Hardwood Floor Gap Filling

Critical points on filling gaps in hardwood floors that you must know.

Hardwood floor gap filling.

Though wood filler and glue are not the same wood filler is an important ingredient for those who live in a house with a wooden floor. First of all be aware of the fact that wood is supposed to expand and contract depending on seasonal humidity changes. Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out. Another exacerbating condition is water damage.

There are a few points that you should know about hardwood floors and before trying any filler things to it. You can fill the gaps in an unfinished floor with a mixture of polyurethane and sanding dust before the floor. Wood filler is a wetter more fluid product than wood putty. With older tongue and groove hardwood or even wide plank floors gaps inevitably develop between the boards mostly because the wood shrinks over time as it dries out and loses moisture content.

Then move the putty knife across the gap as if you were painting it with a paintbrush to spread the filler evenly in the gap. The great advantage of this method of gap filling is that there is no risk that the strips will fall through because they too will be able to rest on the joists. Now you are ready to actually correct the gaps in your hardwood floor. Filler strips are essentially very fine batons of the same species and colour of wood as your floor that you insert into the gaps.

The latter is an older method of filling gaps and not only serves as a way to fix floor gaps but also will help keep any drafts that come up through the floor to a minimum as well. It should help the filler to go in between the boards a bit more evenly. In cases where the gaps aren t repaired by increasing the humidity levels you will need to fill these cracks. The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place.

While humidity may affect your hardwood floor permanent cracking is also a possible issue. Repairing permanent floor cracks photo credit. Some finishes may also help reduce the risk of your hardwood floor drying. Before you begin filling gaps in old wood floors with caulk make sure you have properly inserted the tube into a standard caulk gun.

At times your expensive hardwood laminate carpet luxury vinyl or other flooring investment will fail. Scrape any excess filler off the floor once you finish filling the gap. Apply enough filler so that the filled in gap is flush with the top of the wood floor. Using fillers such as putty powdered filler which is mixed to a putty or paste form or even caulking resolves gaps if done properly.

Set the angled tip of the tube into the gap and pull the trigger.