scratches to new english oak floor

[ivanm]

help needed please
whilst moving a settee i have scratched our new english oak flooring, is there a way to repair the scratch without resorting to sanding etc
Ivan

 

[WoodYouLike]

What's the finish used: oil/wax or varnish/lacquer?

 

[ivanm]

What's the finish used: oil/wax or varnish/lacquer?

lacquer i think

 

[ivanm]

What's the finish used: oil/wax or varnish/lacquer?

lacquer i think

thanks for the quick reply it looks like varnish or lacquer

 

[WoodYouLike]

Sorry, was away for a day (giving training).

If it is lacquer or varnish you could try to apply a suitable maintenance product to disguise the scratch a little bit. But fear you'll have to resort to sanding. With a lacquered/varnished floor this means if you want to prevent a patchy look to sand the whole floor.

With an oiled/waxed floor you simply apply some wax in the scratch and in the event is is a deep scratch simply sand locally and apply new oil locally without making the floor patchy.

 

[Symptoms]

Ivan - is it just the lacquer that's scratched or does it go all the way through INTO the oak?

If it's just the lac that's damaged, and it's a small area, I'd be tempted to do a local repair to the scratch as a first attempt. Small artist brush, jar of lac/varnish, and try painting-in to build-up the layers. Care & a steady hand needed. If you get away with this method you're going to save yourself the task of following WYL's very good advice.

It is possible to 'raise the grain' of scratches/gouges in timber by the gental application of water or other liquid (small artist brush); this has the effect of swelling the wood thus 'filling' the scratch. Your problem is that if you wet oak it'll often dis-colour, this would pose a problem if your oak is very light in colour. With a rustic oak any slight discolouration might be acceptable.

At the end of the day you have to remember that it's a floor, it's going to get marked, scratched and scuffed - all of which, in my opinion, adds the attraction and character of wooden floors (just wait till the dog and the kids have used it for a while).

 

[ivanm]

Ivan - is it just the lacquer that's scratched or does it go all the way through INTO the oak?

If it's just the lac that's damaged, and it's a small area, I'd be tempted to do a local repair to the scratch as a first attempt. Small artist brush, jar of lac/varnish, and try painting-in to build-up the layers. Care & a steady hand needed. If you get away with this method you're going to save yourself the task of following WYL's very good advice.

It is possible to 'raise the grain' of scratches/gouges in timber by the gental application of water or other liquid (small artist brush); this has the effect of swelling the wood thus 'filling' the scratch. Your problem is that if you wet oak it'll often dis-colour, this would pose a problem if your oak is very light in colour. With a rustic oak any slight discolouration might be acceptable.

At the end of the day you have to remember that it's a floor, it's going to get marked, scratched and scuffed - all of which, in my opinion, adds the attraction and character of wooden floors (just wait till the dog and the kids have used it for a while).

thanks WYL and symptoms for the sound advice i will try both approaches before i resort to a more heavy duty approach
Ivan