We had an issue with boards that cracked or chipped (our floor is 90+ years old). So we hired some hardwood floor guys and had them fixed. They ripped out the old broken boards, replaced and stained them to match. That job would be even easier for your problem as you have the same flooring that matches so the "artistic" element of matching the old patina vs new wood is not an issue. However, that doesn't sound like normal wear and tear to me. It sounds more like poor quality hardwood flooring.

Poor quality has nothing to do with it. It is Oak. PSI ratings are species specific. All wood will dent, given the PSI is exceeded. A heavy person and high heels, will do a number on any wood, any species.

Call it character

Thanks to you both for the reactions.

I'm very relieved to know that it is possible to rip out the most heavily damaged boards (clustered in a few different areas of the house) and have them replaced with extra flooring. That will help bec. the eye (at least those of my DH and I) really go to the places that look like they've been hit by a gang of woodpeckers. I'll call around for some quotes.

I'll institute a no heels policy for our next large gathering (even though I really don't like setting out these kinds of rules). But it seems like our new floors can't take the strain of that many people, esp. given the proclivity toward high heels among young women.

Hate to bring up a sensitive topic on these forums -

No shoes in the house!! Especially at large parties.

I refinished a customer's floor and noticed that it was pockmarked all over the place. I mentioned to her that her refinished floor would do the same if she allowed her guests to walk around on it with spike heels.

Well, she said that she throws large parties frequently and that she would never ask her guests to remove their shoes. I went back to do more work and...you guessed it...many new pockmarks all over the floor. Great thing about the lady is she has the attitude of "well that is just the way it is."

Hey, you know it's even more expensive to buy "antiqued" hardwood, you could "antique" the rest of the floor! Just kidding!

I would probably repair it. Especially if the warranty would cover it. They're usually good for 10 years. Also, try a couple of rugs in high traffic areas during parties.
Something that compliments your decor and that can be cleaned easily too. Roll them up and pull em out a day before the party to "relax" so no one trips on the edges.

As far as a "shoes off" policy, everyone tends to spill drinks and drop food at these parties and walking around without shoes on can be yucky.

Best wishes!
JoAnn

Elenal here again, Thanks all for the new posts and suggestions. They are really helpful and practical (I like the idea of getting some rugs for high traffic areas, and appreciate the suggestion of laying them out a few days early). I've started calling around to get folks over to give me quotes on replacing the clusters of very badly damaged boards in areas of especially heavy traffic. (I can live with the fact that there are some little dings scattered throughout the house. BUT the really bad areas, I'm so very happy that we can get those boards replaced bec., for some reason, DH and I thought that wouldn't be possible.)

And I do appreciate the varying viewpoints on shoes in a house with wood floors, esp with our twice-yearly large parties composed of young people, i.e., our University students, who tend to wear spike heels. We also have large potluck parties with our middle-aged friends, but there are no spike heel wearers in our crowd, and it will be easy for me to remind our friends not to wear high heels in our home in the future. I take the point about spills during parties and walking on sticky floors being a problem.

I have to say that DH and I have debated for years whether we are both comfortable with a total no outdoor shoes of any sort policy in our house, even before we had new floors put in. BUT we just can't agree on such a policy (I'm for a no outdoor shoe ever poliy in our house; he finds it inhospitable and too "precious." I admit that there is an important practical issue--we have a small house, and if 100 people laid out their shoes somewhere near the door, there wouldn't even be room for all the people in our house.

Anyway, not to belabor the point (bec. I know people have different views on this issue), I've given up on a no shoe policy. BUT we can and have agreed that in light of the fact that our new floors are not holding up to high heels (and we can't afford to replace or refinish them for quite a long time), we will institute a no high heels policy in our house (and will communicate it in advance to guests) AND we will get the seriously damaged clusters of boards replaced ASAP. I think the no high heels policy + replacing the very bad boards will work for us, and I won't fret when I look at our new floors if we replace the bad boards. Thanks everyone for this great input! I feel a million times better.

phar, I have a better suggestion, laminate. LOL Walking around without shoes is disgusting and dirty. I insist people keep their shoes on in my house!!

Seriously, rugs are a very good idea for high traffic areas. I like them just for the look.

I have a sis who tends to let her heels get down to the nails. I too have had this happen, until I got laminate installed. She is not tiny and I have noticed dings in her own laminate floor, it is like a vinyl looking product that is laminate, kind of rubbery top layer. I have no problem telling her to check her shoes at my door but would have hard time with guests. Luckily I do not have parties which involve dressing up. We mostly have bbqs so I think I am safe.

I would like to have laminate in my entryway due to having hard time figuring a pattern for my floor- whole other subject- but the wear and tear from folks coming in is not worth having to repair the floor every year. So I will battle the pattern and do tile.

This sounds like another thing to consider with flooring, soft woods really get tore up.

the psi of a person in high heels is often far more than the weight of a fully loaded refrigerator. Vinyl would dent as would most hardwoods. Having a no shoes policy is far different than no high heels. If your going to allow high heels you will continue to have problems. It has nothing to do with poor quality and no mfctrs warranty covers denting. Laminate if dented can't be repaired. You can also sometimes steam out slight indentations. You might try that to minimize the look. If finish is scratched that can be repaired.

I'm totally sold on the no high heels + easily cleaned rugs at all parties in the future. I really appreciate the advice that everyone has offered. In the meantime, I've got some hardwoood cos. coming to give me an estimate on getting rid of the badly damaged boards. Thanks for everything everyone--I'm breathing easier now....

I don't know, telling people what shoes to wear or not wear is pretty tacky. I'd say if this is an issue then don't have parties, or change to tile floors. As Ann Landers once said, it is easier to replace your floors than your friends.

Ann landers was wrong! If your throwing a party, it's easy to find new friends!! Free food and beer? I'll be your friend, and I promise to never ever wear high heels!

I feel for you! I pock-marked my own brand-new gorgeous walnut floors with unknowingly wearing a pair of heels, one of which had worn down to the nail. I normally slip my suit and shoes off when I get home and wear slippers in the house. This night I was running late from work and felt bad that I was getting dinner on the table so late. I went right to work on dinner without changing. As I was washing dishes after dinner, I noticed clusters of pock- marks in front of the range, in front of the prep sink and in front of the main sink. I was sick about it. And, I weigh 115 pounds, so it's not just heavy folks in heels that can cause damage.

I don't know what I'll do when we throw a party. But, if I ever plan to ask guests to remove shoes, I know I'll make it a slippers party and at least have them bring their own slippers. That sounds like an absurd idea and I get an absurd visual, but I know if I showed up to a party and someone asked me to take off my shoes and I had to walk around barefoot in their house all night, I wouldn't be comfortable. I'd have wished I had a pair of slippers with me.

Elenal here: Thanks all for the recent posts, and for the empathy as far as the aggravation of damaging new floors that you really can't afford to replace. I think this conversation has been really provocative and also very helpful to me. I am personally not comfortable with setting any sort of rules as far as high heels for guests, BUT I WILL set these rules nevertheless from now on because, all things considered, I just can't let the floors become even more damaged than they are now, especially because I can't afford to replace them with anything else, and I can't afford more than one replacement of the most seriously damaged boards. I really do appreciate the practical suggestions you've all given me.

And I'm glad to know that I don't seem like a total nutcase bec. I certainly also have in the back of mind the following thought about myself: "in the scheme of things, I should not be even thinking about this." But I am not always great with the whole perspective thing.

What an intersting discussion. High heels are hard on floors. Any flooring material. Some ladies, especially young girls, tend to wear their heels down to the nail, or "heel lift." Even wors, they let the protective plastic heel cap wear completly away exposing the bare heel lift. Lets do the math: A 200 pound man exerts an average of about 30 PSI on a man's heel. A mid-size car will exert about 50 PSI under each tire. An elephant, perhaps 100 PSI under each foot. On the other hand, a 125 pound lady wearing high heels will exert about 2,000 PSI on each heel. This is due to the extreme concentration of weight onto a very small area. A lady's heel that is worn down to the metal heel lift, or completly worn away, can exert up to 8,000 PSI into a tiny area! Most floors of any kind can not withstand that kind of terrific pressure, and they will indent.

I am not sure what your policy should be as far as guest go in your home and weather to allow high heels. That is one you will need to decide. Good luck!

hi. one other thing to mention besides stiletto high heels being dangerous and lethal to wood floors, is, if you have Both, a small And old house with an old floor, i don't think it's the best idea to hold Large parties there. not only don't a lot of women, and people in general, realize what and how much damage stiletto heels do to floors, But, most homes (especially smaller older ones like yours) weren't made and designed to hold parties, Especially Large ones of 90-100 people!
i'm guessing if your floor was so Badly marked up and damaged that there was dancing?? if so, on such an Old floor, i take it that the room, And house, was probably bouncing and shaking like an earthquake?? lots of things shake and maybe fall over off shelves, etc., during these parties? you better also have your floor joists and support beams below inspected. chances are if you had these girls in stilettos dancing and jumping around at times on that old floor, you probably not only have significant damage to the actual floorboards, But the sub-floor, joists, and beams underneath! when contractors built homes like yours 'back in the day', (and some even Today), the homes are built to Live in and Walk around in, and Not have huge parties of So many people with needle-thin stiletto heels and dancing. they build clubs and bars for that. the floors contractors build for clubs and bars are built for Much more weight capacity and heavy activity such as dancing than homes. so, if there was Any dancing and jumping at All during these Large parties, i would have your floor joists and support beams below inspected a.s.a.p. before throwing Anymore parties. otherwise, you may not only have to worry about repairng a few floorboards, but also repairing the Whole floor and maybe you and your guest winding up in the basement, or whatever is below.

also, although some women Do care about their floors and hate having them marked up and damaged by heels, i do know of some that actually Love to "leave their mark" in floors and totally damage and wreck floors with their thin stiletto high heels. so i'd check with some of your guests (maybe take a little survey) on that subject and see who may not realize what they're doing to floors like yours, but also, who Does And is Loving it. some of those girls may have done some of that damage and left those stiletto heel dents and holes in your floor and ruined those boards on Purpose.

but now, on the otherhand, if the was No dancing, and your floor was damaged That bad from stiletto high heels just Walking around, i would Definitely do the "no stiletto high heels" rule in your house. (along with "no dancing")

curious on some of these. good luck and hope to hear back from ya and hope your floor (both the boards above and the supports below) is gonna be ok.