Floor Scratch Repair DIY: How to Repair Minor Scratches on 3 Different Flooring Types

Beautiful and smooth flooring makes any home feel like it’s classy, stylish, and fresh. 

That is until a scratch enters the picture. Scratches aren’t an uncommon occurrence, but that doesn’t make them any less upsetting when they occur. 

Whether you’ve found scratches on the ground thanks to your dog’s toenails, your toddler driving a toy truck on your new engineered hardwood floor, moving furniture, or you have no idea where the scratch came from, don’t worry.

There are some DIY floor scratch repair methods you can try before calling in a professional to take a look.

Here are our expert tips on how to try to fix a scratch on your own for three different floor types. Let’s get started!

Unfortunately, hardwood flooring and engineered wood floors are some of the easiest to scratch. We would recommend having a sealant layer on top of your hardwood floor. This won’t affect the look of the floors and it will greatly increase their durability and resistance to stains & scratches.

Another way to avoid scratches in the first place is to know how to clean engineered hardwood floors properly (as well as standard hardwood floors). This plus the addition of rugs in areas of high traffic can make scratches much more unlikely.

However, if you are unlucky enough to be dealing with a scratch, start by examining the severity. 

Minor or soft scratches could potentially be solved with a DIY. Deeper or more serious scratches we would recommend leaving for flooring pros. These require more serious repair to prevent further damage. 

If you have the original floor stain, you can attempt to sand the scratch away with sandpaper and then restrain the spot to match the rest of the floor. You can also try to “paint” the stain into minor scratches to cover them.

If you don’t know the original, you can try to match the stain with small patch tests. But, we would recommend something like that be left to the pros.

Some people have found success combining olive oil and baking soda into a paste, rubbing it onto the scratch, and then buffing away the paste after 5-10 minutes with a sponge.

Luxury vinyl flooring , often sold in tiles or planks, can be scratched or scuffs.

Before replacing the plank or tile, try a few of these DIYs.

First, some have found that the baking powder paste (baking powder + water) could be used to clean and buff out very minor scratches and scuffs.

Others have said that everything from lighter fluid to baby oil can be sprayed on a soft cloth and used to rub the scratch or scuff away.

If you opt for one of these DIY, use a small amount to avoid damaging the tiles. You should also be sure to thoroughly wash the floor once you’re done so chemicals and cleaners don’t damage the rest of the floor.

Read about that method here.

Similar to the wood’s stain method from earlier, there are specialty floor “markers” that you can try to match to your luxury vinyl floor’s color. Use the marker to fill in the scratch to help it blend into the rest of the floor.

If those don’t work, a professional tile store can help you find a replacement plank or tile to replace a badly scratched or damaged area.

See some of your options here .

Whether you have porcelain tile floors or porcelain wall tiles (or both!), scratches can be a noticeable slight on the beautiful, smooth look that we love with our porcelain tiles.

Our first suggestion is to thoroughly clean the area. Porcelain scratches, especially in bathrooms , often have soap buildup, dirt, grout residue, fingerprints, and more making them appear worse than they are.

Once it’s all clean, you’ll need to do some more color matching to find a replacement filler that matches the color of your porcelain tile. Gently sand down the area with fine sandpaper to flatten the scratch. 

Then, apply the filler and let dry. These items can be purchased at hardware stores separately, or they often come in repair kits as well.

Learn more about that DIY method here.

If you feel confident in your DIY skills, then some of these floor scratch repair options could be your saving grace. However, the biggest takeaway here is that you don’t have to resort to a DIY. 

Professionals are experts at what they do, and they’re going to be your greatest resource with any flooring problem or issue you have. They can repair the damage perfectly without doing damage to other parts of the floor, wall, or home. 

If you’d like some more advice on what to do about your flooring or tile issue, we’d be happy to help! Contact us today to speak with one of our experts.

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