Sorry, can't help you with the gouge problem. My wood floor is starting to get some scratches, or as we call them "memory marks" and I'm just learning to live with them. They're not severe and add character to the floor.

Replacing the felt pads often is like low-cost insurance for your floor. Since the chairs are generally in the same vicinity (by table or island), where food and shoe dust collect, having clean felt is wise. As pads collect the grit they become almost like sand paper on the floor. Plus, the felt can shift position due to the weight and movement of the chair so they need to be checked periodically.

I've been cleaning the pads monthly with a small wire brush, figuring the dirt/grit would drop out. Seems to work.

Heavily used chair pads crush and loose there effectiveness. The grit no longer is pushed up into the pad but down into the finish. This is especially true of chairs who's legs are not cut parallel to the floor. Taller chairs - bar stools are greater offenders because the users tend to tilt them more increasing the pressure on the back quarter of the legs.

If the denting you describe is too offensive to you it can be filled with epoxy and recoated by a professional.

Thanks Woodfloorpro. It really isn't that offensive as it exists under the table, but I would like to keep it from allowing water to penetrate the poly. I assume by epoxy you mean the two tube stuff. I've seen some posts that suggest clear nail polish would work for small gouges as well.

I really have no idea how hard nail polish is but see no reason why it would not at least keep the bare wood from turning dark from moisture. The sheen level could be dulled by using a very fine sand paper ~400 grit.

Take your clear fingernail polish, and paint a few coats on the exposed wood fibers.

Thanks woodfloorpro. I have a test piece of oak in my workshop where I am filling holes using my wife's nailpolish and typical two tube clear epoxy. The epoxy seems to fill the hole well over a couple of appliations.