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Patching Hardwood Floors
How to Patch a Tongue and Grooved
Hardwood Floor
Mark J. Donovan
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For a variety of reasons a hardwood
floor can become damaged in spots. If the hardwood floor is overall in good
shape with the exception of a couple of damaged areas you can patch the hardwood
floor to eliminate the damaged floorboards.
Tools Required for
Patching Hardwood Floors
Circular skill saw, hammer, flat pry
bar, utility knife, sharp chisel, belt sander and sandpaper, small block of
wood, finished nails, nail punch, wood filler, stain and polyurethane.
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Removing Damaged
Hardwood Floorboards
To begin the process of patching a
hardwood floor you need to first remove the damaged floorboards. Start by using
a utility knife to score the end cuts of the damaged board. After several swipes
of the utility knife, use a sharp chisel and hammer to continue cutting through
the floorboard. Cut all the way through the floorboard down to the subfloor
surface. Also position your chisel so that you achieve a back cut where the
remaining floorboard’s upper edge protrudes out beyond the bottom edge of the
floorboard.
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Photo By Mark Donovan |
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After making the end cuts, run a
line down the center of the damaged floorboard.
Next, set the depth of your circular saw blade to the depth of the hardwood
floor thickness.
Using your skill saw carefully make a
plunge cut into the damaged hardwood floorboard directly over the line you made
on the board. Cut down the length of the damaged floorboard directly in the
middle of it, per your reference line. As you near the previously made end cuts
stop.
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Again, use your utility knife, and
hammer and chisel to finish off the cuts all the way to the end cuts.
Next, use your flat pry bar and hammer to remove the damaged floorboard halves
and any nails.
After removing the damaged hardwood floorboards, sand over the area with a belt
sander starting with a 60 grit sandpaper followed by a finer grit paper.
Patching in
Hardwood Floorboards
Once you have removed the old and
damaged floorboards you can now begin the process of patching in the replacement
boards.
First, start by cutting an appropriate length of new floorboard material.
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Next, cut away the bottom tongue of
the new floor board piece. This is necessary as otherwise you will not be able
to install the new tongue and grooved floorboard piece into the existing
hardwood floor. Again, you will need to adjust your skill saw blade height
accordingly and carefully cut away the bottom tongue piece.
After cutting the bottom tongue, the new floorboard patch should be able to be
easily placed into the opening in the hardwood floor. Use a small block of wood
and hammer to tap it tightly up against the existing floorboard.
Continue to install additional hardwood floor boards as required.
Once they are installed you will need to face nail the boards down to the
subfloor. Face nailing involves nailing the boards from the top surface into the
subfloor.
After nailing the patched hardwood floorboards in place, use a hammer and a nail
punch to countersink the nails.
Next, fill the nail holes with a wood-filler.
After the wood filler has dried, sand over the boards with your belt sander to
achieve a smooth finish.
Staining Patched
Hardwood Floorboards
Once you have completed sanding the
patched floorboards, stain them with the appropriate stain so that they blend in
with the surrounding wood color.
Finally, apply a couple of coats of polyurethane sealer over the top of the
patched hardwood floorboards to complete the project. In between coats of
polyurethane lightly sand the floorboards to help achieve a glossy smooth
finish.
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Related Flooring Information
Tools for Patching Hardwood Floors from Amazon.com
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