. His suggestion is that they can sand the floors down to good wood and refinish them on site. There is approx. 800sq ft. Is this the only alternative? Will the site finished outcome be as durable as the prefinished was supposed to be? Will this lessen the life of the floor, how many times can it be refinished before it’s too thin, etc.? Marc Answer: Dear Marc I am so sorry to hear of your troubles, Bruce makes floor that rate from mediocre to really excellent, and I have had some minor problems with their products, but nothing like you are experiencing. You failed to tell me the style of floor you bought. Bruce makes some Tavern Grade products (I will never use these) that have no warranty on them. And this low grade wood will certainly crack and crumble under foot. It is meant for a very rustic look in a rec room or even commercial tavern. The wood in this case will not benefit form a re-sanding as the boards themselves have internal voids and cracks in then, and will continue to self destruct over time. You must keep your shoes on with these Tavern or Rustic Grade floors. Be sure you ask you builder what grade you have, as anything better that this low grade will have a warranty, and he and you may be able to get Bruce to pick up the tab for repair and replacement. Your damage must be way beyond the 5% waste normally allowed. You didn’t t say what depth wood it is or if it was laminated or solid wood or what, so I cannot tell you just how many sandings you may get out of your floor. Email me back soon with more details, and I might be able to help you. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: How do you get wood stains out of wood? Or, how do you get water or hot plate stains out of the wood? Thanks, Krystal Answer: Dear Krystal Water stains can be removed from the bare wood with oxalic acid. Mix a saturated solution and apply, and wait a few hours to overnight. Wash off well with clear water, and allow the wood a few days to dry out, then touch up the finish. If this fails, you will have to sand it out. As for the burn you will have to sand it out, with 80 grit, then 100 grit to smooth, then touch up the finish. And I hope you know what your finish is. If not read my article available in the search box at the top of this web page about floor maintenance (the second part). Oh, and if you find that the stains are too deep for either method you may have to repair the floor. Read about this also available in the search box at the top of this web page.