Several signs indicate hardwood floors may need professional refinishing:
Excessive scratches. If your hardwood floors show deep scratches, gouges, dents or other damage that penetrates the finish coat, it’s probably time for refinishing to restore the appearance. Light surface scratches can sometimes be buffed out or touched up, but deep damage typically requires sanding and re-finishing.
• Dull, faded appearance.
First,over time, sunlight and floor traffic will cause hardwood floors to fade and lose luster. If your floors look dull, dusty, scratched or just plain dirty, new finish will brighten the wood and restore shine. For badly faded floors, sanding may be needed before re-finishing.
• Peeling or cracking.
Then,peeling, cracking or buckling of the finish coat indicates it has become too thin and damaged to protect the wood effectively anymore. Sanding and re-applying finish will stabilize the floor. Underlying wood damage may require patching or replacing boards before re-finishing.
• Water damage.
Also,spills, floods or plumbing leaks can cause water damage to hardwood floors. Even after the excess water is removed, wood will remain swollen, cupped, warped or stained until refinishing restores it to normal shape and appearance. Refinishing seals the wood against future water damage.
• Visible seams or nail heads.
Next,as floors fade, scratches appear or wax is stripped away by floor traffic, seams, joints and nail heads become more visible. Three or more visible seams or an abundance of exposed nail heads usually mean it’s refinishing time to even out the floor’s surface.
• Uneven boards or floors.
In addition,bowed, bent or uneven hardwood boards will not stay flat under newly refinished floors. Wood that has warped, buckled or separated at seams needs re-sanding and re-flattening before re-finishing for best results. Some boards may need temporary clamping or straps to hold flat as new finish dries.
• Different stain shades.
Finally,if boards in your hardwood floor have a range of different stain shades or some stained while others remain bare, uneven staining is likely apparent. New stain can help provide an even coat, but re-staining very dark boards may produce an unnatural look. Light sanding followed by stain is sometimes needed for best color matching.
