What type of wood floor - and can it be repaired?!

Dades

Hi folks,

Quiz for the experts!

I'm in a rental and need help finding out what type of wood floor we have. I've taken a couple of shots close up and hope these are enough. The gaps between the wood pieces seem to be about 6-7 mm deep.





I ask, because a delivery guy recently did this to our floor and I am negotiating with them about how to get it repaired. This is only about 2/3rds of the total scratch.



Any thoughts appreciated.

Dades

recipio

Good old tongue and grooved softwood, probably spruce.
The gaps are a combination of age and central heating.What do you want to do with it ?

Alun

I take it it's the scratch he needs repairing rather than the gaps? How deep is the scratch, is it very deep or just superficial?

Dades

recipio wrote: »

Good old tongue and grooved softwood, probably spruce.
The gaps are a combination of age and central heating.What do you want to do with it ?

Thanks! Is that solid, semi solid or laminate? The people paying want to know...

Alun wrote: »

I take it it's the scratch he needs repairing rather than the gaps? How deep is the scratch, is it very deep or just superficial?

Yeah, need the scratch repaired. I would say its fairly superficial, but at the same time it's too obvious to ignore. Maybe a mm deep if even.

Cheers, guys.

Reader1937

Dades wrote: »

Thanks! Is that solid, semi solid or laminate? The people paying want to know...

Yeah, need the scratch repaired. I would say its fairly superficial, but at the same time it's too obvious to ignore. Maybe a mm deep if even.

Cheers, guys.

The first two pictures are softwood - poor quality with knots like that - perhaps white deal. The last picture in the hall is wide board oak - looks solid from the piece arrangment. If it is 1mm deep - sand it and use an oil with VOCs something like the 500mm can of Junckers oil. Its a fast job to sand and the oil doesn't need any tools to apply - just a cloth. The smell will blow the head of ya so have all the windows open when its being done. Start to finish it should be about an hour.
Remember to hang the cloth on a washing line to dry - doesn't have to be sunny, raining is fine, but crumpled cloths left to dry can ignite. Throw it in the bin when dry. If its deeper than 3mm you may want the whole area sanded with a commercial sander (looks like a hoover) and the floors recoated. Something of a bigger job. You could get away with just sanding the scratch out but the sanded groove would be apparent if its markedly deeper than the floor around it..

recipio

Agree about the oak.
Looks like someone dragged something heavy on it. Personally I'd try steaming with a wet cloth and hot iron first. Its amazing how the grain can lift. After that a little light sanding, hoover and use a lacquer spray can as the area is so small.
Another approach is to use one of those coloured wax sticks but you are into shopping in a dedicated hardware shop to find them.

Dades

Thanks again for all the replies - I've just realised what a dumbass I've been!

It never occurred to me the two flooring types were different (despite them looking different...) What I really wanted to know was what floor type (solid, semi solid or laminate) the floor with the scratch was. Of course then I go and post up closeups of the upstairs floor which I now note is different. Hey, it's a rental - I just moved in!

Anyway, the tips are good. I still need to give the delivery co the floor type though as they want to get their own costs. So you guys think it's solid?

The scratch was a from a stone stuck under a heavy cardboard box, btw.

Cheers again,
Dades

Reader1937

Solid - guessing french from the piece sizes. Can't imagine why they ask as the whole floor will not be replaced and trying to replace just the scratched boards makes as much sense as a person brushing their teeth with a chainsaw. The effort will be daft and the result will always look piebald without expert staining.
From the spread of knots in the photo, the floor would be good quality and sold to the builder on its good looking and hardwearing values (never more traffic than in a hallway and its where visitors get the first impression).

Dades

The delivery company want to know what type of floor it is as they believe some floors can be fixed, others can't. The husband of the lady in their customer service is a carpenter and tells her a semi-solid floor with a scratch like that can't be repaired!

Anyhow, assuming it is solid, I guess it can be sanded and revarninshed.

I'm going to leave it with them, now I at least know what floor type it (probably) is.

recipio

Dades wrote: »

The delivery company want to know what type of floor it is as they believe some floors can be fixed, others can't. The husband of the lady in their customer service is a carpenter and tells her a semi-solid floor with a scratch like that can't be repaired!

Anyhow, assuming it is solid, I guess it can be sanded and revarninshed.

I'm going to leave it with them, now I at least know what floor type it (probably) is.

It can certainly be fixed if its semi-solid. They have a 4mm skin of solid wood on top with a heavy layer of varnish. I'd try the steaming and then fill with an oak wax stick.( available from www.axminster.co.uk)
If its solid you have the luxury of sanding and re-varnishing but it need a good technique to avoid leaving a gouge in the centre of the floor.
The last option is a new floor -would your insurance company pick up the bill ?

Dades

recipio wrote: »

The last option is a new floor -would your insurance company pick up the bill ?

Sorry for the delay - have been away for 10 days or so.

My (or my landlord's) insurance company are going nowhere near the bill. A delivery company damaged the floor and are going to pay for it.

I'm going to call them this week again to put a fire under them. If possible I'd like a *ballpark* figure to repair to give them. There's every chance they may just write a cheque to make me go away rather than organising their own quotes.

So assuming for the moment we have a (semi) solid floor with a scratch of about 12" to repair - anyone want to hazard a guess as to what I'd pay to get repaired to a good standard? I don't need it looking like new - I just want the scratch to disappear or at least be no more noticeable than the other minor imperfections the floor already has through wear and tear.

Thanks again.

North West

Hi Dades
The first two pictures are softwood ( Spruce Pine ) flooring. They can be sanded sucessfully. Then varnish again. When varnishing cut up an onion and leave it in the room. This will neuteralise the odour. The third picture is 125mm oak flooring. Dampen a cloth and get an iron heat it well put the cloth over the scratch and iron it a few times it should take 90% of the scratch out.
NW

Dades

I might give that a lash this weekend, thanks!