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| Hi, I entered this question a while ago and got one response. I’m entering it again hoping I can get a few more opinions. I’m still on the fence about what to do about this and need all the help I can get to make a decision. I am going to be refinishing a red oak strip floor that has some gaps between the boards. I’m trying to decide whether I want to fill or not fill the gaps. The floor is not going to be stained. Normally, I’d just leave the gaps alone but, when the floor was previously refinished, or when it was installed it was filled. Now, you can see remnants of filler in the gaps giving them a ragged look. Rather then help hide the cracks, the remaining filler seems like it draws your eye to them. So, I’m thing that I should fill the floor again, hoping that filler technology has advanced enough (I don’t think this floor has been done for at least 15 years, if not since it was installed 30 years ago) so that the filler will be more stable and stay in the gaps. My problem is, I don’t know if I’ll just make things look worse by filling the floor now. Would the new filler hide the old? Am I better off just accepting the floor as it is?The gaps aren’t that big, most are less than an 1/8th of an inch. Pretty much typical gaps for an older floor. I’d appreciate any tips or advice on how to proceed. The environment the floor is in is by the Massachusetts coast. One thing I did do is to order a small quantity of the filler I am considering using (Timbermate) so I can make up a flooring sample with gaps to see what the filler will actually look like. Thanks, George |
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Don't bother filling....no matter how much "filler technology" has improved since it was last done, it's not likely to hold up any better. Natural wood and wood filler are going to react (or not) to changes in moisture content/humidity at differing degrees. It might look great when you first fill and refinish, but about midway through the first heating season, its going to start to show once again.
I would try and remove what filler exists....if you can't get it out by sanding, perhaps try scraping. The filler may in fact be impeding the tightening of the joints between the boards. (Although, after 30 years, I doubt it.)
The gaps will lend the floor a certain "character"....the filler just makes it look like a cheapo repair attempt.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
in my experience the new fillers have got some glue content in them. they have held very well in floors i have put in. but wood does expand and contract. there is no such thing as a crackless wood floor. when i re-sand an older floor i try to get the older filler out and put a skim coat of new filler across the entire floor. in my opinion new fillers are better. to help prevent further cracking i would suggets putting a humidfier on your furnace so your floor can maintain a consistant moisture content. hope this helps
Have your floor guy (hopefully a competent one) take a look and determine what happened. There may be excessive movement for some reason that needs to be addressed. Or something else.
My floor finisher/refinisher always fills and it hasn't failed once yet. We did see dome floors that he wouldn't fill, but those he wouln't touch, period. They had major issues and needed to be redone completely.
DG/Builder
i have done several floors in texas, houston, these have been orginal, about 60 plus years old. This includes the house where we live. In one room i tried a wood filler. It looks poor, doesn't match the stain, has separated from the wood. In the rest of the house I just finished the floor with a couple coats of ureathane, then got some color putty, the flexible stuff, and filled all the cracks & old holes etc.
With the soft putty you can match the wood, and you can mix the putty to match. After puttying where I thought was necessary, i put down a couple more coats of poly. The floor looks great and I will continue to do my floors in this manner.
Good luck
john
One problem with this house and the floor is that, except for a number of weekends, during the winter it will be unoccupied for a large part of the time and the heat (FHA) will be turned down low. I don't know if that will cause more or less movement but there will be movement.
When I sand the floor I will be using a drum sander for the first pass and them probably switching to a random orbital for the final passes. Will sanding help remove the remaining old filler? I don't see anyway to remove the old filler, except by doing it by hand with something like a dental pick. Since I want to finish the floor in this life I don't think that's an option.
I did my entire house with wide plank pine wood floors. Some floors were already here.
The house is 326 years old. I filled all the cracks in every room before sanding. The only cracks that didnt hold well was the dining room floor on the 1st floor IMO because there was no subfloor and the temps below were different than the temps above but mainly because of no subfloor and movement,,,,duhhh.
I used dark Elmers wood filler on most floors...towards the end of the job in the up and down hall and entry I used the Bondo for wood. Its way more expensive even in the gallon cans but it get rock hard and so far so good. Its been almost three years on most of the floors. Some have a few hairline seperations but if I had to do it again I would. I'm keeping my eye on the bondo filler because I'd really like to know in compassison how it holds up.
And we're talking soft pine here so its perfect for determining holdability.
Also most any filler can have color added to it.
I do have to say that in the few areas I didnt fill that I just recalled the cracks aren't at all offensive so its just a matter of taste I suppose...
If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
How big a crack are you talking about? Did you put the filler in during winter or summer? Do you run AC/humidifier or just let nature take its course?
I can see the tip of the tongue in some of my floors at home. The wood must have been floated down the river before installation. The filler (probably 50 years old or more) is miserably cracked and popping out.
In these threads I always wonder if someone is talking hairline cracks of 1/16" or real fissures like I have.
splat
the cracks Ifilled were anywhere from 1/8 - 3/8ish.
I filled em all different times of the year and some times the heat was on other times just windows open.
Some of the older floors I sanded down had been filled previously with something that was rock hard and had stayed put pretty well for a really long time...felt as hard as the Bondo I used. I "almost" wondered if it was mortor it was so hard.
I had to remove a few planks and reset them which is how I know how hard the putty was..If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!
TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]
On TOH for old WIDE Plank floors where there was large gaps they used rope or cord that had been dyed.About the trowelable filler when there where a couple of floor installers/finishers on the forum (Ian was one) there was recommendation for a product new to the US that came from Austrial.But I don't remember the name.
The name is Timbermate. That's the sample I have coming to do a test patch with.
George
Any update on your Elmers vs. Bondo saga?
I'm getting ready for some large gaps and am looking for the latest top shelf R&D data.
splat
splat,
Now is the wrong time of the year to be filling stuff.. This time of year the wood is about as shrunk as it's gonna be.. If you fill now, when the wood swells with summer humidity there won't be anyplace for it to go so it will be forced to cup.
Wait untill wood has swollen as much as it's going to before filling..
I found both to be good but Bondo is harder.
Bondo you'll have to play with the stain more though although it can be done. Just takes more time with an artists brush or cuetip.
I found the Elmers takes stain easier with out as much attention but like I said...Bondo is harder. Better for wider gaps IMO.If you have to fill real wide gaps I'd cut long slivers of wood to match close as possible in old work.
PO "I dunno guys. Methinks some people have way too much extra time on their hands". Jer
http://WWW.CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
I believe it is the Famowood brand that has a trowel-on filler specifically for your need.
Woodworkers Supply has it. Check specs and details at their website http://www.woodworker.com
The filler is at best a soulless space taker. It never matches, no matter if the label says oak or whatever. Stain of course is asking for trouble. That'll never match.
I tried many things on Jatobia I installed in my place, and nothing matched as well as the fines mixed with shellac. That is for small gaps and nail heads on exposed nailing. Frankly that was perfect for that application. Also recomended in teh FWW Hardwood floors book. No name I can remember as my 2 copies walked.
Filler will look like a wino's teeth who hasn't seen a dentist in 20 years. At some point appreciate that old flooring is just that. Unless it belonged to Abraham Lincoln you might consider to replace it as it is beyond the usable life of the floor.
Sometimes you gotta step back and take the big picture in.
One floor finisher I knew swore by glazing putty to which he added some pigment.
I saw another floor where large gaps were filled with stained rope or twine.