What is the best treatment for mold on a hardwood floor?

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Just moved into a house and we are finishing the hardwood floors. The house was carpeted and when we ripped out the carpets we found what looks to be mold stains on sections of the hardwood floor. We have sanded the floors with an orbital sander but the stains didn’t come out. I have heard that using a bleach treatment might work. Are there any products out there that will get rid of stains on hardwood floors. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

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  1. Sligo says:
    April 26, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    More than likely the "mold" stains are actually residual stains from the carpet pad that was over the floors (pet stains, water, etc.). If you have any buckling in the floor, then you have a moisture problem. For the stains, you’re on the right track, but if you’re using a regular orbital sander, you might not have enough muscle to really do the trick. You can rent professional grade sanders and edgers that will be heavy-duty enough to take the layers of wood off that are stained. You can rent them at any home depot, etc. They also should help you on operation, etc. After you get down far enough, the new stain that you put on the floor should help everything look uniform. Maybe go with a darker stain if there is still a trace of the "mold" stains. If you just can’t get the stains out with any equipment, consider a spot replacement with the same species of wood. If you take the wood to a reputable flooring installer/salesman they should be able to tell you if it’s red oak, white oak, pine, or whatever. Depending on your skills, you could do the patch yourself or get a good handyman or wood floor installer on the side to do it for a minimal amount. Then sand, stain, and finish. Hope that helps.

  2. justme says:
    April 26, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    Those black stains are from liquids going thru the carpet and penetrating the sealer of the wood darkening the wood.To remove the black area, you can use bleach to lighten the stain. It’s very important that you wet the black area first with water and surrounding area too. Let that soak in and then use diluted bleach (there is wood bleach, but Clorox is the same thing and cheaper) on just the black area. Only leave on for one or two minutes, then with clean water rinse back off. Let dry throughly. Keep bleaching until your satisfied. Lightly sand (120 grit) just the black area until it’s slightly lighter than the surrounding area. Now sand lightly with 180 grit. This is your finish sand. Your only trying to remove the raised grain from making the wood wet in the surrounding area from the spot. Finish sanding the rest of the floor now with 180 grit. Make sure you use a wood sealer on the entire floor, several coats where the black area was, before applying your stain color. It is a liquid and dries clear. The wood sealer will help your stain to go on evenly. When the entire area feels uniform, (you might have to put more coats where the black spots were) Now you can put on your stain color . Wipe off excess stain . Then your finish coat. This is also how you can remove ink stains and cigarette burns in furniture. When hand sanding use long, with the grain strokes, so you don’t get "dipping" areas in the wood. I’m getting ready to refinish my floor too. I have the same stains. Good luck.

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