[wmfights]

"It won't do a thing to the polyurethane, just sits there."
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The poyurethane is probably the best, but the wood expands when humid and contracts when dry so the spacing between the boards will separate over time. When a dog urinates the urine will seep between the cracks and stain the wood. Sometimes the wood can be sanded, but after a 5-6 sandings the wood will have to be replaced. If you replace a small section the wood will not match the old wood. Also, when you patch the wood the thickness of the boards may vary from the rest of the floor. If you stain the entire floor to cover the damaged portion you darken the entire room, making it less attractive to perspective tenants.

Replacing a hardwood floor and having it resurfaced will cost approx $8-10.00 per sg. foot. If I have to redo 500 sg. ft. at $8.00 per foot that will be $4,000.00 just for the floor. How does a $400.00 deposit cover this, or the additional vacancy time to get the work done?

[AnAmericanMother]

Regular inspection, sir. Regular inspection.

Almost any lease gives you the right to do so. You can use repairs as an excuse if you need to.

Interesting point, though. We've been in our current house for 10 years, it's 25 years old. The polyurethane was sanded down and refinished around 1990. It has not separated or cracked at all, and the boards have separated in only one place -- at a threshold between two rooms.

Before that, we lived in our old house from 1981 to 1994, and I never had separation between any boards. Of course, that was a waxed floor, so I had to be careful and renew the wax frequently to prevent stains (and I wasn't always careful, esp. in the kitchen, it got away from me in a couple of places. Which is why I prefer the poly.)

Both houses were not spec houses but custom (we built the first one ourselves) with oversized joists and short spacing between the joists, which probably has something to do with it.