Scratches In Hardwood Floors

I see and hear it often. I have scratches in my new hardwood floors. What can I do? How can I prevent it from happening again? Is there something I can add to the new floor to make it more scratch resistant?

We take pride in new floors like we take care of a new car. You know where I'm coming from. You find new parking spaces never thought of before. They may be off the beaten track and further from the grocery store but your thoughts are they won't get scratched up. A few weeks go by. Guess what? You're now parking the car where you did before.

The single most preventive option is keeping grit off the new floor. By adding walk off mats at any door entry and area rugs indoors, a large portion of floor scratching potential will be eliminated. Hey just make sure those kids leave the shoes on the rug at the front door and don't allow them to drag them over in front of the TV to put 'em on the next day.

Any soil that could have been damp when they removed them is now hardened and will loosen from the bottom soles once they run to the front door for school. You didn't think of it and now grit, although in minuscule amounts is laying on the floor ready to be dragged. Yikes. Scratches!

Cats are very unlikely to cause floor scratching by paw traffic alone, but some strange ones have been known to use floors as a scratching pole, though quite rare. Dogs? Yep, keep those nails trimmed and make sure you have a good sized area rug near the doors if Fred loves to run for the doorbell.

Here's a cool idea. Protective nail coatings for pets so they don't scratch you or the floors. Imagine having your best friend running around the house in what looks like designer nails for pets!

See nail caps for dogs and caps for cats.

Better floor finishes do not protect against scratches although new prefinished floors have variations of aluminum oxide that are more durable to everyday use. Besides, adding any topcoat will void the finish warranty that came with your new hardwood floor.