gaps between hardwood floor strips
Hello All, I have a problem with my hardwood strip floor. My question is what can I do to fill the gaps between the boards? The floor is over twenty years old and it seems that some of the board have shrunk. Most of the flooring is tight fitting but there are a few areas where several boards have separated. I would like to get the floor refinished but I don't want to see these gaps. Is there some special wood filler product specifically designed for floors that can be sanded and stained? Thanks for any input. Mark It is normal for wood to expand and contract with the changing seasons. If the gaps are suddenly new then they will probably go away. If you are refinishing anyway, you may as well fill them. The big box stores carry a trowelable wood filler made to fill wood floors. You trowel it very thin over the entire floor then sand it off. If you aren't sanding but will do a buff and recoat, you can fill just the gaps, let dry and wipe excess up with a sponge. Later Duneslider Duneslider, Thanks for the info. I will go and check it out. It is not recommended that gaps between flooring boards be filled. Wood expands and contracts due to temperature and humidity changes. The expansion and contraction occurs more across the boards than along their length. Areas of hardwood flooring over uninsulated heat ducts and near heat vents sometimes tend to have large gaps than rest of flooring. Filler would be forced out by expansion and contractions and look unsightly. Yes, the filler will fall out or break out or whatever but since he is going to refinish, if the gaps aren't filled before the refinish the finish seeps into the gaps and then the gaps become filled with finish and no matter what happens it always looks like there is a gap. That's why basketball floors look like they do. That's why you see ALL the joints in the maple, because they didn't use wood filler. It looks much better if you fill the joints before refinishing so the finish doesn't create a dark NOTICABLE void that doesn't go away. If you weren't refinishing then there wouldn't be any point to filling the gaps. Enjoy your floor and take care of it and you'll never have to replace it. Later Duneslider If you feel you must fill these gaps, wait till the most humid part of the year to do so!! Humidity makes the wood gain moisture content, which makes the wood swell. During the winter months, say Halloween, thru Easter, you run a heater of some sort. this dries wood out, causing it to loose moisture content and the wood shrinks and in extreme cases cracks the wood. A humidifier may be needed for your winter heating months. If you fill it now, there is a good chance come July or August, your going to have sharp ridges and the filler is squeezed out.
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