How to Fix Marks From Roller Chairs on Hardwood Floors

Clean the surface of the floor where the mark is located with a wood cleaner and a sponge. Rinse the cleaner off with clean water, and then use a piece of cloth to pat the surface dry.

Place paste wax onto a piece of soft cloth and spread the wax over shallow marks in the floor. Work the wax into the wood surface and then allow it to dry to a gray haze. Buff the dried wax lightly with a buffing pad until you’ve concealed the chair roller mark.

Stick strips of masking tape to the floor alongside both edges of deeper marks that you can feel with your fingers, leaving a gap of about 1/4 inch between the mark and the tape.

Fill the depression created by the chair roller with wood putty, using a putty knife to spread the putty. Use putty that’s as close to the color of the hardwood plank as possible. Scrape the putty with the edge of the knife to spread the material to the edges of the tape and to level the putty with the surface of the floor. Remove the masking tape and then wait overnight for the putty to dry.

Attach a sheet of medium-grit sandpaper to a sanding block. Use the sandpaper to sand down the putty until its surface is smooth and the edge feathers into the surrounding floor. Switch to a fine-grit sandpaper and go over the surface of the hardwood a second time, smoothing away any scratches left by the medium-grit sandpaper. Wipe the surface with a tack cloth to clear away all dust.

Cover the patched area with wood stain that matches the present stain on your floor. Apply the stain with a soft cloth, and then allow the stain to dry for the time recommended in the stain manufacturer’s instructions. Apply a second layer of stain after drying if you need a deeper stain color on the patch to match the rest of the floor.

Brush a coating of polyurethane over the patched area with a paintbrush. Use multiple layers of the polyurethane to build up a protective coating, allowing each layer to dry to the touch before applying the next.