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Q: One visitor asked, "I have recently had my red oak floors sanded and refinished. I elected to not have them stained and just to have four coats of an oil based polyurethane finish applied. There are a few large spots that are dark and could not be sanded out but they are located in a room that will be covered with furniture so I’m not very worried about them. The biggest problem I had was in several areas the ends of the boards where they meet other boards turned out to be black. Is this a natural effect of the wood? Is there anything that could’ve or can be done to remove these dark lines? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you."

A: These black marks sound like "pet stains". The only practical way to deal with them is replace the boards. While they are usually seen and pointed out prior to sanding (and it isn't always possible to know before sanding whether the spots will come out) at times, if the floor is very dark the spots may not be visible enough to indicate what they are.
Some boards in lower grade wood can have dark mineral streaks, but that is not what this sounds like in your case. On the ends of the boards, is this black mark confined to the joint or does it creep several inches, for example on the surface and away from the end?





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