Scratched Engineered wood floor - Sand and re-finish?

[vonny232]

Hi Folks,

My living room has a 3-strip oak engineered wood floor, with around 3mm oak layer.

There are numerous deep scratches and gouges in the surface due to heavy furniture being dragged across the floor (the scratches appear to be in on the satin sheen lacquer finish).

I was thinking about sanding/re-finishing the floor but I have a couple questions:

1) Should I use a varnish or a lacquer?
I was thinking of using a solvent polyurethane varnish but am concerned that it will stay sticky for too long, and as soon as I bring the sofa back in, it will "stick" to the floor.
Any advice here appreciated.

2) Am I going to balls this up?
I am concerned that I will balls it up, either by sanding too unevenly, or with the finishing of the sanded floor (see above). Has anyone else managed this successfully (and got a decent finish)?

Cheers.

 

[blup]

You will need to sand at least as deep as the deepest scratch, and that will be difficult, if not impossible, to identify by visual inspection.

Blup

 

[JohnD]

you can rub the gouges with wire wool, enough to round off the edges and smooth away splintering. it will then look like a well-used floor rather than a new one. Trying to sand it flat might go through the top veneer.

use wood dye to blend in scratches and gouges.

Then use a satin varnish on the marks to protect them from absorbing dirt, and blend them in. A small, pointed paintbrush, and wipe any excess off the surrounding surface, or it will show.

 

[foxhole]

3mm layer is very thin to be sanding.

 

[vonny232]

Cheers folks for the feedback. Sounds like its best not to try and sand the floor, as I will either bugger up the sanded surface, or the finish.

Instead ill try and sand out the worst individual scratches and touch up with a polyurethane varnish instead.