Restoring Your Carpet or Hard Wood.

Solutions to restoring your wood floors.

Wood floors are appealing to the eye and adds value to any home. In the early 70's carpet hit an all popular high and beautiful hard wood floor were covered and concealed. Finding hardwood floors that can be restored under an old carpet is like finding a treasure. Most older home were installed with a higher quality wood. Depending on the thickness of the floor will help determine the type of wood used. To help determine if you wood can be restored look at the wear layers. Check for stains in the wood where liquid has soaked through the carpet. many liquid stains can't be removed. Inspect what was used to install the carpet or linoleum. There are most likely tack strips and hopefully it has not been glued or it is not full of nails. The more minimal damage the better but don't get discouraged there are ways to patch up almost any floor.

Screening is a way to refinish an old floor. A buffing machine can be used as long as the damage is not through the protective clear coat of the wood. Scratches are scuffed away with less dust than sanding. There are also chemicals available that chemically sand the finish. Then you can apply a clear urethane coat over your buffed or liquid sanded floors. You can typically walk on them in about a day.

You can also hand sand the floors yourself. This will of course require more work but is more cost efficient than most other solutions. Make sure you clean in between the wood planks and gaps before you sand. After you have finished sanding apply a semi gloss poly to add a great finish.

Renting a high powered sanding machine that professionals use is another solution. This will create a lot of dust but will probably create the best finish. A power sander is more efficient, smooth and can sand better than a household hand sander.

I have seen examples where some people have just painted their floors with a darker color to hide stains and slight imperfections and have applied a gloss over the paint to give it some shine. It does look good and is a quick fix but I don't know how long this strategy will last if there is high traffic.

Keeping your carpet looking good.

There are many stains that come from a household. Pets, guests, kids and everything else. Stains are treatable as long as they have not been left to sit for a long period of time. The sooner they are cleaned the easier it will be to get the entire stain up. And remember no matter the stain never rub it always blot it.
There are different solutions to attacking a stain depending on what caused it.

For pet stains blot any access of liquid or the stain with a cloth. Mix dish washing liquid or detergent with water. Pour on the stain and use a new cloth to blot up the liquid. Next apply some undiluted vinegar to to the stain and continue to blot. Last use a damp sponge to apply water to the stain and continue to blot until the stain is gone.

For crayons or oil apply a dry cleaning solution to a damp cloth and blot. Rinse with water and repeat.

To remove juices, tea or coffee. Blot all remaining liquids and remove as much as possible. Apply some club soda to the stain and continue to blot. if this does not work try a small amount of dish washing liquid mixed with water.

To remove Ink from your carpet, clothing or furniture, spray your everyday hairspray on the spot and blot till removed. Repeat spraying with hairspray and clean with hot water when finished.

If you have a candle that has fallen into your carpet. scrape up as much wax as you possibly can. Heat the wax by laying a paper bag over the wax and heating the bag with your iron. Repeat and continue to scrape till gone.

There are also carpet rakes available that brush your carpet so that it does not appear to be matted down and is great for removing pet hair.

If you have major water in your home there are a few thing you can do to help save your carpet. Use a disinfectant to clean the water damage to prevent bacteria from the water in your carpets. Always well ventilate the room if you have any major water damage.
If the water is on certain sides of the room you can cut the carpet up and fold it back. Cut out the damaged padding underneath and replace after the carpet had dried. Remove all furniture. If there is no where to go with it find something to elevate it off the floor so that the carpet can dry underneath. Find an industrial strength fan to add air flow. Use a shop vac or carpet shampooer just to suck up any access water.

You can also add a dehumidifier to the space and it will help suck the moisture out of the room. If none of this helps you will have to replace your carpet.

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