Diagnose
Something is wrong with the floor. Start here.
Sixteen things that go wrong with hardwood floors and staircases — what each one looks like, what actually causes it, whether it can be fixed, and the point at which it stops being a repair. Including the cases where the honest answer is that the floor is finished.
Before you read anything else
If there is active water, stop it first. If a stair guard moves when you lean on it, keep people off that stair. Everything else on this page can wait until tomorrow; those two cannot.
And one rule that saves more floors than any other: do not let anyone sand a floor that is still wet. It is the most expensive mistake in hardwood, and it is almost always made with good intentions.
Water & moisture
Cupping, buckling, stains — where the floor is telling you about water.
Deal with it now
Hardwood Buckling & Lifting
Boards no longer in contact with the subfloor — a raised ridge, a tented seam, or a whole section standing proud. It is unmistakable and you will usually hear it before you see it.
Act soon
Hardwood Floor Cupping
Each board's edges sit higher than its centre, so the floor reads as a series of shallow troughs. Low winter light across the floor shows it before your feet do. Run a straightedge across the grain — a cupped board rocks on its edges.
Act soon
Hardwood Floor Crowning
The opposite of cupping: each board's centre is proud and its edges drop away. Often you can see the sanding pattern still on the high centres while the edges kept their old finish.
Act soon
Pet Urine Stains on Hardwood
Dark grey to black patches, often ringed, frequently near a door, a favourite corner, or under furniture. Usually a smell that gets worse in humid weather.
Movement & noise
Squeaks, gaps, hollow spots, and what is actually moving.
Act soon
Hollow or Bouncy Spots Underfoot
A drum-like note when tapped, or a slight give underfoot, over a defined area. Tap along with a knuckle and the boundary is usually sharp.
Watch it
Winter Gaps Between Hardwood Boards
Thin dark lines between boards that appear as the heating season sets in and close again by late spring. A credit card or a coin will slip into the worst of them.
Watch it
Squeaking Hardwood Floors
Noise underfoot in specific spots, usually worse in the dry months. Wood-on-nail is a sharp chirp; wood-on-wood is a lower groan; a hollow knock is the subfloor moving against the joist.
Stairs & railings
Treads, nosings, and guards that move.
Deal with it now
Loose or Wobbly Stair Railing
The handrail, a newel post, or the whole guard moves when you lean on it. Test it the way someone would use it in a fall — firm sideways pressure at the top, not a gentle push.
Act soon
Loose or Cracked Stair Nosing
The front edge of a tread has lifted, split along its length, or moves when pressed. On a retreaded flight it is often a separate nosing strip pulling away from the tread behind it.
Watch it
Squeaking Stairs
Noise on particular steps, usually when weight moves to the front or back of the tread rather than the moment you step on it. Often the same three or four steps every time.
Watch it
Under the Carpet on Your Stairs
Carpet and underlay off, and underneath: hundreds of staples, tack strip holes at the back of each tread, a painted or bare riser, and a front edge that may be construction-grade lumber rather than anything meant to be seen.
Finish problems
Peeling, hazing, and clouding.
Act soon
Peeling or Flaking Floor Finish
Sheets or flakes of finish lifting away and leaving bare wood, with a clear edge between coated and uncoated. Distinct from wear, which thins gradually with no lifting edge.
Watch it
Cloudy or Hazy Floor Finish
A milky bloom in the finish rather than on top of it — you cannot wipe it away. Sometimes a ring where something wet stood, sometimes a haze across a whole area.
Wear
Scratches and worn paths — and the recoat window.
Act soon
Worn Stair Treads
A pale path down the centre of each tread where the finish has gone, sharpest on the middle steps of the flight. Water beads on the edges of the tread but soaks into the middle.
Act soon
Dull Worn Traffic Paths
A visibly duller lane where everyone walks — hall to kitchen, door to stairs — while the floor under the furniture still has its original sheen. Hold a light low across the floor and the boundary is obvious.
Watch it
Scratches Showing White
Fine pale lines catching the light, most visible on darker stains. Run a fingernail across: if it does not catch, the scratch is in the finish only.
Not here? Ask the assistant in the corner, check the answers and glossary, or call (416) 847-3366 and describe it. Photographs help more than words — a picture of a tread end-on, or low light raking across a floor, usually settles it.