Wood slivers

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Hey everyone,

We are after some wood slivers to address the gaps in a wooden floor. I have a couple of questions...

1. Would you go for 100cm or 50cm? I was inclined to think 50 would be easier to work with but 100 would give a better finish (less joins) and be quicker.

2. When getting rid of the excess, would you chisel, plane or electric plane?

Lastly, does anyone know a good place to buy them from? The price seems to vary, at the moment the best I've found is eBay, 43 quid for 100 x 100cm mix of 6 and 8 mm.
 
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You go for whatever lengths the gaps are, and what you can comfortably handle. These things are tapered so you glue them, and hammer them in. The remainder can be hand planed away, then finished with your floor sander.
John :)
 
or if you really want and have the time?

lift the boards up and refix.
 
I think at this stage filling the gaps is the best route for me. Time is already a serious constraint on this mini project :/
 
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I don't think you'll find this job as easy as you'd hope, unfortunately......a 2mm gap is very difficult to fill with a timber slip. Don't forget, there's the board tongue in the way, 1/3rd of the way through.
John :)
 
I'm 99% sure this isn't tongue and groove, just straight wooden planks, hence no tongue to get in the way. My reason for filling the gaps is to stop stuff falling down them really - so a 5-7mm gap is fair enough. Some of the 2mm gaps I suppose I could leave. I'm not sure if it would look odd if I have some gaps and some no gaps though. I had a sample sliver sent through, this seemed to work a treat, just hammering in and sanding down with an orbital sander. Admittedly, this was on one of the larger gaps, so there was little excess.

What would you do with the 2mm or less gaps then John? - Try to fill and plane down with a sliver, leave them as they are, or a different solution? - I see the plastic stuff you can push down in a v shape, not sure about that. A colleague suggested sizal rope or even cork, I wasn't sure about that.
 
Fairly unusual for floorboards not to be tongue and groove, but certainly possible.....for sure they should be visible in places.
As for the 2mm gaps, I'd be inclined to leave them be.
John :)
 
In my parents house, where I've lifted boards countless times with my dad, they've always been like this - just straight up planks which rest on the joists, no overlapping what so ever. The house in question is a 30/40s terraced house. I did have a picture on my phone but it seems to have vanished for some reason!
 
I've found one of the pictures I snapped near the door...

That's a board we intend to swivel round to get the end under the landing which is better. As you can see, it looks like someone has treated the floor originally anyway.
 

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Yep, its been varnished before. The gaps are big enough to get the slips in - there at least.....looks like someone may have been there with some filler too, unless its just the perils of a tiny screen.
John :)
 
Yeah someone has varnished it before, I tried sending with 40 grade on an orbital sander and it didn't take much to take it off. Those gaps are fairly representative of the rest I'd say.

Indeed, that filler looks a bit rubbish there, that's a board were hoping to turn around.

What's your take on mixing epoxy resin and sawdust to fix a partial knot hole? Some carpenter bloke showed it on YouTube on some walnut, if looked to work well?
 
This is an 'out there' solution... Kebab skewers...!

So the logic to fill a gap between boards us to use a tapered wedge. A wooden skewer is also tapered. If it happens to be the same size of a bit bigger than a nail hole this would seem to be the same logic? Essentially 'pinning' the holes.

It's been a long day, perhaps I'm being crazy, it feels like I've had a eureka moment! Lol
 
Every old timer has their own recipe for filler.....an old gaffer of mine recommended crushed biscuits and scotch glue - so use whatever suits you!
Its common enough to cover screw holes and such like with a timber plug - the same as your eureka moment - but obviously the hole has to be deep enough, and the plug tight enough.
John :)
 
I guess effectively I'm saying a 'micro' dowel really when I think of it. It sounds logical, I'll have to have a play. I guess there's no rules, although carrot sticks might be a bit insane!
 

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