Stained wooden floor getting scratched, what to do?

[KatyNana]

Hello, we have solid oak floors and a couple of years ago got them sanded and stained a dark brown colour. Varnish over the top to protect them. Done by someone who seems pretty expert.

However, two years on and although a lot of it is fine, the bit under the dining table is very scratched and worn and looks awful. We do have felt on the chair legs. Can't put a rug under the table with little kids dropping food.

The guy that did the flooring says that dark colours will always show damage more (wish he'd said that before!), but that any floor will show wear and tear, and be maintained every few years.

But, I don't see this elsewhere?

Do I get the floor redone dark, get it sanded back and left a more natural oak colour or a bleached stain which will show damage less, or is there some other kind of finish which is robust and won't need redoing lots?

Thank you so much. It's expensive and a hassle and I want to get it right next time.

Could you get an outdoor rug for under the dining table? Also check that the felt hasn’t worn to useless little things? Ruggable have machine washable rugs so, whilst a faff to do it, would mean it didn’t get too grimy.

As a personal preference I would get the boards to their more natural colour. I’m currently hand sanding our oak boards to get rid of the dark stain that the previous owners did which I hate (sorry)!

Rug under table and hoover?

Can we see a photo please? Maybe it's a 'lived in' look, and you can grow to like it?

A rug is fine I think, even with little kids. A kilim rug will hide a multitude of sins.

I've attached a picture, I hope. Sadly I don't think it will work as a lived in look, it just looks bad. I will think about a rug but the floor is a mess after every meal with the kids so I don't love the idea.

You mention you have felt on the chair legs, are they on the table legs ? Could you just restain the bits which are damaged ? I rub olive oil on mild scratches on our wooden floor which does help to cover them.

OP I honestly don't think it's that bad! But appreciate you don't like it and that's the important thing.

I know you're not keen on the idea of a rug, but low pile rugs are super quick to clean. I have two little ones and the rug in the livingroom has taken a real beating but cleans well. We also sometimes put muslins down under the little ones' high chairs when they're eating something particularly messy. A friend uses a big oilcloth - that could also work?

We bought a cheapy jute rug from Ikea for under our dining table (think it was about £30 for a 2m x 3 m rug). That way when the kids dropped their food on it, I didn't stress too much. Now they're a bit older we replaced it with a better short pile rug (also Ikea so not hugely expensive) a year or so ago. We have tiles but they also scratch with pulling chairs in and out all the time...

Thanks! I'm always on a quest for things to be low maintenance and indestructible whenever I do house stuff but I guess it's not always possible.

Need to decide whether to restain dark or go natural/light now, have to make a decision on kitchen cupboards which need to work with the floor.

Have you tried an olive oil and coffee granules mixed solution?

I would honestly say a rug will be fine. I have one under my table on wooden floorboards as my problem is floor is pine which is soft and chairs dent them. I have a sisal one so food doesn’t get embedded. You have to sweep/ Hoover up anyway so might as well do it off a rug as a wooden floor.

Op millions of us have rugs with small dc
And we manage to hoover up mess, I can't see the difference between hooving floor or rug?
I also don't think it looks bad at all but I do prefer the more lived in look.
You could even get those cotton rugs and shake it outside, help to make the dc less messy when eating, put them somewhere else to eat to protect the floor 🤣🤣

I would sand them down (P80 >P120 > P180 maybe) with a hand held random orbital sander. (dusty as hell, so vacuum attachment and face mask). You'll need loads of sheets as it will clog the paper very quickly, fill and sand any deep scratches.

Coat with Osmo PolyX satin, hardwax oil. apply thinly, 24 hours between 2 (or 3) coats, use small roller, or fine brush. Can be walked on after 48 Hours, but leave for 7 Days before dragging furniture about.

You'll prolly need at least 5 litres for average room, (Brewers, Amazon etc)

If you need to use the room, consider doing it in two halves?

You should end up with a natural looking floor that is easier to maintain, and won't damage as easily as varnish.
You may still need to consider felt pads for the chairs and table.

As it's solid wood, you could do a small section if you don't go too made with the sanding i.e. under the table that's damaged anyway. You can also get sample sachets.

I think you’ve been had, we had our floors done, they sanded them seven times with reducing degrees of sandpaper, then varnished four times with industrial varnish after staining, that was about five years ago and no mark on them,

I’d have them redone by a proper company.