Repairing Wooden Floors

Determine the Finish

Treat wooden floors like a fine piece of furniture. Determine what kind of finish the floor has. For example, if a cloth saturated with paint thinner comes up clean when rubbed on a small spot of floor, that means that the floor has been finished with polyurethane. If the cloth takes up a bit of color, that indicates a wax finish.

Fixing a Dent

Materials:

newspaper
spray bottle filled with water
iron

Steps:

1. Moisten about eight layers of newspaper with water.

2. Place the paper over the dent and iron with a hot iron that you have set on Steam.

3. As the top layer of paper dries, remove it and iron the next layer.

4. Scorch each layer down to the bottom two.

5. Remove the water from the second layer, remove the paper, and leave the last sheet of paper on the wood for a couple of hours. The moisture and heat will cause the wood fibers to swell and fill in the dent.

Removing Stains

Materials:

household cleaner that contains oxalic acid but not bleach
water
000 steel wool
shoe polish
clear polish

Steps:

1. Make a paste with the household cleaner and water.

2. Use 000 steel wool to abrade (wear down with friction) the stained surface of the wood.

Match the floor color as closely as possible to a magic marker. Lightly color in the exposed wood under the splinter with the marker (figure B). Rub the spot lightly with a cloth has been soaked with mineral spirits to blend the color. Color over the spot with a matching crayon. The wax fills in the area and blends the colors. Rub again with mineral spirits.

• Treat scratches by first abrading the area very lightly with steel wool, then painting with clear nail polish (figure C). Rub once with the edge of a credit card to smooth out the polish.

• Remove candle wax by first letting the wax harden completely. Cover with a bag of ice to freeze. The wax should scrape right off after that.

• Rub away scuff marks with a cloth soaked in mineral spirits.