Three Methods To Fill Gaps In Wood Flooring

If you are having trouble with gaps on your wood flooring, you are not alone. Wood floors are essentially composed of strips of timber which are butted together, which may, or might not be nailed or glued into position. Gaps in timber floors are brought on by the long-term expansion and contraction of the timber. Though significant gaps in comparatively new hardwood floors are comparatively rare along the spans of the board, you may discover that newer floors develop openings at the ends of their boards. Old floors on the other hand will likely have openings, both across the lengths of these planks in addition to in the ends, due to years and years of growth and contraction the floor will probably have confronted. Gaps in wood flooring not only look unsightly, they can be the source of drafts and energy inefficiency.

So how do you get rid of the gaps in your wood flooring? If your floor is not fixed into the subfloor, you could try sliding back the boards into place, working around the outside of the space, where an expansion gap will have been left. If necessary, as soon as you've managed to manoeuvre the planks back into place, you could introduce some pegging around the edges of the room to stop future slipping. You can even reduce the movement in your flooring by preventing sliding furnishings and heavy things across the planks.

If that does Not Solve your problem, or if your gaps reappear, there are three main Ways of filling gaps in Timber flooring, which Can Be:

Employing a dust and resin filling.

Introducing filler strips.

Inserting a colour-match acrylic filler.

Here is a summary of the way to do each.

Employing a dust and resin filling.

This is only one of the most frequently used methods of filling little (less than 5mm) openings in a wooden floor. Once you have your sawdust, then you want to mix it with a transparent resin filler, which you'll have the ability to get from any DIY shop or your hardwood flooring provider. The consistency you're aiming for is a bit like a thick putty, which you then introduce to the gaps using a spatula.

This procedure of gap filling has the benefit of providing a smooth and colour-matched end result and it dries fast. The downside is that the mixture can fall through gaps where the flooring is put right over joists and it often becomes fragile with significant flooring movement.

Introducing filler strips.

Filler strips are essentially very fine batons of the very same species and color of timber as the flooring that you insert into the gaps. The great benefit of this method of gap filling is there is no risk that the strips will fall through, since they also are going to be able to rest on the joists. What's more, filler strips also produce a very secure and attractive result.

In the conclusion of both of these two filling processes, you'll need to sand over the stuffed gaps to smooth the floor out and prepare it for refinishing (if required).

Inserting a colour-match petroleum filler.

Colour-matched acrylic fillers are easy to supply, either by a fantastic DIY store or your hardwood flooring provider and are arguably among the simplest methods for filling gaps in hardwood flooring. Basically a mastic, this way is quick, efficient and does not require sanding in the conclusion. All that said, the best challenge you are going to confront with this remedy is receiving the color spot on, so be ready to experiment.