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Original poster

DH has ruined week old wood flooring

278 replies

Veraper · 30/10/2023 11:42

I feel sick to my stomach.

We have splashed out on parquet flooring for all of downstairs (sick of renting a rug dr after every dog walk). Have been uber cautious with furniture pads etc.

DH saw ink-like black splodges on the floor last night and had to scrub very hard using the green side of the sponge to remove (still slightly visible tbh). And the floor now has white splodges the size of Xmas choc coins.

We are wooden floor newbies, can anyone save my floors? Has the varnish just come off? They are my dream floors and I didn’t even get to enjoy them yet (still doing up the rest of the house)

DH has ruined week old wood flooring
OP posts:
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14
OnlyFannys · 30/10/2023 11:44

Sorry no advice as no experience, just looking at it and the specs look like part of the wood pattern? Or is it my eyesight?

Mumsanetta · 30/10/2023 11:44

Oh I’m so sorry! No advice but just a hand hold in solidarity. I hope your DH is suitably contrite given how upset you are!

spiderlight · 30/10/2023 11:44

Cut a walnut in half and gently rub it on the white patches - TRY A TINY TINY SPOT FIRST!! This is an old trick but it worked perfectly for a friend's wooden dresser.

Createausername1970 · 30/10/2023 11:44

If you are still flooring the rest of the house, can you swap out those pieces with new and put the stained pieces where you know they won't be seen (under where you know a wardrobe will stand etc)

ChekhovsMum · 30/10/2023 11:46

Sorry I don’t have any knowledge either, but my DP scrubbed our new gas hob with a metal scourer when we’d had it less than a month, so I wanted to commiserate with you. What the fuck is wrong with these people?

Original poster
Veraper · 30/10/2023 11:46

The marks are 100% not part of the wood. They were pitch black initially and lightened up with scrubbing. We chose a wood with very minimal knots.

OP posts:
Arbutusflower · 30/10/2023 11:46

Are they actually varnished or are they oiled? If oiled, rub in some of the refreshing oil you should have been given/advised to get to maintain the wood. Or olive oil mixed with lemon juice.

decionsdecisions62 · 30/10/2023 11:47

Pin the care instructions for the floor on the back of the front door at eyeline so the idiot can't miss them. Plus never use the green abrasion side of those sponges ever again on anything you value. I would be furious.

Arbutusflower · 30/10/2023 11:47

Veraper · 30/10/2023 11:46

The marks are 100% not part of the wood. They were pitch black initially and lightened up with scrubbing. We chose a wood with very minimal knots.

Possibly water marks. In which case see my comment above. I have to bleach and re- oil my kitchen worktops regularly for this reason.

TheChosenTwo · 30/10/2023 11:49

decionsdecisions62 · 30/10/2023 11:47

Pin the care instructions for the floor on the back of the front door at eyeline so the idiot can't miss them. Plus never use the green abrasion side of those sponges ever again on anything you value. I would be furious.

Dh once used one of these to wash my car 🫣🫣
fuck knows why he decided to wash my lovely new car in the first place when I used to take it pretty regularly to the car wash people.
he spent a lot of money getting that fixed!

DisforDarkChocolate · 30/10/2023 11:50

And it's such beautiful flooring!

Get in touch with whoever you bought it from, they or the manufacturer, will have seen it all before and be able to help.

CyberCritical · 30/10/2023 11:50

Have you got a link to the flooring you've bought, there's usually care instructions in the description. One of the reasons I like real solid wood furniture and flooring is that it can generally be sanded and re oiled or varnished unlike veneer or laminate so it should be fixable.

Original poster
Veraper · 30/10/2023 11:51

This all happened as our takeaway came. Could only manage 3 bites. I’m trying to keep things in perspective but I’m devastated.

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dudsville · 30/10/2023 11:51

Unless he has form for this, which my dh does - new things seem to freak him out, then your dh has my sympathy. I once got red spray paint on brand new carpet. I never use spray paint and this whole thing was completely out of character.

Mmr224 · 30/10/2023 11:52

Is it varnished flooring or natural I.e oiled/waxed? Probably oiling would work , try a bad of olive oil on a fingertip on the smallest spot. If it works you probably want floor oil, think you get different types depending on the wood.

Ask the person who installed it or check care instructions. We have sanded and re oiled my parents floors but it depends what it is made of.

OnlyFannys · 30/10/2023 11:53

Is it worth contacting the person who you bought it from and explaining? It sounds like it was essentially faulty and that's why this has happened so they .ight be able to replace it?

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Spookymormonhelldream · 30/10/2023 11:55

Can you get the firm who installed it to replace those few tiles?
—maybe they’d install a patio for you as well—

Original poster
Veraper · 30/10/2023 11:56

I’ll have to ask the builder if it’s oiled or varnished. I know they “sealed” them but not exactly sure what that means. Our only request was that whatever was used would not change the plank colour - or as minimally as possible.

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mauvish · 30/10/2023 11:58

oh dear. Sympathies. I’ve no advice on sorting out the immediate problem.

However, floors are there to be walked on, and if this can be badly damaged so easily, I’d wonder if it’s actually fit for purpose. There’s the potential for getting all sorts of sticky substances on floors over their lifetime - you’ve got to be able to clean it!

Sofaz34 · 30/10/2023 11:58

Can you replace those few little bits? I usually try rubbing coconut oil into any marks on wood and it does tend to get out things like rings so give that a go. Good luck!

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 30/10/2023 11:59

That flooring is sold unfinished….. what have you finished it with?

Mischance · 30/10/2023 11:59

Wood flooring is beautiful, but a total pain. It is not the best flooring for a family with a dog!!

I found I just had to accept that it would weather - that life would leave scars showing its interesting history!

Honestly, worrying about never getting the tiniest scratch, mark, stain on it will drive you nuts - you may have to go with the flow a bit!!

Muststopeating · 30/10/2023 12:00

It says in the description that it's unfinished... Which means you really need to oil or varnish the whole floor yourself. Which will solve this problem and the fact that it hasn't been done is probably why you had the black marks in the first place.

Osmo oil is very very popular on MN (and we've used it on a table and been impressed) but please do some research on how best to treat and care for the floor before you do anything else.

Wood won't stay pristine looking for long, but the dents and scratches do become part of their charm after a while (much more so when the floor has been oiled rather than lacquered).

AliceOlive · 30/10/2023 12:00

Hang on! Don’t panic, this is fixable. Who installed them? Call them before you do anything. (Or another wood expert)

We recently had wood floors installed and the installer came back and fixed all kinds of similar problems. He did it for free. I watched and could easily do it myself now.