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This hardwood floor is about 17 years old and has been refinished about 7 years ago. The floor is starting to get fairly deep gouges where the grain seems to be deteriorating away. Does anyone know what the cause could be or a way to fix this floor with out replacing the boards? It’s very widespread throughout the house and replacing 70% of the boards is out of the question. I thought about refinishing and instead of poly using like a flood coat of clear epoxy to fill the deep gouges. Any one have an input on that?

The spring growth of oak is much softer than the late wood. Things like untrimmed dog claws will dent this wood easier than the dense part of the grain. This is called being embossed. Dog claws are not the only way floors can become embossed Dents like this stress the finish allowing it to wear off, but moisture in combination will really take a toll.
With the finish missing the wood is susceptible to getting stained by normal cleaning with water from a damp mop.
Epoxy can seal the floor, but it will be messy looking and would still need to protected from abrasion with another coating. The cheapest solution would be to apply two coats of shellac, then use paste wax.

Thanks for the quick response. I do have two dogs but I do try to keep their nails trimmed as much as possible. Will the two coats of shellac be able to fill in the deep soft grain areas to leave a smooth flat finish? Sanding that deep I think is out of the question because I would be getting close to the tongue and grooves. Originally and when we refinished we used a polyurethane, is shellac a better option that last longer/stronger?

I very seldom use shellac. It does seal the wood, but is not as wear resistant as poly-urethane. For more long term protection you could seal with two coats of shellac, then add one or two coats of poly for wear resistance. You may get chipping from the thicker layer. Waxing will help with abrasion resistance on top of any finish if the waxing is maintained. Most will not take the effort to strip and polish. Wax mixes with dirt, so stripping when the floor is dirty and then adding more wax periodically can belabor intensive.

Yeah I’ve always thought poly was the better option and that’s what was on it before. I’m should have redone the poly before it got this bad but do you have any solutions to filling the embossed soft grain pockets?

Sanding is the only way I know. Starting with 24 grit diagonally where it is deep then to 40, 60, 100. There is only so much life in a hardwood floor.
If you have a lot of time you can apply coat after coat after each coat cures for 5-7 days. Poly cures from the top down, so don't put too thick of a coat on each time.