Stain and damage log: what happened, what was tried, what is next
One row per spill, mark or damage: the date, the surface, what was tried and what happened, whether photos were taken, any warranty claim deadline, who to call and whether it is done.
Essential on a first pass only when something has happened: one row, written the day it happens, with photos. Otherwise this sheet can wait.
Log
One row per event, written the day it happens. Write what you tried in the order you tried it; it is what a cleaner, restorer or warranty claim will ask first.
How to use this sheet
- One row per event. A spill, a scratch, a dent, a yellow patch, a gap that opened.
- Write what you tried, in order. It is the first thing a cleaner, a restorer or a warranty claim will ask.
- Photos taken. Close and wide, with something for scale, and the date. Keep them with the warranty.
- Warranty claim deadline. Some warranties ask for a claim within days of finding a defect; read yours in the Installed register and write the date here. The FTC's warranty basics say to keep the warranty with the receipt.
- Record, do not conclude. Who to call is a question for the next step, not a diagnosis.
The example rows are Maya Ortiz's: a coffee spill on her S-code sofa, blotted dry and spot-cleaned with a solvent cleaner the tag allows after a hidden-spot test; and a faint yellow patch under a rubber-backed mat on her vinyl plank floor, photographed and reported to the landlord in writing. Maya is invented for this manual.
The log records what happened and what you did. It does not settle who pays for damage in a rental or whether a warranty covers it: the lease, the landlord and the maker's claim process do, and state rules differ. See Stains, damage and older homes.