Hardwood floor help (roof, refinishing, color, dining room)
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My floors are in need of help. The finish has been worn off in many places, especially by our front door. It is down to the bare wood. We want to sell our house soon and we cannot afford to have a professional come in and re-do the floors since we have spent money on other bigger repairs and we now need a new roof. I saw on one of those DIY shows that there is a product that you just rub on or mop on and brings back the original color and shine, but I cannot find anything like it in stores. Everything I have tried makes the floors look immediately fantastic and as soon as it dries, its back to where it was .
I was thinking of staining the floor myself with a wood stain and then doing a poly over it just to get the (hopefully) buyers through a couple of years and I know it will improve the look immensley for showings. Has anyone done a quick repair job like this?
My floors are in need of help. The finish has been worn off in many places, especially by our front door. It is down to the bare wood. We want to sell our house soon and we cannot afford to have a professional come in and re-do the floors since we have spent money on other bigger repairs and we now need a new roof. I saw on one of those DIY shows that there is a product that you just rub on or mop on and brings back the original color and shine, but I cannot find anything like it in stores. Everything I have tried makes the floors look immediately fantastic and as soon as it dries, its back to where it was .
I was thinking of staining the floor myself with a wood stain and then doing a poly over it just to get the (hopefully) buyers through a couple of years and I know it will improve the look immensley for showings. Has anyone done a quick repair job like this?
Thanks for your help!
Your first mistake is listening to those DIY shows on HGTV. Watching them is ok, it's just entertainment but that's where it stops. In nearly every construction professionals opinion, HGTV has done more damage to the devastated construction industry then the economic depression has. When I get calls daily to my store by people who say they just heard on HGTV that they can get a nice new kitchen for $895.00 and they want one too, I just cringe. Do you know HGTV has told the TV audience you can do a new roof for $500.00? A major remodel for $5000.00? Flat out lies and misleading information.
There is no quick fix for your floor. Not a proper one anyway. You can get some matching stain but if there is any polyurethane residue left then the stain will not penetrate and you will have bald spots. The only proper way is to sand the whole floor past the polyurethane and down to clean raw wood. If you don't mind a butcher job you can find a matching NON penetrating stain which will just sit on the surface and cover up that poly.
You could also discount your home accordingly to reflect the lack of maintenance and all the work needed to bring it up to par.
You do have a far worse problem though. Several actually. You said you need a new roof. Do you realize the Home Inspector that will be hired by a potential buyer will discover the roof problems? Then the buyer will demand YOU fix it or discount the purchase price $6000 for a roof that will cost $4000 to replace. So you can fix it now or fix it later at a higher price.
You need to also face reality during these economic depression times. There are very few home buyers and those who are looking have bad enough credit that they will never qualify. Think of it another way. If YOU were looking for a home and looked at 100 homes. All closely priced. But some needed much work and some were red ribbon deals, meaning they were perfect and ready to move into. Which would you choose? Why would anyone buy your home that needs much work if there are hundreds or thousands of same priced same sized homes in good condition?
The very very few buyers out there are going to pass up your handyman special unless your selling price reflects the work it needs. And an educated guess is you are under water in your mortgage just like the 12 million other American homes (source:US Census).
So you likely have no room to lower your price therefore can't sell. Welcome to the American dream which has become nothing more then the American nightmare.
Your first mistake is listening to those DIY shows on HGTV. Watching them is ok, it's just entertainment but that's where it stops. In nearly every construction professionals opinion, HGTV has done more damage to the devastated construction industry then the economic depression has. When I get calls daily to my store by people who say they just heard on HGTV that they can get a nice new kitchen for $895.00 and they want one too, I just cringe. Do you know HGTV has told the TV audience you can do a new roof for $500.00? A major remodel for $5000.00? Flat out lies and misleading information.
There is no quick fix for your floor. Not a proper one anyway. You can get some matching stain but if there is any polyurethane residue left then the stain will not penetrate and you will have bald spots. The only proper way is to sand the whole floor past the polyurethane and down to clean raw wood. If you don't mind a butcher job you can find a matching NON penetrating stain which will just sit on the surface and cover up that poly.
You could also discount your home accordingly to reflect the lack of maintenance and all the work needed to bring it up to par.
You do have a far worse problem though. Several actually. You said you need a new roof. Do you realize the Home Inspector that will be hired by a potential buyer will discover the roof problems? Then the buyer will demand YOU fix it or discount the purchase price $6000 for a roof that will cost $4000 to replace. So you can fix it now or fix it later at a higher price.
You need to also face reality during these economic depression times. There are very few home buyers and those who are looking have bad enough credit that they will never qualify. Think of it another way. If YOU were looking for a home and looked at 100 homes. All closely priced. But some needed much work and some were red ribbon deals, meaning they were perfect and ready to move into. Which would you choose? Why would anyone buy your home that needs much work if there are hundreds or thousands of same priced same sized homes in good condition?
The very very few buyers out there are going to pass up your handyman special unless your selling price reflects the work it needs. And an educated guess is you are under water in your mortgage just like the 12 million other American homes (source:US Census).
So you likely have no room to lower your price therefore can't sell. Welcome to the American dream which has become nothing more then the American nightmare.
But I sincerely wish you luck
desertsun,
NO I am not under water in my mortgage at all. Is my home worth less than it was five years ago? Yes. But it is still worth over $70,000 more than we paid for it which isn't a bad thing at all in my opinion.
My house is NOT a handyman special. The floors need to be redone. We cannot afford to do them BECAUSE we need to replace the roof. I will not sell my house with a bad roof, and if I did, I would plan on reducing the price of it. The rest of my house is in great shape aside from a few paint touch ups and a broken tile or two in the kitchen all of which are getting fixed in a couple of weeks. Our entire entryway, dining room, living rooma nd master needs the floors redone, though I may just put carpet in the bedroom instead. The way our house is laid out on the first floor though, we would need to carpet LR, DR and entryway since they are all connected and I don't want to do that. We have area rugs in LR and DR, but the floors still need to be fixed.
I realize that a lot of those shows are unrealistic, I made no mistake at all, no need to be demeaning. I know a roof would never cost $500 but my nephew did redo his entire kitchenfor $5000 and its top of the line. Just have to know where to go and its not the most gigantic kitchen, but still a great size. Plus they did all the work themselves which saved a ton of money. Just gotta know the right people. SO it can be done. But anyway, there was a product they used, and I can't remember the name of it that refinished the worn spots on this hardwood floor and it was just a rubbed on thing that had some stain and poly in it. They looked great and matched the rest of the floor. The did the steps and the entryway of the home. It came in several shades and was in some sort of a metal can I believe. I have tried to Google it and have had no luck.
You are quite the negative Nellie aren't you? Assuming I can't sell my house among assuming alot of other things. Geeze.
To Scott, thank you! I will have a look and see what others have said.
I suggest a quick and inexpesive test. Bona Hardwood Floor Polish, High Gloss. Liquid and very easy to apply. It might just bring back the shine. As I said, quick and inexpensive.
desertsun,
NO I am not under water in my mortgage at all. Is my home worth less than it was five years ago? Yes. But it is still worth over $70,000 more than we paid for it which isn't a bad thing at all in my opinion.
My house is NOT a handyman special. The floors need to be redone. We cannot afford to do them BECAUSE we need to replace the roof. I will not sell my house with a bad roof, and if I did, I would plan on reducing the price of it. The rest of my house is in great shape aside from a few paint touch ups and a broken tile or two in the kitchen all of which are getting fixed in a couple of weeks. Our entire entryway, dining room, living rooma nd master needs the floors redone, though I may just put carpet in the bedroom instead. The way our house is laid out on the first floor though, we would need to carpet LR, DR and entryway since they are all connected and I don't want to do that. We have area rugs in LR and DR, but the floors still need to be fixed.
I realize that a lot of those shows are unrealistic, I made no mistake at all, no need to be demeaning. I know a roof would never cost $500 but my nephew did redo his entire kitchenfor $5000 and its top of the line. Just have to know where to go and its not the most gigantic kitchen, but still a great size. Plus they did all the work themselves which saved a ton of money. Just gotta know the right people. SO it can be done. But anyway, there was a product they used, and I can't remember the name of it that refinished the worn spots on this hardwood floor and it was just a rubbed on thing that had some stain and poly in it. They looked great and matched the rest of the floor. The did the steps and the entryway of the home. It came in several shades and was in some sort of a metal can I believe. I have tried to Google it and have had no luck.
You are quite the negative Nellie aren't you? Assuming I can't sell my house among assuming alot of other things. Geeze.
To Scott, thank you! I will have a look and see what others have said.
No I'm not negative though others see me that way. I'm just truthful rather then coloring the truth. Despite that I meant no disrespect to your home, I never even seen it. But walking in thousands of peoples homes over 3 decades has drawn many conclusions in my brain how people perceive their safe nest and have no idea how others see it. You spoke of several issues that often the homeowner doesn't even see yet everyone walking into that house sees the flaw.
Good luck selling. Again, everyone feels their home is the best and it will sell in a week. Most all local NAR MLS inventories are overflowing with homes who's owners felt that way. It is not good out there. Last year alone 70% of all Realtors did not renew their license. That statistic speaks volumes.
But whatever the case I do not know of the product you are speaking of though it does ring a bell. It's just not a job you can touch up unless you blend in non penetrating stain. Consider doing it right. Hardwood floors are a big plus when selling as buyers generally love them.
Good luck to ya
Take no offense to my tone. I'm very passionate about my advice as well as all the volunteer time I give.
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