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
Can we see? :)
I did it! It was really easy and quick! These are before and after photos: first after the steaming, then after some light polishing of the varnish.
That actually looks awesome! I can’t even tell there ever was something wrong with it. Get that bond back!
I will post an update once I got around to doing more, I got sick :')
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?
I’ve 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.
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.
I fixed it really easily and well, without sanding, with the steaming method recommended here! Photos are in a comment further below:)
Real smart idea idk how you’re gonna know where the couch goes if you remove the slots.
First things first: put real feet on your couch so you’re 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. They’ll 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. You’ll also know how much you’re 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 it’s someone shopping around who’s 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.
I didn’t need to get down to the wood, I poked tiny holes in the varnish and steamed them, worked like a charm. Photos are in another comment further up, thank you though!
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.
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.
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.
Looks like linoleum lol
Linoleum is kind of awesome.
It can support your head
And give you something to believe
Hell no, it looks terrible so quickly. The patterns to make it look like “wood” or whatever are at most a millimeter deep, so enough usage and suddenly you have a worn out blank spot in your giant piece of shit plastic floor.
It outgasses forever, you’re funding the fossil fuel industry, it looks and feels like shit, and you’ll throw it out in 5-10yrs.
Tldr, fuck linoleum, it is inferior in all but one metric: water resistance.
What? One of linoleum’s benefits is not off gassing and not being made from fossil fuels. Are you thinking of vinyl?
I’ve heard & seen vinyl and linoleum used interchangeably over a lifetime, and I don’t believe the original recipe is still manufactured so far as I have seen.
Even if it is still being manufactured, the vast majority of people talking about linoleum seem to mean vinyl. I’m going with the average vernacular, and still stand by all my original points re: vinyl.
Pretty bizarre if people do this. I’ve never heard it to mean anything but linoleum.
But a lot of people in the US use the word “turf” to specify not turf (i.e. artificial turf), so there’s no reason for words to mean things.
Make the dents everywhere, and no one will know
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 you’ll have the option to contest it.
Check out tenant rights for your state to verify. Hopefully, you’ll 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.
Leave them. The dents tell the story of your house.
I’m renting a flat 🙈 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.
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.
I fixed it, really well and easily 🥲 with the steam method recommended here, and some slight polishing of the varnish. Looks so good as new! Will post images here
I’m actually impressed and happy for you. Good job! I’m looking forward to the pictures. Takr them during daytime and right lighting. Dimmed light / nighttime would be cheating 😜
Haha thank you! Pictures are posted in a comment further up. It actually looks better in real life, I will do another round of fine sanding and polishing on the varnish. I’m sooo relieved and happy about this, and surprised, most people told me I was completely screwed and I would have to redo the floor, now it looks good as new 😅
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
I fixed it really well, and really easily 🥲 will post the images here now
Steam might be able to fix those. But I don’t know if that would work with varnish on the wood.
It worked! Thanks so much! I posted before and after photos in another comment further up
Fill it with resin /s
