Ask the handyman: Removing stains from hardwood floors

Published: April 5, 2015

By Peter Hotton The Boston Globe

Q. When I pulled up my rug for cleaning, I found a nice hardwood floor under it, but the floor had a number of white water stains. How can I clean them off?

A. There are two ways to try. One is to make a mix of 1 part bleach and 3 parts water, and paint it on the whole floor. The other is to rub with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and I do mean rub, hard. To prepare, soak the eraser sponge, then squeeze it as dry as possible before rubbing. If the stains are black, the floor must be sanded to the bare wood and refinished.

Q. My basement foundation had two leaky areas. One is a vertical crack about 4 feet long and 1/8 inch wide. The other leak comes from a small metal rod which has rusted and lets water in. The rod, which runs through the foundation, seems to be an artifact of when the foundation was poured and was part of the forms. Last week, an electrician suggested that hydraulic cement may stop the leaks. How does it work and how do you apply it properly? What about those waterproof paints?

A. Yes, hydraulic cement can work in these situations. It expands as it sets, which is its best attribute. For the long vertical rack or joint, secure a piece of wood inside or out to hold back the hydraulic cement that you will try to stuff deeply into the crack. It will make a good seal. For the remains of the wires or rods in the opening, you can use them as reinforcing to help keep the mortar in place. I think a good mortar will work here better than hydraulic cement.

When a caller on Feb. 26 asked why a steam radiator in her bathroom never got hot, the Handyman had some crazy idea why, but not the right one. It took a call from Bill Tragakis, retired but still active president of Watertown Heating and Plumbing supply, to set things straight.

She needs a new steam vent, said Tragakis, but it is hard to put one in because the radiator is in the wall, so some of the wall must be chipped away to reach the defective valve and put a new one in. Tragakis says Gorton makes several rated valves and suggests she use one that will make the radiator piping hot.

Its funny, my wife just asked about the meaning and/or origin of piping hot, and Tragakis thought it might be related to a pipe organ, not heat. Good point, so off on the search we will go.

Q. Years ago I clipped a column of yours about attic furnaces. Your snarky response was, A hot-air furnace in the attic is the dumbest thing to foist upon hapless homeowners since vinyl siding. I am a hapless homeowner living in a 1964 brick ranch in the Denver metro area to which some DIYer applied the cruddiest grade of vinyl siding (cruddy installation to match) on the gables, fascia, soffits, and under a 12-by-20-foot covered patio. Home Depot reps gave me a replacement estimate (almost $9,000), but I put the project on hold in light of your comment, concerned about paying thousands to do the wrong thing.

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Ask the handyman: Removing stains from hardwood floors