"Wear and Tear" Hardwood floor questions....

[John Stevens]

Wood floor questions...

I'm wondering what constitutes "wear and tear" for dark hardwood floors.

Background: I've been in my current apartment for almost 10 years. The place is a small one-bedroom apt in a residential house where a relative of the landlord lives below. This place is fairly old, with lots of quirks -- really lousy bathroom set-up, thick paint in certain areas, old doorknobs, sink isn't great, overall kinda beat-up and old...etc.

But the hardwood floors have always been fairly nice.

So...

1. I noticed that one of my bed legs (has a wheel) has really worn away at the wood floor (maybe 5 inches length x 1-2inches in width) probably from me sliding the bed at times back into place. I've since placed something soft under it so it won't get any worse! Is this considered wear and tear????

2. One section of the apartment has some varnish/finish peeling that I noticed around the 2nd year I was living here and over time has gotten worse. It's somewhat close to a window but I've always been very good about not letting any rain get in so I don't see how it could be attributed to water damage.

The peel is easily seen in direct sunlight (the sun actually nails that one area and I almost wonder if the sunlight is why the varnish seems to be weak and eroding just there). But it isn't noticeable if you're just scanning the room. The wood flooring in the rest of the apartment seems to be fine. This section isn't really "worn" or scratched, it's just spots where the varnish appears to be eroding away. So is this considered wear and tear????

Thanks for any insight! I've always been really careful and feel like I should get a break given how long I've been living here and how few issues I've had due to being so gentle (10 years, never complaining about anything even when it's routinely 58 degrees in the winter and as high as 92 in the summer). Yet I feel so stressed with these flooring issues!

[Theresa Harris]

@John Stevens  If you are that worried about the floor, you should be able to get something to touch up that spot and make it a similar colour as the rest of the floor.  For tiny dings in my furniture, I use a special pen for furniture touch ups.  It is the contrast between the bare wood and the dark stain that makes it noticeable.  Even if it isn't a perfect match, once you get it a similar colour, it will look better.