How can I repair these dents my Ikea couch has been making in my hardwood floor?

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Leave them. The dents tell the story of your house.

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What? One of linoleum's benefits is not off gassing and not being made from fossil fuels. Are you thinking of vinyl?

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I'm renting a flat and the story would be the one of my neglect, and me having to pay off the landlord, it's not my favorite one

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That sounds like a fun thing to improvise, thanks, I'll try it!

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I would agree, but I'm afraid my landlord will look under that rug at some point

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Thanks for that expert advice - let's consider the scenario where I don't know what I'm doing, and I just want to avoid my landlord deducting too much from the deposit when I move out, what would you recommend?

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If the landlord decides to be a dick, I would think you could respond that the hardwood wasn't hard afterall, so best to just call it a day.

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Ah, a tale as old as time.

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Depends on the country I suppose
Vinyl is much softer than linoleum, which is why linoleum is used everywhere in public buildings like schools and hospitals etc.
Vinyl is used in your bedroom

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I'm not an expert, just a hobbyist.

If it's actual hardwood then, if you try to fix this, you'll almost certainly end up doing more damage. An expert probably won't touch any job for less than $750.

The best case scenario is it's not true hardwood, instead wood veneer tongue and groove where pieces are easily replaced... which starts by removing all the baseboards and pieces of floor from the edge to the piece that needs replaced. Anyone could easily learn to do that. But, is it worth the time and effort for a couple hundred bucks?

Probably the best thing to do now is to prevent any more damage. That could be as simple as some 1/4 plywood between the legs and the floor. A quality rug is more expensive and would also work.

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In that case, I would recommend using your time machine to go back in time and buying something to protect the floor from the sofa.

Short of sanding the floor down, there's really not a lot that you can do. The dents and dings aren't going to pop back out; it's not like auto repair where you can use a suction cup to pup them back up. Sanding the floor down is expensive; you're looking at thousands of dollars to have it done by a professional that will do it correctly. Doing it yourself is... not a great idea, unless you are a perfectionist and have a pretty good idea of what you're doing. Even then, renting the machines--or buying!--and buying the needed sandpaper, CA glue, and poly finish (assuming you want to use poly; I have other finishes that I prefer, but poly is fast and usually non-toxic) may well be more than your deposit.

The argument that you're going to want to make is that this is expected wear and tear; that might fly with your landlord, it might not. You could make a small-claims case out of it, and you might be able to win that. Or you might not, and then you'd be out your deposit, plus the cost of filing a small-claims case.

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Pull the boards out and swap them with edge boards.

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Depending on the state you live in, and whether the lease specifically mentioned taking special care of the hardwood floors, this could very well be considered regular wear and tear. There does not appear to be any intentional damage here.

The landlord will also need to provide documentation prior to getting work done if they want you to cover the bill, at which point you’ll have the option to contest it.

Check out tenant rights for your state to verify.

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I've never done it myself, but I've seen some videos online that show that covering it with a towel and using a clothes iron with a lot of steam might make the dents decompress. Do some research on the details/veracity of it and try that?

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First things first: put real feet on your couch so you’re not doing more damage.

The broader the better.

Some people already talked about ironing and it can make a difference but you gotta get down to the wood surface with sandpaper, learn how to iron wood then successfully actually do it.

Dents as big as these would require multiple passes with the iron over time.

Your real best bet would be to call a handyman or more likely a flooring place and have them give you an estimate on repair. They’ll be able to tell you if you have some kind of tongue in groove, roll or actual hardwood floor and explain what your options are. You’ll also know how much you’re gonna be paying to get whatever the landlord is holding back from them.

If you do call someone out there, find out what they charge for an estimate and pay them more on top of it in cash. People hate giving estimates because it’s someone shopping around who’s gonna try to get them down to the lowest price and has no consideration for their expertise and experience. Being willing to pay in cash and then some cements you as a customer, not a looky-loo.

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I've heard & seen vinyl and linoleum used interchangeably over a lifetime, and I don't believe the original recipe is still manufactured so far as I have seen.

Even if it is still being manufactured, the vast majority of people talking about linoleum seem to mean vinyl. I'm going with the average vernacular, and still stand by all my original points re: vinyl.

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If you are renting and have no practical skills to actually fix this, just leave it alone. You are likely to fuck up the floor worse trying to do these home remedies.

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Cinderella and the Hardwood Floor

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Thanks for the warning, I respect that - but this video seems pretty straightforward, I'm about to try it on one of those dents:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XK8yba4KlyY

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Pretty bizarre if people do this. I've never heard it to mean anything but linoleum.

But a lot of people in the US use the word "turf" to specify not turf (i.e. artificial turf), so there's no reason for words to mean things.

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How can I repair these dents my Ikea couch has been making in my hardwood floor?