DH has ruined week old wood flooring

[Veraper]

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)

Please don’t worry OP
It’s wood so it will be salvageable

Also I imagine as it's click flooring it will be very difficult (though not impossible) to replace a few pieces in the middle of the floor.

No useful contribution OP except my commiserations - why do men do this?

My DH managed to chip our newly plastered wall while trying to put a door in the loft (don't ask 🙄). He then got dirty fingerprints on the wall while trying to polyfill the hole he had made (apparently little boys with constantly sticky fingers grow up into men with constantly sticky fingers).

Exactly! No one would have wood floors if it was so easy to ruin them.

They are floors. They are going to get damaged and marked. In time, these may be the things you like about them the most. Trying to keep them flawless will very much reduce your pleasure of them.

I get though that this is hard to accept now, as they are so new

I definitely need to be less precious. But I’m still in the sweeping 4x a day/any time I see a crumb stage. I just adore them.

Just wish we had left the black dots tbh, much less noticeable than the white splodges.

Have emailed the supplier.

You need to get right back in touch with the installer and find out what they finished it with. It looks like the finish has been scratched off, they may be able to come back and patch it (or sand it all off and refinish the whole floor)

DONT try random solutions until you know what you are dealing with

what were the black marks from? I would also try and work that out so that it doesnt happen again

I've got a footprint in the middle of mine where (adult) DS1 stepped when it was still wet.

Over the decades, I've come to see all of these things as the mark of a lived in home. Realistically, your floor isn't going to stay pristine forever.

It’s because it’s unfinished - it will mark like this very easily. You can have it finished.

Also you should be able to have it sanded 1-4 times during its lifetime.

You can do oil lacquer or varnish to protect it

First of all, sympathy- I would be livid at this. DH ruined a brand new window which had been installed that day, I still don’t fully know how it happened…

But floors are not a treat. They really aren’t. You chose beautiful flooring but floors are still a practical item. These marks are the first of many; you have at least one pet, and life in general will weather the floors. They are for walking and living on.

The upside is that they are wood and the builder should be able to advise how to minimise the damage.

Our wood floor has arks like that, it's really annoying. It's water that has got under whatever its been treated with.

I’m certain they have been finished. The builders couldn’t work on the rest of the house as whatever was used had to dry.

Try not to stress op. Find out what it was sealed with then very lightly sand with a fine sandpaper going with the grain, they put the sealant on. It'll be right

I laid a beautiful tile floor, no time to seal it before my sister brought her dog to stay, dog pissed on the floor multiple times, floor now has dark patches of dog piss stain all over it. Sister and dog no longer welcome. Floor ruined.

It's just the oil or varnish rubbed away. It can be fixed.

Your floors are on a journey of scratches, stains and marks and wear and tear, they will look better for it.

You should get used to it sooner rather than later.

@Movinghouseatlast Water is very possible due to dog’s water bowl.

I understand your horror OP but this is fixable. They can be refinished with the original product, varnished (including Matt / clear), sanded etc. None are ideal but they are all possible. Read about the manufacturer advice - perhaps speak to a specialist flooring restorer if you’re still not sure what to do.

Fil once sanded his car paintwork with actual sandpaper.

My v wise MIL who's done up lots of old houses over the years says "Real wood always comes back" when we mark, stain etc our wooden things and she's right.

Assuming it has been finished I’d recommend this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Howard-RF1008-8oz-Restor-Finish-Neutral/dp/B003DNRH1Q/ref=asc_df_B003DNRH1Q/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=344357747183&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5373407494321376219&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006812&hvtargid=pla-315055039361&psc=1

I’ve used it to touch up my floor, table and bannister. Works really well.

It says unfinished on the link so try some osmo finisher in the same colour. Or it's engineered wood so you should be able to sand down and restain.

Try some barkeepers friend.
Try some Amodex ink stain remover (you will need to get a scrubbing brush like a nail brush and rub it in for a long while)
It is possible to replace patches in the middle of a parquet floor some people will tell you it can’t be done but a good carpenter can.

Going forward you need to have that floor coated with a professional floor varnish by a flooring company or you can protect it yourself using a hardwax oil Osmo or Treatex, otherwise it will keep getting stained.

@SeaToSki no idea what the black splodges were from. We’ve been really careful.

A poster has suggested water under the seal which would make sense as the section ruined is next to kitchen where we keep a water bowl.

But if it was water under the stain would it lighten as DH scrubbed?

He's scrubbed of the finish. Refinish it.