Screw down warped boards and check for noise by listening
while walking round the room. Boards creak because wood
is rubbing on wood somewhere in the room. The boards are
laid across the joists and the nails should be secured where
they cross.
If a board is in a poor condition, replace the board completely,
or sometimes a smaller section can be replaced. A short
distance away from the nails saw across the damaged board.
Place a strip of wood under the raised section of board
to support it. Lever the board at the other end and remove
all of it, or saw the other end of the section to be replaced
in a similar way. Attach softwood battens across the joists
to support the ends of the replacement section.
Check the width and depth of the new section is the same
as the rest of the floorboards. If the new section is not
as deep as the other boards it can still be used by packing
the end battens with plywood or hardboard before positioning
the new section.
If you need to cut across a board that lies close to a
wall, take care not to damage the bottom of the skirting
board.
If you do not want to remove the skirting board, drill
a starting hole through the board along the side of the
joist.
Use a power jigsaw or the blade of a padsaw to cut across
the board. Attach a softwood batten across the joist to
support the replacement board and continue as above.
