Hardwood Floors December 2018/January 2019

By Brett Miller

• Scuffing can also be directly related to the finish. Some of the causes may include early foot traffic or use of the floor on uncured finishes, improperly mixed, applied, or stored finish, expired finish, or a bad batch of finish. UV-cured finishes can also scuff if it was improperly cured. IMPACT DAMAGE: A depression, mark, or wound on the surface of the finished wood flooring. All species and types of wood flooring and wood flooring finishes are prone to impact damage resulting in scratches, dents, and gouges. Common causes for scratches, indentations, and gouges on wood flooring may include high heels, sports cleats, pet nails, appliances such as refrigerators or stoves, furniture legs, piano feet, dropped objects, shipping or packaging damage, installation damage, and construction damage. Proper identification of each type of damage may help in the assessment.

• Scratches are caused by applied horizontal and vertical forces and are typically only in the finish coats. A fingernail can’t feel the ridge. Deep scratches are typically through the finish coats and have torn the wood fibers. Cross-grain scratches are deep scratches and are oriented perpendicular to the direction of the flooring, often crossing multiple board widths and have a higher probability of exhibiting wood fiber tear. Deep scratches, usually termed “gouges,” are typically through the finish coats and have torn the wood fibers. As scratch damage increases in severity, so does the likelihood that the damage will also include denting. • Indentations are notches, grooves or depressions on the surface of the flooring. Indentations are caused by applied vertical and/

or horizontal forces on the flooring surface. When only vertical forces have been applied (dropping an object) these depressions are typically isolated to the shape of the portion of the dropped object that contacted the floor. Indentations may not always be accompanied with finish tear.