Housecleaner ruined hardwood floor

[sunshine1178]

She just texted and is on her way over so we will see what she says. I did not act mad and am not mad-but I am distressed.

The floors are not real hardwood so cannot be refinished. Hopefully she can come up with a way to get them clean, even if it takes all day for her to do it.

You told us that the floors were hardwood, but now you admit that they are not. If you told her that they were hardwood, but they weren't, then you can't blame her for any work that she did which would have been appropriate for hardwood.

 

[connorlevismom]

You told us that the floors were hardwood, but now you admit that they are not. If you told her that they were hardwood, but they weren't, then you can't blame her for any work that she did which would have been appropriate for hardwood.

They are engineered hardwood - so they are hardwood. They are not pergo and laminate flooring, they are engineered hardwood, meaning they have a thin surface of hardwood on top and cannot be sanded down.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Please update us when you can. I sure hope your floors will be fixed right again.

 

[WorldWacky]

I have new hardwood floors and have been researching cleaners for them. Looking at the reviews, there are a lot of cleaners that leave a milky film/residue on the floors. I've still been too gun-shy to try any products because of so many issues with every product I read about. I don't know what the solution is for cleaning them offhand, but I do remember reading that people got the residue off.
Hopefully you can find something that works. Good luck!

 

[jtobykrauss]

I have new hardwood floors and have been researching cleaners for them. Looking at the reviews, there are a lot of cleaners that leave a milky film/residue on the floors. I've still been too gun-shy to try any products because of so many issues with every product I read about. I don't know what the solution is for cleaning them offhand, but I do remember reading that people got the residue off.
Hopefully you can find something that works. Good luck!

Use 1 part vinager to 4 part water with a damp mop, do not let the floor get really wet. My family is in the flooring business and that is what my dad has told people to use for over 49 years with no problems.

 

[DebbieB]

Hopefully she has insurance. It's a good example of why it's important to hire people who are bonded & insured.

 

[daisyduck123]

I have real hardwood throughout my house and have been using the Swiffer Wet Cloths for years. My floors look beautiful, no milky residue, nothing. I highly recommend them!

A few things to note that may affect the performance/results:

1) I use these on my floors only once, occasionally twice, a week.
2) Our floors NEVER really get dirty to begin with as we never, ever wear shoes in the house.

 

[WorldWacky]

Use 1 part vinager to 4 part water with a damp mop, do not let the floor get really wet. My family is in the flooring business and that is what my dad has told people to use for over 49 years with no problems.

Thank you. I've been leaning toward trying the vinegar solution but was afraid to try anything due to what the OP is dealing with! I've just been too afraid to mess them up!

 

[dclpluto]

First you should of had what the cleaner was to use on your floor and only use that. You are better off with your house cleaners is you supply all the materials they need so things like this don't happen. Good luck

 

[elphaba91]

I really think you should get a professional in to look at them rather than letting the cleaner try again. If it has been caused by a chemical then adding more chemicals on top might make the problem worse.

 

[NHdisneylover]

First--I agree with the above advice----don't use other/more chemicals on the floor without the advice of a professional--you may make a salvageable floor unsalvageable if you do.

Second--I DO feel for you. I would be totally distraught in your situation.

Third--I hope this cleaner is licensed and bonded and you have recourse. If not, well, it is cheaper to hire someone who does not run their business full legally, but not the most ethical thing and risking having to eat the consequences of a mistake is part of what you do when you hire such a person for that lesser cost. IF this is the case, well, I would say you have to eat the cost this time and hopefully learn from this and in the future pony up the money for a professional service which follows all the rules.

 

[Eastern]

Why would it be wrong to hold a business person responsible for damage she caused??? She needs to be held responsible & either correct the problmem or compensate the OP. If I take my car in for routine service & the shop totally damages the car in the process, would it be wrong to expect them to fix it or pay for the damage? Of course not! Why is this any different??

Are you kidding me? We assign blame based on income and not on wrongdoing? Did the homeowner mess up the floors? NO. The cleaner did. Therefore, she should be responsible.

If cleaner has insurance I would say yes, she is responsible. Otherwise, be careful who you hire. If they make a mistake, or get injured on your property, you are responsible.

It's expensive to carry insurance. I'm sure the cleaner, if she does not have insurance, passed on the savings to OP in the form of cheaper hourly rates.

 

[Tiggeroo]

You take a chance if you hire somebody like this and not verifying insurance. If she doesn't have insurance I doubt you will get what it costs to fix it from her. If you tell your homeowners you have a cash employee with no insurance in your home it is doubtful they will pay the claim. Licensed, insured and bonded cleaners cost a good deal more then people who do it as a side income for cash. There is nothing wrong with hiring a local person for cash imho , but it comes with risks. Technically, if you hire a cleaner you would either have to obtain a certificate of insurance and issue a 1099, and in that case they want more money, or issue a paycheck and absorb insurance responsibility yourself, which costs you more money. You need to Google this. I bet it can be fixed and I'm sure she is willing to work on it. Find an out of the way spot to test. I know wax creates a haze on floors and there are removers, including I believe, diluted ammonia but I'd want to research and test a spot first.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I do housecleaning amd am licensed and insured. I always ask homeowners what they want used on their floors. Usually they provide the clean, esp for hardwood floors, granite or stainless.

 

[cvjw]

My Sister's cleaners (that she had used for years and years), cleaned her basement bathroom with some sort of wiping cloths and then tried to flush them down the toilet.

Of course they did not go down and the whole basement flooded. All of the floors were ruined. Her basement was covered in mold because they were out of town when the flooding occurred and the water sat in the basement for days.

My Sister got nothing from the cleaners. She had to file with her homeowner's insurance.

Unless you watch the cleaners 24/7, accidents can occur.

She now cleans her own house. Too expensive to hire a cleaner

 

[connorlevismom]

She has insurance, so I guess anything she would need to pay from comes from that. I was just wondering if it would be her responsibility or not. Sometimes I feel like an accident is and accident and I should not ask her to pay for it. But this is a BIG mistake and it could cost thousands if the floor needs to be replaced. It is not a $40.00 candlestick she accidentally broke. But we are going to hope for the best and get someone in to take a look at it that is a professional. If it can be cleaned, then she has agreed to put the time in to make it right, and for free (which I would expect). Just strange - she normally uses vinegar and water and it and the floor looks great. This time she tried something new because she used it on someone else's floor and they loved it. She did it to try and please us so I am not at all angry with her. I just want my pretty floor back!

 

[mjkacmom]

My last cleaning lady charged me $75 a week. A licensed cleaning agency charged me $135 for each cleaning, and they were bonded/insured. You get what you pay for - I wanted cheap, so I took a risk that nothing would be broken/stolen/ruined.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

No, you should not demand payment directly from her for that. If you can get it via insurance, fine, but demanding direct payment or suing her would be wrong. It was an accident, and she is low-income. For those reasons, morally, you should not try to get the money out of her pocket.

A whole lot of assumptions going on here...

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

Do you supply her cleaning supplies?
The few persons I know who pay for house cleaning, supply the products they want used.
Sorry for your situation.

 

[havaneselover]

I'd get a professional's opinion but if she used bona Polish (has terrible reviews and leaves a milky residue) they make a polish remover.

Eta: the polish remover reviews on Amazon say windex works better.