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I was thinking some transparent filler maybe, and grinding/polishing it down? There's some varnish on the wood anyway.
If you are renting and have no practical skills to actually fix this, just leave it alone. You are likely to fuck up the floor worse trying to do these home remedies.
Thanks for the warning, I respect that - but this video seems pretty straightforward, I'm about to try it on one of those dents:
I'll be damned, it actually worked pretty well on the test dent for now, apparently! I'll see how it looks after drying out tomorrow, and do it for the rest then!
Hahah when I first read this i thought you meant leaving jt alone fixed it.
I was surprised
I do love how op put a piece of paper under the wheel to prevent further damnge. Class solution! Unfortunately I have zero handy man skills for any good advice.
There's the "right" way and then there's what's practical. Here's the "right" way:
Rough sand the entire floor to wood. Fill the voids with Starbond CA glue of the appropriate color, low viscosity for leveling. Fine sand the entire floor. Refinish with oil-based polyurathane.
If you know what you're doing then this will take three days, most of it dry time. If you don't know what you're doing then one way or another you'll destroy the floor during rough sanding.
Thanks for that expert advice - let's consider the scenario where I don't know what I'm doing, and I just want to avoid my landlord deducting too much from the deposit when I move out, what would you recommend?
In that case, I would recommend using your time machine to go back in time and buying something to protect the floor from the sofa.
Short of sanding the floor down, there's really not a lot that you can do. The dents and dings aren't going to pop back out; it's not like auto repair where you can use a suction cup to pup them back up. Sanding the floor down is expensive; you're looking at thousands of dollars to have it done by a professional that will do it correctly. Doing it yourself is... not a great idea, unless you are a perfectionist and have a pretty good idea of what you're doing. Even then, renting the machines--or buying!--and buying the needed sandpaper, CA glue, and poly finish (assuming you want to use poly; I have other finishes that I prefer, but poly is fast and usually non-toxic) may well be more than your deposit.
The argument that you're going to want to make is that this is expected wear and tear; that might fly with your landlord, it might not. You could make a small-claims case out of it, and you might be able to win that. Or you might not, and then you'd be out your deposit, plus the cost of filing a small-claims case.
Iβve found a landlord will either keep all the deposit no matter what. Or give it all back. No point going above and beyond just giving the place a good clean.
If you want to go legal make sure you take pictures of everything before you leave. In court you could argue this floor damage is normal wear and tear.
I'm not an expert, just a hobbyist.
If it's actual hardwood then, if you try to fix this, you'll almost certainly end up doing more damage. An expert probably won't touch any job for less than $750 because they're experienced artists as well as technicians.
The best case scenario is it's not true hardwood, instead wood veneer tongue and groove where pieces are easily replaced... which starts by removing all the baseboards and pieces of floor from the edge to the piece that needs replaced. Anyone could easily learn to do that. But, is it worth the time and effort for a couple hundred bucks?
Probably the best thing to do now is to prevent any more damage. That could be as simple as some 1/4 plywood between the legs and the floor. A quality rug is more expensive and would also work.
Others have mentioned the sanding method, but thats a common builder grade floor. Replacement boards are always a way, but I would leave it to the landlord. Get a price quote so youre armed with that if they try to charge you for refinishing the whole floor.
This is a rental, not a historic restored mansion.
Real smart idea idk how you're gonna know where the couch goes if you remove the slots.
Cover it with a rug
I would agree, but I'm afraid my landlord will look under that rug at some point
Depending on the state you live in, and whether the lease specifically mentioned taking special care of the hardwood floors, this could very well be considered regular wear and tear. There does not appear to be intentional damage here.
The landlord will also need to provide documentation prior to getting work done if they want you to cover the bill, at which point youβll have the option to contest it.
Check out tenant rights for your state to verify. Hopefully, youβll also be more careful with hardwood floors in the future. Couches on wheels are no-bueno.
Depending on the state you live in
Or country...
Down with americocentrenism
Or county, city, municipality of any size really.
You sure that's hard wood? You sure it's not laminate designed to look like hard wood?
Step one to fixing it would be actually finding out what it is.
Nah, that's just oak. Oak floors do this sometimes.
First things first: put real feet on your couch so youβre not doing more damage.
The broader the better.
Some people already talked about ironing and it can make a difference but you gotta get down to the wood surface with sandpaper, learn how to iron wood then successfully actually do it.
Dents as big as these would require multiple passes with the iron over time.
Your real best bet would be to call a handyman or more likely a flooring place and have them give you an estimate on repair. Theyβll be able to tell you if you have some kind of tongue in groove, roll or actual hardwood floor and explain what your options are. Youβll also know how much youβre gonna be paying to get whatever the landlord is holding back from them.
If you do call someone out there, find out what they charge for an estimate and pay them more on top of it in cash. People hate giving estimates because itβs someone shopping around whoβs gonna try to get them down to the lowest price and has no consideration for their expertise and experience. Being willing to pay in cash and then some cements you as a customer, not a looky-loo.
Make the dents everywhere, and no one will know
Look for other advice for repairing them, but making your couch feet bigger and softer with tennis balls or felt should prevent it from worsening.
You're screwed, dude. That's nothing you can easily fix. Most tips in this threat require you to do the whole room, as just fixing this one spot will most likely be pretty obvious.
Next time, try to use something broader and softer than a sheet of paper to dampen your couch's feet - especially on wooden floor.
You're screwed dude
Harsh, but from what I see I agree, fixing it might be harder than redoing it, and covering it up if it looks good is the easiest solution you have
Steam might be able to fix those. But I don't know if that would work with varnish on the wood.
Thanks for putting me on this path, I looked up a video where they put small holes in the varnish, wet it for a couple of hours, then steam it through a cloth, and it worked pretty well on a test dent! I'll wait and see how it looks tomorrow after drying out and maybe move on to the rest!
You might have helped me save a lot of money!
I tried letting some water sit for some hours in one dent, to see if the wood would expand - but nothing happened. I guess that would rule out steam, unless I remove the varnish in the dents first?
Water alone won't help much, using steam can. Putting a damp towel down and using an iron over the problem areas can sometimes affect the dents a variable amount.
Depending on how good the varnish is, that will determine how well it works.
That sounds like a fun thing to improvise, thanks, I'll try it!
You have to remove the varnish by sanding first, then try to iron the floor. There may be poor contact in the middle so try ironing the other edges.
Other than that, you are gonna have to get new boards installed.
I found a video where they put small holes in the varnish with a knife, then let it sit wet for a couple of hours, then steam it through a towel, and it worked pretty well on a test dent!
Leave them. The dents tell the story of your house.
I'm renting a flat π and the story would be the one of my neglect, and me having to pay off the landlord, it's not my favorite one
Ah, a tale as old as time.
Cinderella and the Hardwood Floor
I lol'ed
Not a professional but they look kind of deep and big might need to be replaced or covered with a rug (we won't tell anyone they're there)
I'm not an expert but:
Resurfacing might fix this if it is solid hardwood, since you are essentially sanding down a layer and refinishing the new top layer. The dents look kind of deep, though, and may require extra sanding to take the wood down far enough.
First of all change out the feet to ones with a flat base so you don't do more damage.
Fill it with resin /s
Pull the boards out and swap them with edge boards.