Floor Issues and Causes 

Chewing gum

 To remove chewing gum, wet it down with De-Solv-It. Keep the gum moist with the product until it softens. Then wipe up with facial tissue. These products contain little or no water so they should not cause any white marks on the wood.

Cracking

The cause is the opposite of cupping. There is too little moisture in the air. The best fix is proper humidification. If you have hardwood floors, make certain that your furnace humidifier is at the proper setting. During the cold, high heating months, you should probably use a room humidifier to pump extra moisture into the air. Your floors, your house plants and sinuses will love you for it.

An error somewhere along the Finish/Refinishing process. Sometimes this is caused when the wood has not been cleaned and prepped properly. Usually the stain or one of the finish coats was not thoroughly dry before a new coat ing was applied. Sometimes this will happen if the floor was not screened between the first and second finish coat. Sadly, the only solution is to re-do the finishing coat.

Cupping, wash boarding or peeling

The wood was flat and level when it was installed. However all wood will absorb moisture. If the edges are higher than the center of the board, commonly called cupping or wash boarding, the culprit is moisture. The fix is getting the humidity level of the entire house to its proper level. The problem took a long time to occur. Natural drying will take just as long. It is important to realize that some cupping always oc curs during the rainy seasons of the year. As soon as the humidity level gets down to normal the boards will flatten out.

In some severe cases you may have to completely resand and refinish the floor sanding off the raised edges. This sets you up for “crowning”, when the board dries out. That is the center of the boards become higher than the edges. Your only solution is to completely resand the floor leveling the boards once again. This sets up a terrible sanding, resanding cycle that is not only hard on the person doing the sanding, but devastating to the floor. Your best bet is to let nature take its course and then proceed with the sanding. Of course, you can help the process with fans and dehumidifiers. It is highly recommended that a professional be hired for advice and completion of the project. 

Dull Floors 

Over the years it's normal for a floor to loose its shine. However, it can be fixed with a very inexpensive procedure, please visit our Sandless Refinishing page. 

High heel shoe dents

I know some people who get so fanatic about their floors that they make everyone put on slippers. High heel shoes will destroy any hardwood floors. They only solution to fixing the dents is to refinish your floors. 

Roughness

If the surface is rough after refinishing, it means that the wood was just rough sanded. You can never just rough sand a wood surface. You must finish sand with medium, then fine grit paper. You must either live with this problem or refinish. A re-coating of the floors may also fix the problem depending on the extent of the problem. 

Scratches, early wear marks

 This is usually a sign of improper care. Probable causes are tracking dirt into the house, not vacuuming with enough frequency, letting the pets nails grow too long. If this gets too objectionable, you may have to re-screen the floor and add another couple of coats of finish. Do everything possible to keep dirt from being tracked into the house. Make sure you are using entrance mats and area rugs. Increase the frequency with which you vacuum the floors. Be sure to put felt sliders on all chair bottoms