Filling Gaps Between Floorboards
Our Service Journey
Filling gaps between floorboards is a process of eliminating spaces between old gappy floorboards. It is a viable option if you would like to keep original boards but you like sealed look and practicality of modern wood floor. We use larch wood slivers exclusively. These are long strips of wood whiich we hammer into gaps between boards.
Floor Preparation
When filling gaps between floorboards it is absolutely crucial that there is no floorboard movement. Any loose boards have to be fixed down. If there are any end sections that are not properly supported on joists, this has to be exposed and rebuild as well.
It is also very important that the gaps are clear of any dirt or old gap filling. All that has to be removed thoroughly to accommodate for the slivers. Even if there is any old gap filling that still seems to be in relatively good condition, we still remove and replace it.
Floor Gap Filling
With floorboards properly secured and gaps cleared, the floor is ready for filling gaps between floorboards. It is worth noting that every single gap between boards gets filled. Even if some of the gaps are very narrow, they are still filled with slivers. Advantage of using larch wood slivers over pine ones is that our gap filling slivers are sharp and hard, allowing the slivers to penetrate even fine gaps.
It is actually very important that all gaps are filled. Since the filler is a wedge, if it was applied in a single gap between two boards, it would push them apart over time and fall through gap between boards. That is why every gap should get filled one after another. Not only it helps to keep slivers where they should be, but also gives the floor that sealed and finished look.
Floor Sanding
Core of our services is dust free floor sanding. We use exclusively completely dustless German machinery by Lagler. Mix of years of experience, professional sanding techniques and top of the range sanding machines allows us to achieve excellent results and 100% customer satisfaction.
Sanding pine floors after gap filling requires the right approach. Sanding filled boards is actually much more demanding compared to normal floorboard sanding. The floor needs to be sanded as efficiently as possible without removing any wood material unnecessarily. At the same time the floor filling slivers have to be sanded down to be flush with the floorboards. That is why correct kind of sandpaper of specific grit needs to be used. Any sanding mistakes or use of wrong kind of abrasives would result in serious marks, which would be very difficult to remove.
Our specialist team will make sure that your pine floor is sanded down the right way from the very start of the job to provide the best finish possible.
Floor Finishing
Floor rebuilding would not be complete without applying protective sealant. Whatever is done on the flooring, it needs to be protected to last for decades to come. There are main two options when it comes to wood floor finishes and they are varnishing and oiling.
Floor varnish these days is the finish that requires the least maintenance and is the easiest to live with. It is one of these apply-and-forget finishes. Once it is down, you do not have to do anything with it. And once it wears out after years and years of usage, it needs to be sanded down back to bare wood and applied again.
Modern varnishes are very different than what most people associate with varnish. Modern products are polyurethane based (water based), they have low shine, they do not smell and they give you very natural wood colouring. Gone are the days of orange, mirror like shiny varnishes. Nobody wants that anymore and you would find that most modern floors or brand new floors you get in shops would be sealed with varnish.
The other type of finish is hard wax oil. That is a full name of a product that can be applied on wooden floors. There is a lot of misinformation out there about oil related floor finishes. Some people recommend using waxes or different kinds of oils, but these products are designed to be applied on furniture and decorative wood. Only hard wax oil is formulated to withstand foot traffic for years and it still has be to be reapplied at lease once a couple of years to prevent wear.