Question: Hey Joseph. Thanks so much for your advice. I did have a written contract with this guy, so I’m in the process of negotiating a discount of some sort. He’s no too fond of the idea, as you can imagine. He keeps arguing, “Street Shoe is a *better* finish than poly! Way better!” I’m so glad I had contacted you a while back otherwise, I wouldn’t have known any different. Plastic-y floors are exactly what I didn’t want. I am happy with the stain, though, so at least I’ve got that going for me. As for the satin vs. matte finish, which do you prefer on dark floors? Thanks a ton, Kathleen Answer: Dear Kathleen I was glad to be of help. And as to the Street Shoe, it’s not really “Way better” than oil poly, just “Way more” expensive. Anyway, I prefer a satin finish on my stained floors, I want just a bit of sheen, and at least the sheen and the stain on your floor look great to me. Too bad floor guys just don’t realize what “clarity of finish film” means. Street Shoe was meant to be (and still is great for this) a commercial floor finish, meant to be resanded every decade or so. It’s lack of clarity just doesn’t make it the best residential long (20-40 years) term floor finish. I’m sure you’ll find that Street Shoe is tough, but appearance counts for something, or am I crazy ? As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: What is the most durable scratch resistant finish on a hardwood floor since I have a large dog and 2 small kids? Susan Answer: Dear Susan The most durable (not safe to apply yourself) floor finishes now are the catalyzed water base finishes. There are three I can recommend; Street Shoe by Basic Coatings at http://www.basiccoatings.com. Then there is Traffic by Bona Kemi at http://www.bonakemi.com. And last but not least is the Dura Seal 2000 water based finish. They are all basically good finishes, and are used in gym floors and bowling alleys. The only drawback is their expense, and the fact that they have to be professionally applied (they have a very toxic catalyst agent). They unfortunately have a pale blue film color. Be sure you see some 5 year old jobs before you choose one of these finishes, they don’t tend to age well, especially on dark wood. There are other conversion finishes that are as durable, but they both emit very toxic fumes. In the case of the Swedish finishes, up to 90 days of urea formaldehyde fumes and moisture cured polyurethane contains lots of toluene. But for a moderately durable (what I use on my floors) try 3-4 coats of a good oil modified polyurethane (Fabulon brand is all I use), or read the Article in the Floored News about the new Dura Seal 1000 water based finish. Both these finishes are fairly safe to use and much less expensive than the aforesaid finishes. And all these finishes will scratch, but the OMP will be cheaper to re-coat in the future. It’s something you can use yourself. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Details from 1485 to the Present” by Stephen Calloway Question: Good Day again, Doc: Most probably, while you were responding to my first e-mail today, I was researching the web to purchase the book you’ve referenced. Prior to making my purchase I’d like to be certain I’m looking at the right title! Is it “The Elements of Style : A Practical Encyclopedia of Interior Architectural Details from 1485 to the Present” by Stephen Calloway? Most Appreciatively, Yvonne Answer: Dear Yvone That’s it exactly. It’s over 500 pages of all the architectural details in all the ages from 1485. The floor sections are just a small part of it. It sits atop most architects desks, and they swear by it. It cost a bit, but I find it well worth it. 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: 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 camouflage 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 available in the search box at the top of this web page about floor maintenance, both parts, to determine your floor finish, and other methods for general maintenance. This may be all too much trouble, and you might instead just enjoy the character marks your wood floor is gaining as it ages, just like us humans.

Question: I’m installing 3/4″ maple T&G prefinished. I have 3/4″ T&G Advantech. Do I use staples or nails and why? Ron Answer: Dear Ron Only use proper floor cleats or nails (same thing). They were developed over 50 years ago for just hardwood flooring. I have used them my whole 23 year career with no problems. Staples on the other hand were not designed for hardwood floor use, read my article about the Primatech floor nailers for more details on this. Use the search box at the top of the web page to find this article. There is a good explanation of this controversy in the Primatech web site. And Virginia Tech University also did this same study, concluding that the staples will actually harm the wood floor. The maple floor association recommends against the use of floor staples to its members. Need I go on? I will do a future article concerning this and other poor modern construction material and practices, when I get some more research done.

Question: I am planning to staple my hardwood floor with a pneumatic flooring staple gun. I am using 3/4 by 3.5 random length strips. I have a 23/32 subfloor. I am not planning to use any additional underlayment. What staple length should I use (1.5″ or 2″ available at Home Depot), and at what interval? Thank you for your help. Answer: Dear Quan You still haven’t given me the botanical name of the Asian Rosewood, are you not planning to use it? As to the staples, DO NOT STAPLE ANY HARDWOOD FLOOR. Use only the flooring nail (also called cleats) that were designed for this purpose. The staples hold the hardwood too well, and don’t allow the wood its normal seasonal changes. The tongues have been known to crack off and as a result the boards will tilt and squeak. Please read more about this in the Primatech article available in the search box at the top of this web page. Studies of this have been done by a respected University, and the Maple Flooring Assoc. recommends their members stay away from flooring staples. I strongly suggest you do also. The 3/4″ subfloor is just adequate for the 2″ flooring NAILS to almost fully engage, so it’s OK. Be sure to NAIL every 6-8″ into the hardwood. If you are crossing the joists with the hardwood, see if you can nail on the joist (beneath the subfloor) and between the joists. That will automatically give you nails every 8″. Even the short boards need 2-3 nails. Use a nail spinner at http://www.leevalley.com (prod. #=A099K20.01), to install the last 2-3 rows that the floor NAILER will not reach. It’s great for moldings also.  

Question: Hi Woodfloor Doc, Love your site and thought I would forward a few pics of a floor I just installed in our dining room. I am an amateur and the only experience I’ve had is installing about 1500 sq ft of pre-finished flooring. The floor enclosed is in our dining room and I based it upon a picture I came across. It is 2 1/4″ x 3/4″ unfinished red oak. I started by laying a 3′ x 1′ red oak plank in the center and worked each section out from that. Things I learned from this project: I stained the center and border cherry (see first pic). Oil based poly darkened the natural part of the floor so much I lost almost all of the border. I have used a drum sander for refinishing a friends old floor. I decided because my floor was new that I could get away with using a “square buff” sander rented from Home Depot. Big mistake. Took nearly two full days. Next time (if there is a next time) I would rent the drum sander to level the new floor. I have never finished a floor, but I am happy with my results. I used 3 coats of oil based poly and used my palm sander fitted with a scotch brite abrasive pad in place of sandpaper (this was a life saver) between coats as I did not want to rent a orbital sander to scuff (only a 12′ x 14′ room). After final coat I rubbed out using a Makita auto buffer with a foam pad and “3M’s Finesse It” polishing compound (auto detailing trick). Finish came out like glass. I used your site a couple of times for this project so thanks again! Regards, Eric Answer: Dear Eric Thanks for the pictures. I regret we don’t have an article about bordered floors. They are really supposed to have a spline or biscuit attached to the ends, to keep them firmly in the floors. And I did warn you about the limitations of the Orbital Floor Sander, in the Case in Point article. But all in all it looks like a great job, and I’m sure your are very proud. We will archive the photos for now, but when we get enough of them, we’ll post them in a section of the site, along with the things you learned the hard way. We like to use boarders of cherry or walnut to contrast the oak. Many thanks again, it was good to hear you found the site useful, we have just begun. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor

Question: During Christmas, I used a green tree skirt under my tree. Water from the tree stand spilled onto the tree skirt and put a green color onto my hardwood floor. I am looking for suggestions on how to take it out of the floor? Thank you!! Answer: Dear Steve Try first, a PH neutral cleaner scrubbed with a white, non-abrasive nylon pad. I talk about these cleaners in the floor maintenance article in the available in the search box at the top of this web page (first part). If that fails, what you can do depends on how sound (water repellant) your finish is. If the finish is still sound, then the green dye from the fabric has stained the surface of the finish. You might try household bleach, full strength, this will take the color out of most dye stains. But if the finish is not sound, and you find that the wood has been dyed, you can sand the floor area with 80 grit sandpaper to remove all the finish, then again with 100 grit to smooth the wood. If the wood is still green after sanding off this surface, use swimming pool bleach to remove the green color from the wood itself. It comes in crystal form, so mix a saturated solution and apply with a white rag. There are stronger wood bleaches, but it shouldn’t be needed in your case. If the color comes out, let the floor dry overnight, sand the spot smooth (with 120 grit) but gently (don’t remove the bleached effect) and touch up with the same floor finish that’s on the floor now. If the spot has turned a bit lighter with bleaching you may need to apply a very light wood stain to bring the color back to the rest of the floor. You can tell if you have this problem by splashing a bit of naphtha on the floor before you touch up the finish, this will show you what the final finished color of the wood will be. If you don’t know what kind of floor finish you have, read the second half of my floor maintenance article available in the search box at the top of this web page. There is a test in that article also to determine a finishes soundness.

Question: I just bought a 32 yr. old house and the hardwood floors squeak. Is there a way to fix this? Answer: Dear Lou Yes there is but it will not be easy. The three wood members; joist, subfloor and finished hardwood have separated, and the nails binding them now are moving in the loosened nail holes. This separation is generally caused by seasonal shifting of the boards, and you would be well advised to keep the indoor relative humidity levels to about 40-60%. I mean all year round. And sadly some hardwood floors were poorly nailed in the first place. If you can access the floor from under the joists you can try a nifty new product called Squeak-Ender at http://www.squeakender.com. They have several well-engineered solutions to squeaking and sagging floors, and it worth checking out. These products will save you from having to nail from the top of the floor, for the most part. The Squeakender’s web site has excellent illustrations of these products, so I needn’t explain further. You may however have to use some of the next described methods if these products are only somewhat effective. But with second floor squeaks and lack of access to the floor joists on a main floor just how can you re-nail a hardwood floor? You will need to find the joist that runs under the subfloor, so that when you re-nail the hardwood, it will pull the board down and stop the squeak. This method as you can imagine works best when the finished hardwood boards run at right angles to the joist. First find the where the joist run by removing the quarter round molding from the edge of the floor. Only remove the molding running at right angles to the joist. Drill a 1/4″ hole in this space (that the molding will cover) and insert a bent coat hanger. In either direction you will feel the hanger bump up against the joist. Measure over and drill another hole closer to the joist and test again, until you have determined the center of this joist. Do the same on the opposite side of the room, and snap a chalk line between the two. This should represent the run of the floor joists. They should in most modern houses run every 16″, but you may have to drill more edge holes to confirm this. If the room is wider than 15 feet, there may be a supporting beam separating two separate runs of joists. And they may not line up with each other across the room. You can only see this from below, even if you have to poke a small view hole in a basement ceiling. If you are unlucky enough to have the hardwood running in the same direction as the floor joists, you will only be able to re-nail one strip of hardwood every 16″ (as the joists are spaced). This will quiet a squeaky subfloor, but you may have to nail between the joist with 2″ finishing nails in a attempt to quiet the loose hardwood in between the joists. Once you have marked out all the joists with the chalk line, determine which side of the hardwood strips is the tongue side. You will want to pre-drill or nail spin (nail spinners are a must at www.leevalley.com; Prod. #99K20.01) a 3″ spiral finishing nail, so that this nail goes through the tongue side of the hardwood floor through the subfloor, and penetrates the joist quite solidly. This 3″ nail is only used for 3/4″ thick floors, use shorter ones for thinner strip floors. Use 2 1/2″ for 1/2″ hardwood and 2″ for the thin 3/8″ strip floors. Modern floor joists are less than 2″ wide so they are easy to miss, and you can tell when you are hitting the joists when the nails feels solid all the way in. Set the nail below the surface with the proper sized nail set, and fill with a colored putty. Use a colored latex putty that will dry hard if you plan on sanding the floor now. But use a soft, non-drying colored putty and wipe off the excess with odorless mineral spirits, if you want to keep the floor finish intact. Choose a color just slightly darker than the finished wood. You can do this re-nailing every sixth board or so and see how it works. Then put more nails between these if you need to. Don’t over do it, or you will have a really pock marked floor.

Question: I have wood floors in my kitchen and they’ve developed a squeak. I suspect it’s water from sink the or shoes or possibly my wife using a non-approved cleaner on the floors. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this problem? Thanx Answer: Dear Denis Yes I have, but it will not be easy. The three wood members; joist, subfloor and finished hardwood have separated, and the nails binding them now are moving in the loosened nail holes. This separation is generally caused by seasonal shifting of the boards, and you would be well advised to keep the indoor relative humidity levels to about 40-60%. I mean all year round. And sadly some hardwood floors were poorly nailed in the first place. If you can access the floor from under the joists you can try a nifty new product called Squeak-Ender at http://www.squeakender.com. They have several well-engineered solutions to squeaking and sagging floors, and it worth checking out. These products will save you from having to nail from the top of the floor, for the most part. The Squeakender’s web site has excellent illustrations of these products, so I needn’t explain further. You may however have to use some of the next described methods if these products are only somewhat effective. But with second floor squeaks and lack of access to the floor joists on a main floor just how can you re-nail a hardwood floor? You will need to find the joist that runs under the subfloor, so that when you re-nail the hardwood, it will pull the board down and stop the squeak. This method, as you can imagine works best when the finished hardwood boards run at right angles to the joist. First find the where the joist run by removing the quarter round molding from the edge of the floor. Only remove the molding running at right angles to the joist. Drill a 1/4″ hole in this space (that the molding will cover) and insert a bent coat hanger. In either direction you will feel the hanger bump up against the joist. Measure over and drill another hole closer to the joist and test again, until you have determined the center of this joist. Do the same on the opposite side of the room, and snap a chalk line between the two. This should represent the run of the floor joists. They should in most modern houses run every 16″, but you may have to drill more edge holes to confirm this. If the room is wider than 15 feet, there may be a supporting beam separating two separate runs of joists. And they may not line up with each other across the room. You can only see this from below, even if you have to poke a small view hole in a basement ceiling. If you are unlucky enough to have the hardwood running in the same direction as the floor joists, you will only be able to re-nail one strip of hardwood every 16″ (as the joists are spaced). This will quiet a squeaky subfloor, but you may have to nail between the joists with 2″ finishing nails in a attempt to quiet the loose hardwood in between the joists. Once you have marked out all the joists with the chalk line, determine which side of the hardwood strips are the tongue side. You will want to pre-drill or nail spin (nail spinners are a must at www.leevalley.com ; Prod. #99K20.01) a 3″ spiral finishing nail, so that this nail goes through the tongue side of the hardwood floor through the subfloor, and penetrates the joist quite solidly. This 3″ nail is only used for 3/4″ thick floors, use shorter ones for thinner strip floors. Use 2 1/2″ for 1/2″ hardwood and 2″ for the thin 3/8″ strip floors. Modern floor joists are less than 2″ wide so they are easy to miss, and you can tell when you are hitting the joists when the nails feels solid all the way in. Set the nail below the surface with the proper sized nail set, and fill with a colored putty. Use a colored latex putty that will dry hard if you plan on sanding the floor now. But use a soft non-drying colored putty and wipe off the excess with odorless mineral spirits, if you want to keep the floor finish intact. Choose a color just slightly darker than the finished wood. You can do this re-nailing every sixth board or so and see how it works. Then put more nails between these if you need to. Don’t over do it, or you will have a really pock marked floor.