End-of-Lease Touch-Up: What Landlords Expect and How to Deliver (Get Your Deposit Back)

Touch-up repair before a move-out inspection is one of the cheapest ways to protect your security deposit. Most landlords deduct for visible scratches, chips, and scuffs on floors, cabinets, doors, and trim, because that kind of surface damage reads as something that should not have happened rather than normal wear. Fixing it with wax fill and color-matched markers takes an afternoon. It costs a fraction of what a property manager bills for the same work. Here is what landlords actually inspect, how they separate damage from wear, and how to do the repairs yourself so the unit shows the way it should.

What do landlords check during a move-out inspection?

A move-out inspection is a condition assessment, not a perfection test. Most landlords walk the unit with the move-in condition report in hand and compare what is in front of them to what was documented on day one. The question they are answering is simple. What changed during this tenancy that goes past normal use?

Four wood surfaces get the most attention.

Floors

Floor damage is expensive to fix and one of the most common reasons deposits get split. Inspectors look for furniture drag marks, pet claw scratches, and chips from dropped objects. A dulled path worn through a high-traffic hallway usually counts as wear. A six-inch gouge from a couch leg usually does not.

Cabinets

Cabinet doors and drawer fronts get checked for chips along edges and corners. Damage here is easy to pin to the tenancy because of where it sits. Lower cabinet corners at knee height, door edges where bags and hips catch them. That pattern points to use, not age.

Doors and door frames

Door casings get inspected at the outer corners, where moving furniture tends to knock off paint and chip the wood. Inspectors also flag handle-zone wear past the normal amount, plus kick marks or impact dents low on the door face.

Trim and baseboards

Baseboards and trim get a scan for scuffs and chips, especially along walls where furniture sat for months. One scuff is wear. A whole baseboard run covered in them reads as neglect.

What counts as damage versus normal wear and tear?

Wear and tear is the gradual, expected decline that happens when anyone lives somewhere. Damage is the result of a specific action, accident, or neglect. Landlords can deduct for damage. They cannot deduct for wear. The line gets contested, and the exact definition varies by state, but the table below covers how most inspectors sort wood surfaces.

If your damage sits in the right column, touch-up repair moves it back toward the left. You are not hiding anything. You are showing the unit was looked after. For background on how the terms are defined, see wear and tear and security deposit.

What wood damage most often costs tenants their deposit?

Five problems show up again and again in deposit disputes.

Furniture drag scratches on hardwood. Straight lines from sliding a dresser or couch without pads. They look nothing like diffuse traffic wear, so inspectors call them damage almost every time.

Cabinet door edge chips. Painted and MDF edges chip at knee and hip height from chairs and bags. Clearly placed, clearly from use.

Door frame casing chips at outer corners. A corner that was clean at move-in and is now chipped got hit by something, usually furniture going through a doorway.

Pet scratches on hardwood. Parallel clusters running across the grain. Unmistakable, and hard to argue as wear if the lease noted pets.

Scuffed baseboards and trim. Vacuum strikes, furniture contact, general life. Any single mark might pass as wear. A whole run of them will not.

Can you fix wood scratches and chips yourself before moving out?

Yes, and move-out is the easiest time to do it. The furniture is going or already gone, so every scratch that lived under the couch is finally reachable. Plan on most of a day.

Start with a full walkthrough. Photograph every damage point before you touch it. Those photos guide your work and give you a record if a deduction gets disputed later.

Run a scuff-and-wipe pass next. A cloth with a little mild dish soap across baseboards, door frames, and cabinet faces. A surprising share of what looks like damage is just dirt, and it lifts right off.

Then fill the structural stuff. Press wax fill sticks into chips at cabinet corners, floor divots, and casing corners. Let everything harden while you handle other move-out tasks.

Finish with color. Run touch-up markers over cabinet and trim repairs, and stain markers over scratches on bare or stained floors. Work from a normal standing distance instead of crouched six inches away. Stop when the spot reads as maintained, not when it disappears from point blank. For floors and trim that do not match a standard shade, a custom color match gets you closer than guessing.

Give the repairs at least 24 hours before the inspection. Fresh touch-up looks different from cured touch-up, and you want the inspector seeing the finished result.

End-of-lease touch-up checklist

Floors. Scratch check in every room, with attention on furniture drag marks and pet scratches. Look at the entry floor and the spots under appliances.

Cabinets. Run a fingernail along every lower cabinet door corner. Check upper doors and drawer fronts for chips. Look at the handle zones on the doors you opened daily.

Doors and frames. Check the outer corner of every door casing in the unit. It takes two minutes and covers the spot inspectors check most. Then handle zones and lower door faces.

Trim and baseboards. Scuff and chip check along walls where furniture sat, plus the baseboard down main hallways.

What should you not try to fix before moving out?

Do not touch damage that is past touch-up range. A floor that needs sanding and refinishing, a cabinet door that needs replacing. Touch-up will not fix those, and a bad attempt makes them worse. If the damage is real, tell the landlord before the inspection. Proactive disclosure lands better than a discovered cover-up.

Do not over-apply on painted surfaces. A thick, glossy patch on a flat door frame draws more attention than the chip did. Use the least product that does the job at viewing distance.

Do not repair what the landlord will not see. Closet shelves above eye level, cabinet interiors, the underside of shelving. Spend your time on the inspection path.

Do not guess at wall paint color. A wrong-color wall dab is usually more obvious than the mark underneath it. Confirm the original color before anything goes on the wall.

Frequently asked questions

Do landlords charge for scratched hardwood floors?

Yes, when the scratches read as damage rather than wear. Furniture drag marks and pet gouges are routinely deductible. A faint traffic path usually is not.

Is it legal to touch up scratches before a move-out inspection?

Yes. Repairing visible scratches and chips presents the unit in good condition. It only becomes a problem if you cover something serious, like water damage or a structural issue, to hide it.

How much can a landlord deduct for wood damage?

It depends on the repair and your local law, but tenants often lose a few hundred dollars for floor and cabinet damage a landlord could have addressed for far less. That gap is the reason to do the work yourself.

How long does end-of-lease touch-up take?

Most one and two-bedroom units take a single day, including the walkthrough, cleaning, fill, and color work. Finish at least 24 hours before the inspection.

What products do I need for move-out wood repair?

Wax fill sticks for chips and gouges, color-matched markers for scratches and surface damage, and a clean cloth with mild soap for scuffs. A stock color kit covers common shades, and a custom match handles the rest.

Walk the unit one more time the morning of the inspection, from standing height, in daylight. The casing corners and the lower cabinet edges are where deductions hide. Those two spots take ten minutes to check, and they are the ones inspectors find first.

Shop stock color touch-up kits at touchup.com.