Red oak rental floors with pet damage and water stains, fully refinished
A vacant Excelsior rental with two species of red oak—worn from years of use and large dogs—was fully sanded and refinished with an Amber Prime sealer system to blend the two floor types and deliver a clean, like-new result.
Project Overview
Service Type
Home Type
Floor Type
Wood Species
Date Completed
Before Photos
Red oak hardwood floors with visible scratches, dog-related wear, grayed high-traffic areas, staining, and localized cupping from a past under-sink water leak.
After Photos
Refinished red oak hardwood floors with an amber-toned, even finish and a durable satin sheen throughout.
About the project
The homeowner noticed the floors were well past the point of routine maintenance. The property had been vacant after a long tenancy, and the previous renters had kept large dogs. High-traffic areas had begun to gray, scratches were visible throughout, and there was localized cupping near the kitchen from a previous under-sink water leak.
After taking a closer look, we found the water-damaged areas had fully dried out, so no board replacements were needed. We were able to sand down the cupped sections along with the rest of the floor. We also discovered something that wasn't visible in the initial photos: the kitchen and the living room and hallway were two different widths of red oak. The kitchen had 2¼-inch strip flooring, while the other areas were a wider, 3¼-inch character-grade oak. Once the old finish was sanded away, the contrast between the two became more apparent.
Based on that, we recommended a full sand and refinish rather than a buff and coat. The damage was too extensive for a surface-level refresh, and the homeowner wanted the floors to look brand new for the next tenant. To address the visual gap between the two wood types, we used an Amber Prime sealer. It adds a warm, aged tone similar to what oil-based poly produces—enough depth to bring the two floors into closer visual alignment without applying a full stain color. The homeowner had considered a stain but preferred to keep the cost down, and the amber sealer achieved a similar blending effect. We finished with an Easy Finish satin topcoat.
The result was a consistent, warm finish across both floor types. The satin sheen gave the floors enough light to read as clean and fresh without drawing attention to every footprint. The cupped areas flattened out cleanly, and the two wood sections read as a cohesive floor rather than two distinct materials. Any prospective renter walking through the property would see floors that look completely reset.
Finish & Materials
From the customer
"New glow flooring did a great job! I’ve worked with New Glow twice now, and would recommend them to anyone looking to get their floors redone."
This video walks through a full sand and refinish on red oak floors in a vacant Excelsior rental property. The floors showed pet damage, high-traffic wear, and localized cupping from a past water leak. We also found two different widths of red oak in the home and used an Amber Prime sealer to bring them into visual alignment. The finished floors received an Easy Finish satin topcoat.
When we got to this property in Excelsior, the floors had been through a full tenancy—big dogs, high traffic, and a water leak under the kitchen sink at some point. The wood had dried out by the time we got there, so no boards needed to come out, but there was some cupping we had to sand through.
One thing we spotted once we got on the floor: there were actually two different species of red oak in the house. The kitchen had 2¼-inch strip oak, and the living room and hallway had a wider, 3¼-inch character-grade board. They'd blended together over the years because the old finish had yellowed everything to about the same color. Once we sanded that off, the difference became visible.
To handle that, we used Amber Prime as the sealer. It gives the floor a warmer, deeper tone—closer to what you'd get from an oil-based finish. It was enough to pull both floors toward the same visual baseline without adding a full stain color.
We finished with an Easy Finish satin topcoat. Satin is what most people go with these days—it's low enough in sheen that it doesn't show every footprint, but it's got enough surface to stay looking clean between cleanings.
What you're looking at now is a floor that the next tenant will move into without giving the floors a second thought. This is the kind of result that holds up well in a rental setting and gives the owner a clean starting point for the next lease.