How To Repair A Hole In A Hardwood Floor

Learning how to refinish hardwood floors is vital if you want them to look their best for years to come – and avoid having to replace them. Whether you are looking to repair impairment to characterful original boards or sand and refinish tired hardwood floors, you need to use the right techniques to achieve a professional person outcome.

See: Kitchen flooring ideas – for a floor that works with the rest of your kitchen

'Floorboards accept a lot of corruption, especially where they are in hallways or other well-used areas. Moisture, dust and debris brought in from exterior will quickly cause damage,' says Roger Hunt, Flow Living'due south renovation expert and author of Old House Handbook. Information technology is possible to restore and refinish hardwood floors on a DIY basis, while a good carpenter can make more substantial repairs.

Hardwood floors may exist fabricated from 1 of a number of dissimilar timbers, only oak is the most popular. You may also take softwood floors, such as pine, which can usually be restored using the same methods. The boards come in different forms too, from simple planks to parquet blocks and tongue-and-groove boards.

How to refinish hardwood floors living room

Should I sand my hardwood floors?

When deciding how to refinish hardwood floors, the biggest dilemma is usually whether to sand them.

'Think advisedly before y'all sand hardwood floors as this will destroy any surface patina and may reveal woodworm damage merely beneath the timber's surface,' says Roger Hunt.

In an onetime house it is possible to cause unsightly marks and even destabilize the flooring though poor sanding work.

Sanding hardwood floors will likewise create a huge amount of dust, which is unpleasant and tin can potentially crusade health problems. 'Fine wood dust can hang in the air and be breathed in. Irritation is quite common and normally manifests itself by causing itching, sneezing, short term breathing issues,' says Terry Guilford, technical director of The Ultimate Floor Sanding Co.

Notwithstanding, where a floor is very scratched or worn, and you prefer a sleeker wait, you volition only exist able to achieve this finish by sanding and refinishing.

'Patch repairs to a varnished floor are rarely successful; for an adequate end, scratched or worn varnish must be completely sanded back,' says renovation expert Helaine Clare.

How to refinish hardwood floors Natural Wood Floor Co

If you do determine to sand the floor dorsum, it's important to ensure it is not too thin. 'Solid forest floors can be sanded iv or five times in their lifetime, while engineered floors are thinner and may exist sanded two or three times,' says floor sanding and restoration specialist Stoyan Vesov of Floor Get-go.

'The surface area must be costless of furniture and the floor has to exist dry and not have protruding nails. If possible, remove doors that open into the room.'

Ideally employ a professional person to carry out the work for you lot, but confident DIYers can hire a floor sander, which will chop-chop remove the surface layer. You volition too demand a flooring edging sander to go up to the skirting boards, and quality protective gear for your eyes, oral cavity, ears and easily. A disposable dust bag is usually attached to collect the dust.

How to refinish hardwood floors without sanding

It is not always desirable to sand hardwood floors when restoring them, every bit information technology will strip away years of character imparted through daily wearable and tear. If your floor is oiled or waxed, all that may be required is a practiced clean and reapplication of your chosen finishing product.

Before starting refinishing a hardwood floor, make sure information technology is free from dust – remove loose dirt and dust with a brush, vacuum, and so clean with a gentle water-based woods flooring cleaner. 'Attempt to avoid soaking with water, as this may lift the grain of the wood, and never scrub,' says Roger Chase.

To clean the surface of the wood more thoroughly and remove stains and old wax and oil, invest in a specialist lightly alkaline wood cleaner, such as Osmo Intensive Cleaner.

Allow the floor to fully dry out over 24-48 hours earlier refinishing with a fresh coat of oil or wax, following the manufacturer's instructions.

There are a wide variety of oils and waxes to cull from, some offer a natural matte look that enhances the grain of the wood, and some altering its advent with a tint, or imparting a shine. What you choose comes down to personal taste, but for menstruation houses information technology's best to opt for a more natural, breathable finish.

'When deciding on a finish, consider the wear the flooring will get,' adds restoration expert Helaine Clare.

Lacquered or varnished floors are hardwearing and can commonly be identified every bit they have a shinier, 'harder' finish. Where the terminate is lightly scratched, you lot may be able to use a new glaze without sanding the surface past using a floor buffer – this won't remove the finish, but will take off the tiptop layer so that it volition accept a new coat of your called production.

Even so, for deeper scratches, stains or heavily worn floors, information technology'southward all-time to sand them get-go. Alternatively, you could paint the floor to completely refresh the look of the room.

How to refinish hardwood floors Vanessa Arbuthnott hallway

How to repair damaged hardwood floors

If the wooden boards are scratched or marked by spills information technology is unremarkably possible to sand these out.

'Any damaged sections can be carefully cut out, and new forest of the same type and grain pattern carefully matched in,' says Roger Hunt. 'Splits in boards are all-time glued and screwed together or cramped.'

Even so, floorboards should never be lifted unless absolutely necessary. Where this is unavoidable or repairs are needed, the work is all-time done past a skilled carpenter.

Sometimes older floors can be bouncy, which is most likely to be caused by decay due to damp or beetle infestation, which can result in weakening of the structure. The cause of the problem should be identified and rectified and, if the harm is serious, repairs to the joists and floor undertaken.

How to refinish hardwood floors children's bedroom

Dealing with clammy or decaying floorboards

Timber disuse can atomic number 82 to serious problems, including joist failure and even the collapse of the whole floor. Information technology's often acquired by clammy or protrude infestation.

'Damp may result from insufficient ventilation under the floor, earth banked up against walls, leaking pipes and timber in directly contact with the ground, or other areas of wet,' says Roger Chase. 'The priority is to observe the source of the problem and rectify the crusade, rather than care for the symptoms. It may be necessary to lift floorboards and even take up whole floors.'

Salvageable boards should be numbered with chalk and a plan drawn of their layout so they tin be replaced later. If joists are rust-covered, affected timber should be cutting out and new pieces jointed in. All droppings must be removed from below floors.

How to refinish hardwood floors bathroom

Treating woodworm in floorboards

Beetle infestation – or woodworm – can cause a number of issues with wood floors. To check whether any beetles are present, examine the floors for small holes and fine powder that might indicate an active infestation.

The best form of treatment is to employ a boron-based handling. 'You should alter the flooring simply if the wood is damaged to its core, which volition make the plank unstable and may cause it to splinter,' says Stoyan Vesov.

How to refinish hardwood floors parquet oak

What is the best way to fix squeaking or loose floorboards?

Squeaking or loose floorboards may only be how they have settled over time, but may also be caused by the subfloor declining or not being correctly leveled, which will demand to exist rectified by a builder. Either manner, information technology is of import to try to work out the cause.

Elementary squeaks can be dealt with on a DIY basis. 'Floorboards were traditionally fixed with "cut" nails designed to minimize squeaks, and these should be used wherever possible,' says Stoyan Vesov.

'Alternatively, boards tin can be fixed with screws; this is a good solution if in that location are fragile ceilings below the flooring or if boards are probable to have to exist lifted over again in the future for electrical works or pipe.'

It is too possible to add strengthening from below by screwing battens to the sides of the joists.

How to refinish hardwood floors The Main Company

When are hardwood floors beyond repair?

Hardwood floors are rarely beyond repair. 'Onetime floors are an irreplaceable part of the history and character of a business firm and tin't easily exist matched, so if possible always endeavour to repair rather than replace them,' says Roger Chase.

If the boards are rotten, however, then they will probable demand replacing at least in role. This volition require a skilled carpenter to comport out the work. If some boards need to exist replaced, then you could opt for reclaimed wood, which will blend in better than new.

How long does it have to refinish hardwood floors?

Refinishing hardwood floors takes several days:

Sanding a flooring in a single room volition take upward to a day. You will probable need to go over it more than than once, and sanding bad-mannered edges and room shapes will irksome you down.
Cleaning a floor takes ane-two hours, then 24-48 to dry before you tin utilise a finish.
Waxing, oiling or varnishing a flooring in a single room will take up to two days with drying fourth dimension between coats.

Every bit editor of Period Living, Britain'due south best-selling menstruum homes magazine, I dear the charm of older backdrop. I live in a rural village merely outside the Cotswolds, so am lucky to exist surrounded by beautiful homes and countryside, where I enjoy exploring. I am passionate nearly characterful interiors and heritage-inspired designs, but I am equally fascinated by a business firm's architectural elements – if I spot an elegant original sash window or intricate stained-glass front door, information technology fills my heart with joy. It's and so of import to me that original features are maintained and preserved for hereafter generations to bask. My other passion is my garden, and I am slowly building up my planting knowledge, and becoming more confident at experimenting with growing my ain. Also as editing Period Living, I am too co-editing the State Channel of Homes & Gardens. In my previous roles, I have worked on Existent Homes and Homebuilding & Renovating, writing nigh modern pattern and architecture, and so my feel is wide – only my heart belongs to period homes.