Hardwood Floor Stain Solutions

 

JASON: Yeah, it’s hardwood and we have a light finish on it.

 

LESLIE: OK.

 

JASON: And we’re talking really dark – deep, dark stains about, I don’t know, a couple of feet in diameter and a couple of different places; that have been there for a while. I tried sanding on them and – by hand – and if I go any deeper, you’re going to be able to tell a difference in level of the floor. I’m wondering what my options are; other than buying a rug.

 

LESLIE: Well, you’re going to have to sand that entire floor. You’re going to have to refinish that whole floor. Because you’re right; to get through that existing finish to get to the part of the wood where the stain is actually saturated into the wood itself, you’re going to need to sand down quite a bit. So you’re going to, unfortunately, have to sand down and refinish the entire floor.

 

JASON: OK. Now, talk to me about this. What about some sort of wood bleach?

 

TOM: Well, you could try to change the color of the entire floor to sort of lighten it up and try to have it match but it’s somewhat risky because if it turns out that the bleach reacts differently in the area that has the pet stain versus the area that doesn’t have the pet stain, you may be back in the same situation but the problem just got bigger. You might be better off trying to use a darker stain than trying to lighten it.

 

LESLIE: (overlapping voices) To cover everything up.

 

TOM: Yeah, exactly. That would probably have a higher chance of success.

 

LESLIE: But you’re going to have to sand the entire floor to get the surface to accept the new stain, correct?

 

JASON: Yeah. OK, work with me here. I don’t want to do the floors.

 

LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.

 

JASON: Talk to me about a stressed look. Is there anything else I can do; like maybe have the pets pee all over the floor in different spaces or anything else? (Tom and Leslie laugh) I mean …

 

TOM: Wouldn’t recommend it. Hey, how about a throw rug? Does that work for you?

 

JASON: Yeah, I think that’s probably what we’re looking at.

 

TOM: Yep.

 

LESLIE: Aw. You know, there’s a company that makes a carpet tile. It’s a company called Flor – F-l-o-r. And they actually do really cute and really styly and kind of hip carpet tiles that you can piece together to make an area rug. And it gives you a lot of creativity there and it gives you an opportunity to, in the future, if there happens to be an incident with the pet again, pop out that one tile that perhaps got damaged or two and replace it with the new carpet tile. This way, you’re keeping that look consistent and you can create something that’s super fun. And if being creative isn’t your deal, they’ve got ready-to-go kits that all you have to do is put in the dimensions and the type that you like and they’ll put it together for you.

 

JASON: [Right on] (ph). OK. Well, we’ve got a few options then, here.

 

LESLIE: I wouldn’t go with the peeing on the floor one. (Tom laughs) That’s just my opinion. (Jason laughs)

 

TOM: Bad idea.

 

JASON: OK, thanks a lot.

 

TOM: Jason, thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.