Wood Floors Scratched by Cats

[David Cook]

Hi All, 

I rented out an apartment about 4 years ago in Brooklyn.  Great tenant - no qualms.  She has two cats.  She's moving out in June.  When visiting the apartment for maintenance, I've noticed her cat's claws have scratched up the wood floors.  The wood floors were sanded and poly'd before she moved in and they've been sanded so many times over the years, the boards won't hold up to another sanding, even though the scratches aren't deep.  I think it's fair to say it's beyond normal wear and tear, but I'm not sure how much is fair to say "I'm going to have to deal with this somehow, and because of the scratches I'm deducting x."  I'm going to have a floor guy take a look to be sure, but let's assume I can't re-sand and I'll either have to put new flooring over the old original floors or just tell the next prospective tenant, that's how the floors will be, which lowers the appeal of a very rentable apartment.   Thoughts?

[Nate Williams]

I've refinished wood floors from 1904, and I would find it hard to believe a light sanding couldn't be done to remove shallow cat scratches. Original wood flooring is so beautiful and hard to come by. Our old floors from my 1904 house was sanded to the bone to get the old waxy paint off. The had scratches and even bits of old paint still on them after I finished. When we were selling, people loved the "aged" look, and it was a big selling point for that house.