Have you even gotten home after work, just about to relax in your favourite armchair, when you suddenly notice a deep, long scratch in your precious wooden floor? There is almost nothing worse that can happen to a person who is truly proud of their home and their real wooden floors. Not only do scratches in wood look truly horrible, it is usually very difficult to remove. A scratched wooden floor can be quite devastating because natural wood floors are very expensive to install and repair.
For this reason, many people choose to stick to laminate wooden flooring, especially the DIY kind. It is very affordable and looks just as good as the real thing. Laminated flooring comes in a variety of different styles and there truly is an option to suit every budget and preference. This is why many new home owners are opting for laminated floors instead of hard wood floors. However, if you have real wooden floors and furniture that has suffered scratch damage, there is something you can do about it.
You might not like this idea at all, because it entails making more scratches on your wooden floor or furniture, but you would need to sand the area that has been scratched with fine sandpaper. Keep in mind that if this does not appeal to you, laminate flooring is the best option for you as it is very scratch and damage resistant.
Brief summary of the benefits associated with laminated flooring vs. hard wood flooring:
- Affordable: Laminated floors are a lot more cost effective than hard wood floors. They are also a lot cheaper to repair should they be damaged in any way. This benefit is one of the main reasons why laminated flooring has grown to be so popular today.
- Aesthetic: Laminated floors look very much like hard wood floors. They can be bought in a wide variety of finishes that mimics just about every type of hard wood floor available and then some!
- Durable: Hard wood floors are very easily scratched and damaged. One guest in stilettos is all you need to damage your precious wooden flooring. Laminated floors are a lot more hard wearing. They will not be easily damaged and can withstand many years of wear and tear before they show any signs of ageing at all.
- Low maintenance: Wooden floors can be quite high maintenance. They are susceptible to a whole range of afflictions such as wood lice, termites, mould and warping. Wooden floors also need to be regularly polished if you want to keep them in top notch condition. Laminated floors do not need to be treated in any way. All you have to do is use a damp cloth or mop to give it a wipe down every now and then in order to keep it clean.
- Easy to install: Laminated floors can be installed quickly and easily. In fact, many home owners choose the DIY approach. Hard wood floors have to be installed by professionals and this can increase the cost price quite notably.
You would need to sand the scratched area of wood until you can no longer see the indent of the scratch/es. As soon as this is done you can use wood paint to repaint the area you have sanded. You also need to then use varnish on the entire floor/piece of furniture after sanding and painting to ensure that all of the wood looks the same again.
If you don’t want to go through all the trouble of sanding, painting and varnishing and if the scratch is not in a very noticeable place (on the floor), you could possibly just move a piece of furniture over it or even place a loose mat over it.
As mentioned before, DIY laminated flooring is much easier to maintain and it is good to keep this option in mind should you want to buy a new house or even an extra house to rent out. It will work out much less in the long run to buy laminated wooden flooring and furniture than to try and maintain real wood on an ongoing basis.