This could quite possibly be a stupid question, but it’s about a subject I know less than zero about.
I have hardwood floors in my apartment. It’s an old building (well, ‘old’ for L.A., meaning it’s about 70 years old), and I’m guessing by the looks of it, the floor wasn’t put in any time recently. It’s old wood. Over time, the area where my computer chair sits and rolls has worn away some of the flooring, leaving some ugly, shredded wood. Is there a way to repair the existing wood, or will the entire boards have to be replaced? Like, is there some sort of shellac-like substance that can be painted or filled into the lowered spaces and will dry to a wood-like finish? Or do I pretty much have to replace the whole boards? I tried to browse around some home-repair store websites, but wasn’t finding anything that sounded like what I was looking for, but maybe I’m looking in the wrong places.
You can get wood putty that is made from whatever type of wood you are looking for, i.e. oak, maple, etc. You might be able to fill the wood and then put on a thick layer of shellac, or Durathane to keep it from splintering again. But I don’t know about the longevity of that solution.
Wood putty would not be able to take the abuse of the computer chair. The best you can do is replace the boards or put one of those plastic mats over the area your chairs rolls on.
Are you sure it’s hardwood? I’d think oak or maple would stand up to a set of casters fairly well. Could it be pine or a veneer?
How deep and wide are the grooves? It’s possible that you could simply sand the area to eliminate them, and then refinish the wood. The actual depth that you can sand depends to a certain extent on whether the floor is plank or tongue-and-groove.
You’d probably end up with a somewhat noticeable dip in the floor, but it would look a hundred times better than putty. The problem with putty is that it’s not particularly durable, doesn’t absorb stain well, and, because it has no grain, doesn’t blend in with the existing wood very well.
If it’s really hardwood, you need to sand and refinish the entire floor for it to match. Otherwise, you can just do the area in question but it will look funny.
Are you renting, or do you own it as a condo? I ask because refinishing floors is a big job and the owner should do it (and pay for it).
I agree. We have 60 year old oak floors and our desk chairs don’t cause any damage.
I’ve never seen a plastic floor mat for wood. The ones Ive seen have little sharp bumps to dig into carpet. You could get an area rug and a plastic chair mat to cover the area/ Be sure to use a non skid pad under the rug, so you don’t go ass over tea cup stepping on the rug!
Good luck
Having just redone some of the floors in my house, I can tell you that, if you care about it matching, you’ll have to redo the entire room, and that’s a bunch of work. I used a floor buffer with a heavy grit pad on the bottom to take the old finish off and level off all the boards where I could. I then had to restain the floors, and put several coats of polyurethane on them. This process took about a week or so, during which time I couldn’t subject the floors to regular traffic.
As far as the putty goes, it’s possible to do, I guess. I haven’t used it much, but I’d imagine you’d have to lay down two or three levels of it, to make sure they dry all the way. Also, if the area’s a big size, I think the putty will actually look worse than just leaving the floor as it is. It’s sorta screwy to work with, and none of the stuff I’ve seen was really intended to fix large areas; it’s mostly to fill drill holes and small cracks in wood.
I would think this would fall under the heading of normal wear and that, as EJsGirl said, it is probably the owner’s responsibility to fix it. The problem with that is, he’ll probably really want to go in and sand/refinish everything so that he keeps the place looking good, and that can’t happen while you’re still using that room. Really, the best suggestion is just to throw a pastic mat over the grooves, unless you’re willing and able to give up use of the room for a period of time.
Finagle: No, I’m not sure that they’re actually hardwood floors. They could very well be a softer wood; I’m not sure and not really knowledgeable enough about woods. It looks like hardwood to me, but I could easily be wrong.
EJsGirl and Flypsyde: I’m renting, and don’t plan on being here forever (maybe another six months, maybe even less), which is why I was hoping for a quick, easy, and cheap solution. Wishful thinking, I know. I was thinking the landlord would expect me to pay, since I did the damage. But you might be right; it might be considered normal wear and tear.
However, since I really don’t plan on being here toooooo much longer, and it sounds like in any case it’s going to be a much bigger job than I’d hoped, I think I’ll just live with it. Get a nice area rug. I hate those plastic chair mats, though. They’re so… officey looking!
Thanks for the quick and helpful answers, everyone.