Hardwood stairs: Filling and finishing.

[GMM]

Hi people.

My place has hardwood open plan stairs. Until now they've been carpeted but the carpet was wearing badly so I took it off in preparation for replacement. Unfortunately, SWMBO thinks it looks better uncarpeted. That's OK but all the tacks etc etc have damaged the treads a bit. The right filler and a rub down should sort it, with the right finish, so the questions are:

There are a couple of bright nails that have been clobbered flush. Digging them out will cause a bit more damage: Would it be sensible to try drilling the heads (like I would if they were screws), hammering them deeper then filling or should I accept the damage and prise them out?

What should I fill with? I've tried the Ronseal filler (pots and tubes in B+Q etc) The colour (medium dark) isn't bad but it doesn't look like it will last long when people walk on it and it doesn't seem to bond into most dips and ding. Choices at the sheds seem a bit limited - Does anyone have any good suggestions? (Bearing in mind that I don't have any offcuts to make any sawdust and resin fancy-type mixes although I've a feeling standard Araldite might not be too obvious - it's almost the same colour.)

Assuming it gets far enough to finish (!), it'll need a coat or ten of something. I quite like things like Danish oil on most wood but I'm guessing it wouldn't give a tough enough finish to be walked on. Any suggestions for what I should use?

[dom]

Brummer is regarded as about the best:

a decent quality tack-lifter, or even tapping a knife blade under from the side, with a hammer.

If you dent the wood, the dents can be lifted out some extent by placing a damp cloth over and pressing down a very hot iron (steam expands the damaged wood a little bit). Even if the dent doesn't disappear, it tends to smooth the appearance.

[GMM]

Good point - maybe I should iron each tread before I do anything else! I used the same trick on my oak worktop when it developed a dent from being clobbered with something.

[Dave Liquorice]

I assume by bright nail you mean one with a flat disc head rather than a round or oval nail with little head or just the shaft of a nail that is bright as in reflective. B-)

With a flat disc head you may be able to get something thin under it and lever up using the tip of whatever you have under to lift not as the pivot point. If the head starts to fold up stop and repeat the other side, you should then have enough of an opening to get some pincers into and pull the nail out.

Nail holes look bad but dents and wear are "character". B-)

[stuart noble]

Always match the filler colour to the final finish. Plenty of fillers look ok until you put a coat of oil/varnish over them, whereupon they stand out like a sore thumb.

I find the wax filler sticks from Liberon the easiest to use, but plastic wood is more hard wearing. Brummer doesn't have much going for it IME