A home’s floor could be seen as a point of pride with some homeowners. A beautiful floor does its best to accentuate the lovely aesthetic of a home.
However, even some of the best floors are subject to problems. Wood floor can be more likely to scratch than other surfaces. Floors can also stain, squeak, or in major problems, sag.
Here are some tips to repair minor damage to your floor, and make sure it maintains its beauty for years to come.
Wood Floors
Minor scratches in wood floors can be smoothed out by using a steel wool pad or a fine sandpaper grit. Make sure that you keep your sanding to the scratched area, and sand or buff only in the same direction as the wood grain.
You can get creative with covering up scratches by using a stain-matching crayon or using a Sharpie. Wax sticks, such as those made by Miniwax, can also hide scratches and protect a floor’s finish. And if the color is different, that is OK, since woods have a mix of several color tones.
You can also make your own homemade polish by mixing equal parts olive oil and vinegar, which will help remove dirt, moisturize, and shine the wood. Let the mixture soak in for 24 hours, then wipe it off. Repeat until the scratch disappears.
If you decide to sand or buff the scratch out with a steel wool pad, use a wood filler and a plastic putty knife to avoid more scratches. Then, seal the area with polyurethane or whatever finish was on the floor originally.
Vinyl Floors
When you make repairs to a vinyl or linoleum floor, the first thing you want to do is to tape around the damage and cut away the loose vinyl with a utility knife. Clean the dirt and dust inside the damage area, then smooth it out with some sandpaper.
Then you want to mix paint that matches the floor color, and let the paint dry. Afterwards, you want to pour filler and floor bond into the hole that is created, and smooth out the finish. Allow two hours of drying time before walking on the area.
When you need major floor repairs to be done, contact the professionals at Bauer Construction to help you with your floor projects.