This is a picture of my floors in my house. Would like to know how to fill in the cracks so I can refinish them.
by
Dorothy F
+15
Any ideas on redoing them would be great. Thanks!
17 answers
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IMHO, the beauty of this floor should not be hidden by " filling in the cracks",. It looks to be heart pine and I would just screen it, finish sanding any very rough sports and re-stain and finish. I assume that your home is old vintage from the look of the floor.
LandlightS
on Jun 09, 2012
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The Chinese saying is "Wabi Sabi" (spelling ?) The beauty of imperfection and in this case aged patina. I agree with Landlight.
Culpepper Carpets and Interiors, Inc.
on Jun 09, 2012
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I agree with both of them... Why mess with beautiful
Ladena S
on Jun 09, 2012
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No no no....... they are perfect!
Stone-Crete Artistry
on Jun 09, 2012
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I 5th the above sentiment! People now a days pay extra to install it like that brand new!
Designs by BSB
on Jun 09, 2012
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I would love to have that floor as is !
Peggy M
on Jun 10, 2012
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I agree with everyone! Just secure any loose boards, sand lightly just to scuff up the finish and then redo (do not try to get down to raw wood because you might find there is not enough depth left and you might have to replace them...your board is only as good to the depth of the first nail!). Then stain and refinish. This should turn out perfectly. If there is a draft coming in, go beneath and insulate but do not fill in. We toured an 1870 home that is being restored and the thing I like the most was the wide pine planks with scuffs, misfitting, scrapes and bruises! They were stunning!
Jeanette S
on Jun 10, 2012
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That floor has lot of rustic charm and it would be near impossible to get it looking like a brand new floor. Is that your hope? Some water based fillers do a pretty good job at filling smaller cracks...but it appears here that some of these are quite a bit bigger. Considering the height variations a tooled in filler will leave many "corners" of filler., if it is filled before a rough sanding is completed....even then you will still have some.
KMS Woodworks
on Jun 10, 2012
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Do not try to fill those openings. The gaps are simply to wide to fill and expect it to last. Filling a few cracks in wood is one thing, but the spaces between the boards are simply to wide in your case. The result would be that the filler would be pushed out or simply become loose as the seasons begin to change. Living down the shore area as you do, your moisture levels change almost daily making this even more difficult to accomplish successfully. A Good quality sanding along with a good refinish job will make the floors look really great. Even with the gaps and spaces. This is the charm of the older floors. Many new flooring systems try to mimic that very look. So your way ahead of the trend. However if you really want to loose the gaps, you need to hire a high end flooring company that can remove the floor and re-salvage the wood. Then simply re-nail it back down and add a new course or two of boards so the joints and spaces are tight again. Then when done refinish once more.
Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com
on Jun 11, 2012
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Please leave them as is-let them tell their story. They are already perfect.
Dee W
on Jun 11, 2012
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thank you.i love this wear you can ask people what you can do. to your house and yard
Dorothy F
on Jun 12, 2012
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They are painted floors. My house use to be a hunting club.
Dorothy F
on Jun 15, 2012
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Many years ago I visited a high-end fashion showroom in a very old building in Milan Italy and was excited about the idea what they did with the worn out parquet floor. They took out every third or fourth line of strips and filled the big gaps with smooth concrete. Smaller existing gaps were filled with grout. All got sanded and sealed (wood and concrete) with semi-shining sealer. The room was decorated with modern furnitures (like acrylic seats from Philip Starck). Some antique pieces completed the stunning interior design.
Jutta Melanie M.
on Feb 09, 2015
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Dorothy, I'm with everyone else , you couldn't possibly calk those boards. But for me they are too dark and I would give them a "milk " wash to add a bit of lightness
Christina
on May 27, 2015
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When I was a child, my dad built 2 bedrooms in our attic for my sister and I. He litterly made hardwood flooring from scratch with lumber. He filled the cracks with sawdust before varnishing them. He actually told me that is how they were made originally. At that time, he merely asked the lumber mill to allow him to sweep up the sawdust he needed. They were so happy for him to take it away, they swept it up for him. Of course he made sure it only came from the same type of wood he was using (white oak) so it would all match. Good luck if you do decide to fill the gaps.
Pg
on Aug 05, 2015
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if you do not like the rustic look then you can sand them. that would even the level and fill in the gaps with sawdust ....but then you will need to repaint or stain them
Lori Otto
on Oct 14, 2015
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I owned a home with carpet over beautiful hardwood floors. When I had them refinished there were some gaps between boards kind of like yours. I asked the man about fixing them he said "why would you want to do that? Then they'd look like laminate, they're supposed to look real and real wood has gaps" so I left them as they were and loved them.
Colleen Wells
on Oct 02, 2016
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