Cepco Tool - QuikJack Flooring Jack

Editor's Review: Jack Straightens Warped Flooring

On a recent kitchen remodel, I salvaged a nice batch of heart-pine flooring that had originally been installed around 1925. I planned to reinstall this expensive, beautiful material. The heart pine was in excellent shape in all respects but one: Released from the nails that had held it in place for 75 years, the pine warped badly.

This impetus was what I needed to purchase a QuikJack. The jack is made of two steel cylinders, one inside the other. A crank passes through the outer cylinder and turns a pinion gear that advances or retracts the inner cylinder. It looks and works like a trailer jack. To gain extra length, two brackets attached to the outside of the jack slip over a 2x4 of any length. These brackets work like those on a siding contractor's pump jack, allowing the jack to be set quickly anywhere along the length of the 2x4. To use the jack, I placed the far end against a scrap of wood running along the opposite wall, then butted the jack against the tongue of the floorboard. Without any amount of physical strain, I was able to persuade even the most crooked floorboards to straighten up and lie right.

Editor Test Results: