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Problem

Hardwood floor cupping — edges higher than the middle
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.
Hardwood floor crowning — middle higher than the edges
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.
Gaps opening between boards in winter
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.
Hardwood buckling or lifting off the subfloor
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.
Squeaking or creaking hardwood floor
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.
Squeaking or creaking 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.
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.
Loose, lifting, 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.
Worn or bare patches on 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.
What is 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 peeling or flaking off the floor
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.
Cloudy, hazy, or white patches in the 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.
Scratches that show up 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.
Dull worn paths through the middle of the room
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.
Black or grey pet 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.
Hollow-sounding 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.

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