Mahogany stairs

Amprodude

I had a builder who walked with their shoes on my new stairs and there are below surface dents on the steps itself. The stairs is made of mahogany.

Is there anything I could do to fix? Can I use wood putty sand down and revarnish the dents? The depth of the is less than 0.5mm from the surface but I can see it under light which annoys me.

Any advise to fix greatly appreciated.

Packrat

As mahogany is medium to hard wood, the dents are probably in the varnish or lacquer rather than the wood itself.

If the wood itself is actually dented then you could try leaving a damp but not wet sponge on one overnight to see if it rebounds a bit. That works with softwood, but be cognizant that mahogany can be water stained.

Sanding and refinishing is a good solution but you'd have to do all the steps to get a uniform finish. Best left to a professional painter/decorator.

Don't attempt to fill the debts with anything because it'll never ever match and just look worse.

WillContribute

I presume he had some stones stuck in his shoe. Mahogany won't deform under normal shoes/wear.

Options.

(1) Steam/heat the indentation before it settles. Did this before with pine and oak woods. Hard to judge but you want to make it hot without burning it. The timber cells expand and pops out.

(2) if it's really bad, glue in a pocket of timber, glue in bruss/saw dust into the dent and then sand off. Make the mix as dense as possible. Did it before for stupid mahogany hole, someone dropped a chissel/pointy thing, reduced it dramatically.

(3) use a satin/eggshell or Matt finish on the stairs. Shiny finish will get dirty/dusty anyway soon enough, go for the long term finish.

WillContribute

Ps. I used a clothes iron pressed over a damp cloth, to pop out dents in a solid floor, while watching the timber carefully for any scorching.

Amprodude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557297#Comment_118557297

Will this actually work? I wasn't aware of this. See picture for reference. Thanks.

SpitfireIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557509#Comment_118557509

It's worth a shot, thankfully it looks more like a dent than a tear

But I suspect that stairs is like a new paint job on a car, you know inevitably it's going to get stone chips and marks, the first one is the worst, the rest will follow :(

awec

I would just leave it tbh.

Dents and nicks on that are inevitable, trying to fix it runs the risk of making it look more obvious.

WillContribute

There is a small risk of burning the timber or else having to sand and revarnish.

It's not that bad, and not a tear. But if you want to try something, a suggestion.

Do you have any of the same timber left over, a trim from the stairs, section of newel? Even the joinery workshop may give you an offcut. Dent the off cut, and then try it to see can you pop it, let it get damp first. See what works.

You probably need to sand the varnish off to expose the timber, to wet it to allow it to expand with the heat. The moisture/are does the work.

I had someone put a tear through the nose of a mahogany step, right on a quarter landing as you faced it. A joiner told me to bring the tear back together, cut a small sliver to make up the missing bit and pack it with,matching sawdust and glue. I can find it if I look for it, but wouldn't notice it now.