Q: We recently installed some hardwood floors out of old gym boards. We glued/screwed and plugged them. After banging them up to give them a beaten look, they were stained and finished. We love the look, but recently found that a folding chair left in place for the weekend has left about 40-50 small crescent moon indentations in the finish for each leg in about a 10 inch radius circle.
Some of them are even deep enough to depress the wood. What is the best way to repair this sort of problem? Can I give it a light scuffing of a sanding and then re-apply another coat of finish?
I’m not overly worried about the dents in the wood as the floor has already been distressed, it’s the obvious indentations in the finish that catch the light at the right angle that make it look awful. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks.
A: I don’t think there is any way to hide these dents short of sanding/scraping them out and staining, finishing the area again. You could try filling them with wood filler, staining them and applying more finish. The lower the shine level in the coating the better is the ability of the finish to hide defects.
Follow-up Q: Thanks. Unfortunately I was hoping to avoid having to re-stain the wood. The majority of the dents are relatively shallow, I’m pretty sure that most don’t go through to the wood and are only on the finish. Do you think it would be worth just trying a light sanding and re-finishing first and if that bombs then to re-stain? Or would that just be a waste of time and money?
A: You could certainly try a light sanding of the area. It is the least intrusive approach. You could tape of the entire boards of the affected area, buff and coat just those boards and then remove the tape. It’s worth a try.