Chicken bald back

[pips_pekins]

Last year we had solid oak flooring fitted throughout downstairs. I thought it would be easier to manage with an incontinent dog who also has a sensitive stomach causing her to be sick at least once a week. We used our savings as it cost a lot of money but within just a month some delivery men had scratched it.

 

Since then it has been scratched further but none of them too noticeable. However, today, I have dropped something onto the floor which has hit a knot in the grain and taken a lump out of it and then bounced and taken another lump and I mean lump not just a chip. I dread to think how much it will cost to fix and I have had my hours at work reduced .

 

OH is being very good about it and trying to reassure me that these things happen but it was my own stupid, careless fault and if I had been paying attention it would not have happened at all. I also know it is only a floor but I am really angry with myself.

 

Any ideas how much it might cost to get someone to fix it?

Edited August 21, 2011 by Guest

[pips_pekins]

Have now calmed down and done some looking around online. Has anyone used a repair wax on their wooden floor? Was it easy to use and would it cover a gouge?

 

Thanks.

[Olly]

Sorry, no experience - but a solid wood floor should be repairable. I just wanted to say don't beat yourself up - husband is right, it happens and six months from now you'll be looking at that chip without even noticing it!

[pips_pekins]

Thank you Olly. I am sure you are right.

[ohcarolina]

I'll have a word with my brother who is a carpenter about what's best to do. He's on holiday though for a week so we may have to wait for an answer. I seem to recall reading about making a sawdust and glue paste and filling it and then finishing it like the existing floor but I'm only a DIYer.

 

Caroline

[Cinnamon]

I agree with Olly - accidents happen & a wooden floor is going to get some damage to it.

 

In fact people pay a lot for reclaimed oak floors which already have that lived in look

 

I have a solid oak floor downstairs too & I love it,but wouldn't especially bother trying to repair a chunk or a chip.

Mine has knots missing,is discoloured in places but I think looks better for it

[KimmyCustard]

OH used to be a chippy and he is talking about using a Brummer product. Apparently you can do this yourself, which involves mixing the filler, sanding it down then restaining the hole that has been repaired to match the rest. About £10 a pot I think.......

[WarrensWorld]

Pips, don't beat yourself up. You don't say how big the chip is, but no matter. Caroline's right get some white PVA glue (it sets clear) mix it with some sawdust. If you have an off-cut of the original oak flooring just run a saw through it and collect the dust. Mix the PVA with the dust, to the consistency of stiff cake mix, and force it into the chip. S"Ooops, word censored!" off the excess so its the level with the other boards, or you'll have to sand it back. Let it dry hard then just finish with some carnauba wax. Then again you could use plastic wood, and then stain it to the right shade.

We've old parana pine floors. Reclaimed from an old hotel, they were going to burn it all. It's been down now for 14 years, Originally it was all sanded back, and wax polished, but now it looks lived in. Courtesy of two manic Jack Russells. and the odd chicken or two.

[majorbloodnock]

The lumps knocked out of a knot are going to need to be filled with something. However, the gouge may be amenable to a different trick depending on how deep it is. I haven't time to type up an answer yet, but I'll get to it as soon as I can.

[majorbloodnock]

OK. Repairs to dents in wood. Many dents can actually be at least disguised simply by soaking that small area in water. The wood swells and fills in much of the area, after which it dries out again and can be refinished (planing or sanding flat and then recoating). Obviously, there are limits to what this technique will achieve, but you do no harm trying it first. However, if your wood is coated with either a waterproof coating (like varnish) or something that'll stain when soaked, you'll need to remove the coating from that area of the wood before starting, then reapply the same coating after you've finished.

 

If you have a somewhat wider gouge, another alternative may be to use a small piece of veneer of the same wood as you're repairing. In this case, you'd use a router and a bit that was the same thickness as your veneer, and you'd rout out a channel along the gouge. Once done, you could square off the ends of the channel, cut a piece of veneer to the same length as the channel, glue it in and then plane it flush with the rest of the wood. Given a little care in selecting the piece of veneer, this could end up almost invisible, but this only really works well when the gouge is running roughly along the grain instead of across it.

 

Another possibility, if your oak planks aren't tongue and grooved, is to carefully lift the offending plank, turn it over, sand/plane the other side to the appropriate standard and then refit it.

 

Finally, if all else fails, all the above suggestions about fillers are fine. Some commercial fillers will be a better colour match than others, and you can, as has been mentioned, make your own with sawdust. If you need to darken it, there are lots of dyes available, and the ultra traditional method is to soak walnut shells in some water for a few days to create your own dye. Beware, though, that you'll need to get the stain right since it's easy to make a stain a bit darker, but difficult to lighten one that's too dark. Whatever filler you use, though, don't use something like wax since it'll be far too soft for a flooring.

 

I must admit, though, that personally I'd probably leave it. Oak flooring will wear just like anything else, and personally I prefer a floor with honourable duelling scars to a pristine newly laid one. Just personal preference....

[Chickendoodle]

I would not be too bothered about it. We have solid oak floors which have been down for 5 years or so. As they are real wood they will mark and scratch (otherwise why bother going for real wood - you might as well have laminate). Our elderley labrador had trouble getting up towards the end of his life and we have quite a few claw grooves where he scrabbled around which now remind us of him now he is no more. They are no longer very noticeable as it all wears in together.

 

It's a bit like when you have a new stainless steel sink - the first scratch looks awful but after a few it is fine

[pips_pekins]

Thank you everyone for taking time to respond and to majorbloodnock for your really full instructions. I know that wood will mark but we seem jinxed with our new floors and this incident comes on the back of the new bathroom tiles cracking the full width of the bathroom and red wine stains to the new kitchen floor! I had hoped it would stay looking new for slightly longer. The wood is a lacquered finish (we ordered oiled but long story). This might make a difference to what can be done but in a way it is lucky it hit the knot as may be easier to disguise. I wish I didn't feel so sure that in a week or two I will be asking about another thing

[Mercedes55]

Have now calmed down and done some looking around online. Has anyone used a repair wax on their wooden floor? Was it easy to use and would it cover a gouge?

 

Thanks.

 

We bought one of those wax repair kits after OH was fitting some new doors and one caught on the side of our Ducal End Table and took huge chunks out it. Have to say it did nothing and seemed to be a waste of money.

 

We also have some of that engineered wood flooring in our house and yes it does get scratched and I think the first time it gets scratched it is disheartening, but that is what wood is all about. Even laminate gets scratched, our conservatory flood is full of scratches and I've got beyond worrying about them now.