Hello everyone,

I need your help. We are purchasing a new house with hardwood floors. The previous homeowner just moved out and after they moved the furniture, we have the following dark spots on the floor. The Real Estate agent is saying that it will equalize over time. I'm not sure if I believe it. If we expose it to sun will the discoloration eventually even out?

What options do we have otherwise? The floor is not perfectly flat and I would hate to have to sand it down.

Your help would be appreciated.

PB

LOL...what was on there? A bear skin rug or something?

I'm guessing this is walnut which is very photosensitive. It probably will eventually even out, but it may take a LONG time. We've recently seen that in the apartments at The Ritz Carlton. The fastest way to solve is to sand and refinish. And, you should wait at least 6 months before putting area rugs down. that's when most of the color changes take place.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County, NY

its not perfectly flat because it is a prefinished floor..



Interesting as my first thought was " is this walnut?"

then I got to the latter pics..Yes it is..I have never seen get this light.
then again, it is not a commodity item and even though we have installed them, they are few and far between..So I only see them when we are done..then bye bye

Haha yes I think it was a Zebra skin or something...

With regards to the sanding and refinishing, the floor is not perfectly flat and the wood has some character to it....

Would that be lost if you sanded and refinished?

Thanks again for your help!

PB

PB - That shouldn't matter for sanding and refinishing. I'm guessing/hoping it's solid. If so, it can be refinished many times. If it's engineered, you may be limited.

The wood should still maintain the "character." Only when it's handscraped/distressed, would you lose that, and these look like regular prefinished hardwood floors.

LOL, yeah zebra skin would make sense. And, you can see the ends where the moved a bit.

Also, you may want to see if there is any film or something for the windows. Not sure if that would help reduce the UV rays.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County, NY

Anybody specialize in UV floor treatments?

Kind of like treating a home for bug infestation but this time around use UV lamps for specific problem areas? I suppose the lights would have to be very close to the floor. Unrealistic? Too expensive? Just throwing something out there.

Roomba UV machine? Programmed to find the lighter areas. Just let 'er loose for a few days. Definitely need a good power source. Cords would probably get all tied up.

It looks more like a stained acacias than black walnut. You dont see a lot of prefinished black walnut so that also leaves me to believe its Asian walnut. Anyway thee pic in the hall with good light is where a plant sat and looks more like water damage than fading. Id want it refinished, Id be surprised if it gets much better over time.

I agree on the plant holder (but hard to tell if the blacker area is water damage vs. just darker). I also agree that sanding is the best option.

I wrote a post on here a few weeks ago asking about UV protected polyurethane, but it sounded like everyone was skeptical on that one.

We did end up refinishing the American Walnut with regular poly and I believe it either eliminated the differences or nearly eliminated them. (the area was rented out, so I don't have access, but that's what my installer told me and the customer didn't complain, so I'm sure it was fine.)

I did see another apartment in the same building w/ walnut with the same exact issue.

I need to look into becoming an approved vendor there...the building is relatively new, and in a few yrs many will need to refinish, especially as they start selling.

NWFA Technical Bulletin C200 Problems, Causes & Cures

DISCOLORATION
What it is:
The floor changes color (darkens or lightens) over time. Some areas may change color more than others.
Cause:
• Oil-modified finishes amber in appearance and will yellow even further over time—this is to be expected.
• Wood lying in direct sunlight will change color over time; this is a natural change.
• Wood also changes color through oxidation and/or photochemical exposure, which is a change that cannot be prevented. This is a naturally occurring phenomenon.
Cure:
Despite the pervasive myth that an oil-modified finish recoated with waterborne finish will stop ambering, ambering of oil-modified finishes cannot be prevented. If marks are left on the floor by area rugs or furniture, moving them around can equalize the change in color. Customers should be informed that all wood species, particularly cherry, Brazilian Cherry and many exotics, will change color greatly as they age and are exposed to light.
To minimize changes, reduce the floor’s exposure to light.

Other articles suggest that if left exposed in perhaps a years time they will blend together. BUT there is no guarantee. Additionally, if a newly refinished floor is covered before 6 weeks this condition can also occur.