Is there a way to fix a deep gouge and scratches on dining room table?

Movers ruined my dining room table and I do not have the money to have it professionally repaired.
  18 answers
  • Becky Hartigan Becky Hartigan on Jun 25, 2017

    I am not sure of a way to completely get rid of the gouges except have the piece refibished. My mom use to put a thick layer of vaseline on the damage and let it set for 24 hrs then she'd take off and buff. She'd repeated this process a few times and damage was much less noticeable. Good luck!

  • Dfm Dfm on Jun 25, 2017

    if the movers were pro/ company owned their movers insurance should cover the cost of having it refinished.

  • Kris Kris on Jun 25, 2017

    Try an iron on the steam setting over a towel on the table surface. This method can plump up the wood some. Try it a couple of times and see if it helps.

  • Mary Mary on Jun 25, 2017

    Don't do anything till you read this. My movers just did this to my dining table also. Scraped off an entire cornet down to the wood. Movers have insurance for this exact purpose. Call the company and explain the damage they did. An adjuster will come. And they will send a furniture refinisher to your house. It shouldnt cost you anything. This happened once before with a chair arm and the refinished fixed it so you would not ever know it was repaired. Good lick

  • Debra Highfill Debra Highfill on Jun 25, 2017

    wood stain or wood filler products

  • Michael Michael on Jun 25, 2017

    If it is a minor scratch, rub a walnut over it numerous times. The walnut oil will help hide the damage.



    • Sue Sue on Jun 25, 2017

      Looks like it will need a small bottle of walnut oil.

  • Pat Pat on Jun 25, 2017

    Lowes and Home Depot carry a "scratch filler" that looks like a thick crayon, and comes in different colors to match various types of wood. You can fill the dents with this crayon, and let it dry, making sure it is exactly even with the table top surface. Then buy a small bottle of Old English dark wood furniture polish and go over the entire table top. The table will be perfect once again!

  • Mac6231 Mac6231 on Jun 25, 2017

    The photo seems to show the scratches right through the finish and deep into the wood. Without skilled help I do not think you can get an acceptable repair. If you cannot fix it, show it off. Enlarge or change the scratches with a Dremal tool into a nice design and refinish. Your damage is now hidden in plain sight and you have a piece of custom furniture. I have done this successfully several times. Just take your time, you have nothing to lose because the table is already spoiled.

  • Hope Williams Hope Williams on Jun 25, 2017

    the right thing to do is hire professional movers from the start. It appears you did not read your contract. Pictures before packing are so helpful for proof of damage. (General helpful info for everyone.)

    gouge filler, and refinish to match.

    • Dylanthomasp Dylanthomasp on Jun 25, 2017

      Use ONLY Old English scratch filler and then Old English polish. Do the filler then buff, let it rest a day or 2 then polish and do it again. Be patient and consistent and in a couple of weeks you will see a huge difference but never as good as a professional job. Good luck!

  • Jeanne Martin Jeanne Martin on Jun 25, 2017

    My movers broke a kitchen chair leg. When I showed them they gave me $100 to replace it. Your's won't pay for at least the repair?

  • Carol Barta Carol Barta on Jun 25, 2017

    Our storage place did not treat for pests - we had antique leather wing-back chairs in there (shrink wrapped mind you) and rodents still got in there and at up the leather and tinkled everywhere. They (the storage place) is NOW paying to re do them completely - which isn't cheap but........they also told us it was climate controlled - NOT - "well insulated" was what the guy finally confessed to. They HAVE INSURANCE - make them send a professional repair guy out - if you have to (as we did) threaten to contact your attorney.......they jumped when my husband made that comment. Good luck!

  • 9530106 9530106 on Jun 25, 2017

    Old English Scratch Cover is just that, it is not a filler, of which there are many out there. I would think your moving company would replace or repair. Hope you have your contract handy. :(

  • Jim Jim on Jun 25, 2017

    wet a paper towel, place it on the gouge, hold a sodder iron for wood on the paper towel on the gouge until the paper dries; the wood will swell and you keep doing it until it rises enough to sand, restain and shellac or poly and you'll never know it was there,

  • Helen Helen on Jun 25, 2017

    IF you don't have insurance coverage through the moving company, they should pay to fix it. Otherwise, my husband, who has done this on more than one occasion, puts a wood filler in the gouge & using a softer plastic paddle to be sure the putty (filler) is even. You sometimes have to do this a second time if the filler shrinks. Once it's level and dry, you need to find a matching stain and stain that spot going from center to edge, feathering the stain out to match better. Let it dry well over night. You then need to apply a sealer to it.


  • Lavonne Lavonne on Jun 27, 2017

    If the wood was gouged - do you mean that a splinter of wood came out? If that is it, then you can, as someone said above, use wood filler but it has to be matched perfectly or it will really stand out. If the wood was just dented, You can use a metal beer cap as a press. Using a clothes iron or a soldering iron press the tip of the hot iron into the inside of the cap and use it as a mini iron to help lift the dent.

  • Eloise Eloise on Jun 27, 2017

    Lots of ideas on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=repair+deep+gouges+in+furniture


    I also saw this on The Family Handyman which may work. Unfortunately you can't skip the ad and there's no audio on the video. But it may help even though it's designed to repair veneer: https://www.familyhandyman.com/woodworking/furniture-repair/how-to-patch-veneer-with-quickwood

  • Ian25001164 Ian25001164 on Jun 28, 2017

    You can get a wax filler in all colours just worm the wax use a plastic spatchular work the wax into the scratch leave for a minute to harden then buff to a finish you shouldnt have to stain hope this helps

  • JoAnn JoAnn on May 01, 2018

    that sounds great since I'm gonna be painting the whole floor after I fix it, Thanks