Sun, 07/19/2009 - 4:38pm — BDBlue
Hypothetically, let's say you have a friend who is renting a house with old hardwood floors (19th Century, Pine) and the friend has a couple of dogs. And the dogs behave themselves fairly well, but they still have toenails, which leaves scratches in the flooring (or at least the polyurethane coating). What can your friend do - on the cheap, if possible - to deal with the scratches well enough to get back the security deposit?
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sand and apply another coat
You should be able to sand the scratchy areas lightly and apply another coat of polyurethane. See here. That's if the scratches don't go all the way through and into the wood.
It should work even if not on the whole floor, if you feather the edges onto the non-sanded part.
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We can't afford not to have single-payer!
If It's Most of the Floor
I take it I should essentially sand it and apply a new coat of polyurethane?
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt
Here's the cheap solution.
Put a fresh coat of Mop and Glo on the floor. If the scratches aren't too bad, it should work.
Hey, you're supposed to be on vacation!
See, dogs aren't cats. That's your problem right there.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
if the pine has 'weathered' or aged, and the scratches are
'bright-new' looking, there is an old furniture refinishers' trick you can try. You get a crayon (Burnt Umber was always the one that worked best on oak floors for me; with pine you may want something lighter) and color in the scratches. Then take an emery board and just barely scuff it along above the scratches, the night before the inspection (you'll have put socks with drawstrings on the dogs, right?) and very lightly re-coat the area with a clear water-based polyurethane. Let that dry overnight (put a dry fan on it if you have any doubts about its hardening off), and then early the next morning sweep, lightly mop and wax the whole floor as normal.
If they're a hardwood like walnut or hickory, *allegedly* you can use fresh nuts from the same species and rub the oil into the scratches, then just buff and wax.
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Here's a YouTube on the subject that's pretty good.
Also, there are home repair books that will walk you through it, but I don't know what the names are off the top of my head. Sarah's advice is right on, though.
"Someone needs to point out that elephants produce infinitely more shit than donkeys." Brad Mays
I would be careful touching anyone's wood floor.
I mean, there are professionals that sand the floors and restore them. I don't think I would just take it upon myself to do that.
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Neither Would I, mass
No worries, the minute I heard sand, I realized I would probably have to hire someone. No way am I taking sandpaper to 200 year old floors. But I want an idea of what's the least I'd need to hire them to do.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt