Mold Growing on Hardwood Floors

PatrickBateman

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice on dealing with mold growing on hardwood floors. My wife and I recently got a Chinese Shar-Pei puppy and, as most Shar-Pei do, he makes a HUGE mess when he drinks water. We have been using a rubber mat to catch some of the water but it doesn't seem to do much good because water ends up under it and I think it creates an ever worse problem.

We choose the location of the water bowl because we could tell it was where the previous tenants had their dog's bowl. It seemed a little darker than the rest of the hardwood but nothing bad at all. Much to our dismay, the little discoloration has quickly turned into a full-blown mold problem.

Important - We're renting. This townhouse is only temporary so we want to limit the money and effort put into it. We have to put down an extremely large pet deposit for our two dogs so we'd rather the landlord take any major repair costs out of that.

My questions are:

• Is it possible for us to fix this ourselves?
• Can we sand, clean, and then refinish this spot without having to refinish the entire floor? Since we're renting, we're not looking for it to be perfect, rather we just want it to look decent.
• If all of this is possible, what type of finish do we use (e.g., water-based floor finish; gloss clear floor polyurethane; water-based polyurethane gloss; etc.)?

Here's what the floor looks like:








Finally, here's the little trouble-maker:

PatrickBateman

Holy big pictures Batman! I tried to make the images smaller but it didn't seem to work. If a moderator knows how, please feel free.

Blondesense

Don't have an answer, but he's a cutie!

Floor Doc

You are going to need to replace those boards .

creeper

My cat sticks his paw in the dogs water bowl and digs. What a mess. So now the bowl sits inside a slightly larger square plastic tub. He still digs but all the water just flows into the underneath basin.

Floor Doc

My cat sticks his paw in the bowl to , then licks his pawl .

PatrickBateman

Really? Yikes. That doesn't sound like something I could do myself. How expensive would something like that typically be?

Floor Doc

Depends on your area . anywhere from $25.00 and up a board .

tcleve4911

What a mess...........

Start with a paint scraper and remove as much finish and black as you can.
Apply bleach to the blackened areas. Let it work for 2-3 hours or longer if needed.
Lightly sand with 220
Stain if necessary
Apply 3 coats oil based polyurethane.
Steel wool to blend into surrounding flooring.

oh'mike

That's not mold---Red Oak contains tanic acid--when exposed to water it will turn black---nature of the wood--
Red oak does not tolerate water---your finish is about shot---Consider refinishing the floors.

Use 3 coats----

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tcleve4911

They're renting...........

oh'mike

As a renter---this is very good for your situation!--Mike---

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chrisn

Well. Mike, I am glad someone here has some knowledge. You would think any floor guy would know this, even I knew this.

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ratherbefishin'

Yeah, but did you guys forget that oak tannins can usually be bleached out with oxalic acid?

oh'mike

Did you ever try that?

I had rotten luck---turned the wood a nasty yellow---I may have over done it----

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