Re: Repairing scratches in finsish on bamboo floor
Janey,
Yes Bamboo is a trick that is yet to be figured out by the public at large. There are umteen different orientations of strands and there are all sorts of finishes from Carbonized on down. Then of course there is the stickler PRICE. Homeowners are notorious for wanting to save a buck, aren't we all? The reality of it from my experience is with Bamboo (as other things) you get what you pay for! Yes there are great deals that may seam like a bargain upfront like Bamboo for 1.69 and so one but the fact is it is going to scratch by just looking at it and it will be good money thrown away.
I looked at your pictures and it seems like you have more than just a few scratches and so I will digress from sugesting the pencil brush and polyurethane trick. YES bamboo floors can be refinsihed and I think in your case I would screen the section of floor that is scratched and apply a good Polyurethane. The best bet for you at this point is to find yourself a couple reputable flooring experts and have them take a look at your floor. They will come into your home and take a look at the floor and will give you some insight as to what they believe is the problem and then they will more than likely( if they are good) describe their plan of attack or at least an overview of it. They will educate you to a point and I think it will give you enough insight as to say whether or not this is something you want to tackle or pass off to the "experts". Many times my clients will ask me if there is a portion of their projects that they can do and I tell them absolutly so this too may be an area where yoiu can ak the pros if there is something you can do to help keep the costs down if it is seen as needing "professional intervention"
I am not sure if this helps or not but I think I would call a couple pros and have them take a look and you just might get enough hints from them looking at it to tackle it yourself~ or you might just say forget it and hand the baton off to them.
Take care Janey and I wish you the best in your journey!
Sincerely,
James D. Van Raden
Owner- Paragon Renovations- Moorhead, MN
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We did buy early though, when bamboo first came out so I think since then the finishes have gotten better. At least my scratches do not seem to go into the wood. I'll try your suggestion on some scrap that I have. I still have one more floor to lay in my guest room. Hey? I wonder if I can put something on the new floor to protect it? Like an extra coating of clear finish? I'll have to look into it, you have given me some good ideas. Thanks.