Wood floor repair
We had our original pine floors refinished last year, even though they were a hundred years old and had a certain amount of wear and tear on them. The floor guy used some wood putty it seems to fill the larger gaps between planks, but it was brittle and has quickly cracked and come out….
We had our original pine floors refinished last year, even though they were a hundred years old and had a certain amount of wear and tear on them. The floor guy used some wood putty it seems to fill the larger gaps between planks, but it was brittle and has quickly cracked and come out. What can I put in there that will smooth out the surface, be flexible, color-neutral, and not require a refinishing?
I think that if you “fill with a combo of sawdust and poly when refinishing during the summer months” it will end up crumbling and falling out when the boards shrink [and the spaces between the boards expand] in the winter.
I am just finishing up a floor- gap project. After doing a lot of reading on the subject, I ended up using rope. I used all different sizes. In some places I used cotton clothsline (this comes in two sizes and is smooth). In other places I used jute or just anything not made of plastic that I could get my hands on. The only problem I`ve encountered so far is when a very “hairy” rope is used, the hairs become extremely sharp and hard when the primer goes on (or the polyurethane if you aren`t painting the floor) so I ended up replacing those. To patch any holes, I used metal flashing that I cut out and nailed to the floor, which I think looks really great on a wide plank floor. I can`t see any reason why this would pop out since it is flexible and it cant crack like caulk. Apparently it`s been the traditional method for hundreds(thousands?) of years. It looks great but it was really tedious to do.
I’ve looked into this quite a bit, reading and also looking at what others have done, and agree you need something flexible, that you will always have some gaps in the winter, and that your best bet is to fill with a combo of sawdust and poly when refinishing during the summer months. Another option is just to live with the cracks.
As slopegirl mentioned, but got backwards, part of the issue is that the gaps change depending on the humidity. Wood absorbs moisture, so expands in the humid months (reducing cracks and squeezing whatever filler you’ve inserted) and contracts in the dry winter months (pulling away from the filler and expanding cracks). Something flexible would be best. I’d be curious about a wood-colored caulk but haven’t tried it myself. Try searching Old House Journal back issues online, I know they’ve covered this one many times.
I had thought about some kind of caulk – I may try this in some discrete spots and see how it looks and holds up through the seasons. Just can’t be brought to do another refinish already.
you might not want to fill gaps in the winter… heat and dry air will mean your boards are thinnest in winter. wait until summer. If you put in anything that takes up more than the minimum gap needed the pressure of swelling wood will crack it later.
an actual carpenter type might be able to confirm this
http://rowhouser.com/index.php?/site/comments/refinishing_old_wide_pine_plank_flooring_in_an_1800s_row_house/
Link above has nice write up on using marine caulking, which we might try this winter
When I had my pine kitchen floor refinished years ago I used wood putty over oakum in the spaces between the boards. It looked great after sanding and actually lasted for several months. The expansion and contraction of the wood due to changes of humidity means that filling the spaces between planks is doomed to failure.
I have read that one should take the wood dust from the sanding. mix it with the polyeurathene (sp?) and use it as the “putty.” I mhave the same problem you do with my floors and will try this method next time I refinish (right now I just have nice carpets…)