I was thinking some transparent filler maybe, and grinding/polishing it down? There's some varnish on the wood anyway.
this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2025
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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!
The differences between dents and craters is that dents merely compress the wood, without damaging the fibers, while craters break and destroy fibers. Dents can be repairing by expanding the wood, but craters aren't fixable.
Yeah, OP wants to work over a large are, not just where the dents are.