I'll be refinishing the floor in my kitchen which has some gouges in it. Some are up to about 3/32" deep. The gouges were created from dropping heavy pointed objects on the floor over the years (cans, knives, drinking glasses etc). The floor is 3/4" red oak. My first instinct is that it wouldn't be wise to sand all the way down to eliminate these gouges. The floor has been sanded only once before. Can they be filled with the same filler one would use to fill cracks between boards? I presume that one would need to scrape out the old poly from the gouge in order for the filler to adhere properly. Does anyone have any experience with the wood filler sold by Home Depot? The filler comes in a tub, is stainable, and is intended for troweling onto sanded floors. I’m wondering if it’s good quality or if I should purchase the filler from a flooring company.

Another question; I completed a wood floor elsewhere in my home with 3/4” bloodwood. I’ll need to use some filler on that floor as well but I don’t seem to be able to find bloodwood colored filler. I saved some fine sawdust when cutting the bloodwood and have heard that one can mix the sawdust with a lacquer and trowel it on. Any comments?

Last question is staining and finishing. What’s the best stain and finishing products out there? Much of the reading on this forum talks about Minwax stain, Fabulon and Bona finishes. Bona Traffic seems to get great reviews.

I appreciate all the information traded on this forum.

Tom

I did as much homework as I could on hardwood floors, just finished my first floor (have been a handyman for 30 years)....I used the fine sawdust mixed with lacquer and it has worked great....personally I thought it worked better than putty...

Do all your heavy sanding first and put the filler in just before the screening .. the heavy papers will pull it out ..