repairing hinoki floor

2 questions about hinoki flooring:
1) will the fragrance of the wood be gone if i coat it? But how long (in general) will there be a nice fragrance from the planks? Or is it only a few days after install?

2) As the wood is soft, it will dent easily when items drop on it. How do you get rid of the dents?

1) If you coat the wood with urethane you would private if of the fragrance. If you use a stain-type water repellent it will not affect the fragrance. The fragrance lasts for about one year but you will feel also years later if you rub the wood or clean it with a dump cloth.

2) if you drop something heavy it will cause a dent. (Like not only other soft woods, but I would say as every wood flooring.)
After few years you will have several dents but it will be perceived as a natural aging. I know people with pets who actually choose on purpose soft woods because they are warmer at the touch and because the pet`s nails do not
slip. Of course it becomes full of scratches but it does not look bad.

Actually, you can test on one sample by dropping something heavy or something sharp.

If it is a bedroom you will not have many chances to damage the floor.
For your reference, there are 2 main methods to remove a scratch:

a) if it is a deep dent, you can keep a wet towel on the damaged plank for few hours. Apply also a hot iron (to iron clothes) on the towel to make the steam penetrate the wood. This will cause the wood to swell and to push back the compressed area.

b) use masking tape to isolate the damaged plank. Then sand it with an electric sander #80 grits until the scratch disappears, then #120 and finally #400. Otherwise ask a professional repair company. They would infill the scratch while evening the area around.

I hope this answers your questions.