How to fix wooden floor problems?

Wooden flooring looks fantastic, when it is installed within your house. However, it won’t look as good as it should, when it has problems. Solid oak flooring and engineered oak flooring can be a victim to flooring issues, which make them susceptible to damages. In such a scenario, uprooting the whole flooring might not be an ideal thing to do.

So, what does one do in such a case?

Repairing the affected flooring area might seem like an ideal choice, given such a situation. Here are some of the common wooden flooring problems and the ways to repair your floorboards eventually.

1. Scratches and scuffs: Scratches don’t go beyond the surface of the flooring, which makes them easy to touch up, as and when required. For shallow damages, just clean the surface, which should be followed with a gentle buffing in the direction of the grain and finish it off with a sealant. If the scratches are deeper, then you would need to refinish the floors by sanding the surface and resealing it.
2. Cupping or crowning: Cupping, as a phenomenon, means the hardwood flat boards are distorted, and are bowing in the centre.  Crowning, on the other hand, refers to the situation wherein the centre is higher than the edges. Either way, the floorboards are not in their ideal situation, which makes them look bad, if left unattended.
3. Buckling: Buckling floorboards mean that they have been pulled away from the subfloor. The most possible and common reason for buckling is the presence of moisture in the surrounding environment. This can also be possible due to the insufficient drying of the boards before installation or even inadequate perimeter clearance. Use a dehumidifier for removing the moisture from the area.
4. Squeakiness and loose boards: When loose floorboards rub against each other, they tend to squeak and make noises. Hardwood floorboards might have loosened due to the contraction caused by a dry indoor atmosphere in winters. This can be corrected by introducing a little humidity in the environment around the flooring to avoid such issues.
5. Black stains: Black stains often owe their existence to pet accidents, which can leave black stains on the solid oak flooring and engineered oak flooring. In such cases, try sanding or bleaching the area and finish it off by staining, to match the rest of the wood color.

These were some of the top problems with hardwood flooring and the ways in which these issues can be rectified in an easy to do manner.