Welcome back, and once again, outstanding sleuth work by our wood floor pros online.
Let’s start with the issues we looked at in Mystery #17. Of course, the most obvious problems were the four large black stains:
For that type of destruction, the only possible cause is ammonia or urine. Almost everyone who commented online nailed that.
Also talked about was the clearly delineated discoloration across the floor caused by exposure to sunlight or the lack thereof:
I was originally told that there was carpeting, but when you look closely, the light discoloration clearly illustrates that this was likely an area rug. Upon speaking with Michael Deloia of New England Floors, he confirmed that, in fact, it was a rug.
Anyone with a lawn with dead spots knows they are typically caused by pet urine; for lawns it’s the nitrogen that damages the grass—like over-fertilizing. Wood flooring is also burned by urine, although for the wood floor it’s the high concentration of ammonia that tattoos it permanently.
Many contributors online speculated that the black circles were caused by a male dog on a table leg—excellent work! The damage lies beneath the four circular posts where there was a pool table, indicating they were caused by a male dog. We all know female dogs squat randomly about, whereas male dogs typically lift their leg to a corner post, chair leg, soccer ball … my hot tub (not that we’re naming names among my own four suspects below!)!
This house had a pool table, which explains why the circles are so large. The urine from the male dog saturated the corners and created a circular burn in the floor directly below and under the area rug. It wasn’t until the run was removed that they found the stains.
I believe the only way to get pet urine that’s deeply saturated and blackened out of a wood floor can be summed up in two words: circular saw! Check out the photos to see how New England Floors repaired this job and made it look beautiful once again:
The internet is full of articles that have haunted floor pros around the world about every chemical formula available to remove pet-stained floors. If any of our pros have photographic evidence of being able to use one of those formulas to repair urine-stained floors perfectly, I am your new business partner and best friend!
So to summarize, as many of you suggested, urine is the answer to this little flooring mystery. Grading an a curve, you all get an A+. Thank you to all who participated online. Thanks for reading Wood Floor Business and listening to the All Things Wood Floor podcast—we love you guys!
