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How to fix gaps in old hardwood floor
Old house, old wooden floor. When we took up the carpet, there was a piece of plywood (which I painted), and a big gap between the old hardwood, which had been repaired with plaster. As the plaster feel apart, so did the old hardwood.
Blue sugru to the rescue. I fixed the major floor gap, and some other bits that had serious cracks due to wear and tear. About 6 weeks into the repair, and it's working really well.
Kit
- Some wine bottle corks
- White glue
- Razor knife and cutting board
- sugru - I used 9 large packets (3 per package, so three packages)
Step 1
This is what things looked like after I finished chipping out the plaster which had been used to repair the crack.
Step 2
Use white glue or carpenter's glue to glue into place any loose bits at the edge of the wood. Since this wood was tongue and groove (naturally), the sides are actually quite fragile if unsupported, as I learned.
Step 3
Use your razor knife (carefully!) to cut up the wine corks. I made most of the cork into tiny chopped bits, but also left a few pieces as slivers. Reason: the small bits of cork would fall through the sub-floor where there were gaps.
The cork will make more sense in a minute.
Step 4
Thin slice of cork in a larger gap
Step 5
Lots of bits of small cork. I would have needed about twice the amount of sugru if I had not used the cork bits as "clean fill".
Step 6
I rolled coils using about half a package, then eased them into the gap, smoothing together as I went along.
Step 7
Not difficult, just requires some patience.
Step 8
The main job finished! What to do with the half-pack of sugru that was left over??? Hmmmm...
Step 9
Easy. Fix a few gaps where my rolling desk chair had created big gaps, growing bigger (like potholes!)
The finished job looked great, as my floor was already stained a cobalt blue. It's colourful, it's neat, and best of all there will be no more tripping or slivers from the wooden edges. Rather pleased with myself ;-)
