Hi,

We have 400 square ft of flooring in our family room that is covered in Mirage Pre-finished solid red-oak hardwood flooring. It is not Engineered hardwood, but rather regular. The width is 3 1/4 and I believe the thickness is 3/4 (19 MM). In the living room and dining room (which we use like an eat in kitchen) we have old hardwood flooring from the 1980s that is 2 1/4 inch wide. We were told the '80s flooring was cheap. Both kinds of hardwood floors are red oak. Both floors receive the exact same amount of foot traffic and wear.

We were also told that pre-finished hardwood floors tend to be harder and more durable, outlasting the floors that are finished on site. When we moved into the house, the pre-finished floors had just been installed.

My question is, why are my pre-finished floors completely covered in scratches, dings, and dents and my old, cheap 80s flooring is perfectly fine? We are installing hardwood floors in our kitchen and are refinishing all the hardwoods so the stain is the same color and now we are also wondering if we should have the pre-finished wood in the family room sanded and refinished or if we should remove it and put in brand new unfinished red-oak floors to be finished onsite in hopes they hold up better (more like the old 80s flooring help up)? I hate to spend the money to replace red oak flooring with red oak flooring, but am afraid if we just refinish the old pre finished floors the same scratching and denting will happen again. Is it just the finish on the pre-finished hardwoods that was bad and caused the dents and scratches or is it possible it is the wood itself?

Is it better to refinish the scratched floors or just replace with a better product?

A better finish does not protect against dents. You will need to sand the dents to remove them. Be sure to have floor protectors an all your furniture.

Mirage is a good product - we use their material often and I can attest to the quality and durability under normal wear, as I've had Mirage installed in my folks' place for a few years now. Looks like the day it was installed - of course, they don't have any pets and the kids have all moved out so its limited traffic.

Dents and scratches are caused by the people living in the space - pads or cups for the legs of chairs and furniture will go a long way. Sweep and vacuum the floor regularly to keep it free from debris, which when stepped on and dragged around, can be pushed into the hardwood, leaving dents or scratches. No finish can prevent that, only regular care and maintenance.

In my experience doing warranty inspections, I have found an interesting correlation between homeowners wearing slippers in the home and also having lots of dents and scratches. In one case, I asked the HO to let me see her slippers, and we found a small piece of gravel from the driveway embedded in the sole. As she would walk around, the gravel left little pock marks which she then assumed were "appearing out of nowhere" all over the floor and it must be a defective product, so we were called to inspect. If you wear slippers, you tend not to notice the buildup of dirt and stuff on the floors - something to keep in mind.

No one warranties hardwood floors for dents and scratches.