Exposed Floorboard - HELP! (with pics)

[db82]

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Untitled

• db82
• 19 Feb 2012
• 1

Hi!

Just bought our first place and we seem to have a lot of work to do all of a sudden!

So there are 3 rooms (92sqm) with floorboards that we would like to expose and varnish (I think).

The majority of the boards are in good order but there are some bad ones and large (6mm) gaps in about a dozen places.

Should I fix the gaps / bad boards before sanding (hiring one from HSS)?

Will big gaps look ok filled with something like DraughtEx?

Can anyone tell me what sort of wood / board this is likely to be and how I can find suitable replacements?

Should I just pay someone £20/m to sort everything out? Seems expensive but I have no idea how long it would take me to do this on my own.

Thanks for any help

 

[ladylola]

Looks like fairly common t&g softwood boarding 5 or 6 inch at a guess.
To be fair the best way would be to lift and relay the boards to close up the gaps and lose any damage and fit a couple of new boards.If the floor is ground floor then it would also be possible to insulate at the same time and there are plenty of threads on this forum telling you how to do this.
The alternative would be to surface splice any damage such as the bit in your second picture and fill the gaps. I'll admit I'd not come across that draughtEX stuff but it looks ok. http://www.draughtex.co.uk/ Maybe I haven't looked at the site fully but I would assume sanding and probably any treatment would be done before the strips of draughtEX

 

[Symptoms]

db - if any of the other rooms in your place are likely to have floor coverings (carpet, lino, etc.) consider swapping some decent f/bds from there with the knackered ones in the rooms you want to sand. As for the wide gaps (+ 6mm) cut slithers of wood, glue, then drive in before sanding; if you can't find old timber to make these slithers consider new stuff and stain with cold tea or spent some dosh on a can of antique pine stain. Of course, you could use the knackered f/bds to make the slithers and put new stuff under carpets. Tip: take a length of 'surplus' f/bd down to your local timber yard and ask them to run it through their table saw to produce the slithers ... tilt the blade a couple of degrees to create tapered slithers so that when they are driven into your floor they'll 'fill the gap' easily.