Hardwood Floor Repair: How to Patch a Hardwood Floor

Nov 9
15:42

2009

Peter West

Peter West

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If you would like to learn hardwood floor repair, this article will explain the basics of how to remove damaged planks and replace them with new ones.

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It only takes a single damaged area of flooring to ruin the appearance of your entire room,Hardwood Floor Repair: How to Patch a Hardwood Floor Articles which is why it is so important to understand the basics of hardwood floor repair. The good news is that the procedure is fairly easy; you just have to make sure that you have the proper tools and instructions ahead of time. Before you begin, make sure that you have the following: circular saw, ruler, utility knife, belt sander, hammer & chisel, mallet, table saw, miter saw, nail gun, sand paper, and tack cloth. Now you are ready to begin repairing hardwood floors.

The first step in the hardwood floor repair process is to remove the plank that is damaged. You can begin by drawing a line down the center of the plank to act as a guide because this is where you will be cutting. It is imperative that your saw be on a setting so it will cut through the top layer of the floor only and not the subfloor. Next you will have to make the end cuts with your utility knife and ruler. This will take several cuts all the way down the plank. After you have finished with this step you can carefully remove the damaged board.

The next step of repairing hardwood floors is the sanding. This is fairly simple since you are dealing with such a small area. Just use a belt sander and a rough, 60 grit piece of sandpaper because you will have to remove the damaged material. Once you have finished with that step it is time to replace the plank. This may require you to cut the bottom half of the groove in order to make it fit. Once you do that it should slide right in without giving you any trouble. Once the replacement is inserted, be sure to use your rubber mallet to make sure that it is firmly in place.

Before you finish your hardwood floor repair project, it is also important that you remove the old finish, which can actually be one of the more challenging parts of the job. On the positive side, there are usually differences in shade between the different planks as this is part of having a natural wood finish, so in most cases it is not crucial to match the shades perfectly. You will probably have to replace the finish on the entire board that needed attention however, and sometimes to those surrounding it.

Finally you are ready to move on to the final stage of hardwood floor repair, applying the finish. Beforehand, make sure that you fill in any holes and sand with a very fine paper. Because finish tends to dull overtime, you may have to do the entire floor if you want it to match. Try out just the repaired plank first and see how it goes.