With older tongue and groove hardwood or even wide plank floors gaps inevitably develop between the boards mostly because the wood shrinks over time as it dries out and loses moisture content.
How to fix gaps in old hardwood floors.
For this reason very few floor experts will still suggest using a putty filler.
This leaves your floor looking even worse and requiring you to dig out the old putty and replace it.
How to fill gaps in prefinished hardwood floors.
If your wood floor shows gaps in the winter wait until the spring when the indoor environment regains moisture to see if the gaps close up.
Over time however the putty hardens chips and flakes.
Avoiding hardwood floor gaps.
Filling large gaps in old wood floors.
Putty fillers were once a mainstay of hardwood floor repair.
The latter is an older method of filling gaps and not only serves as a way to fix floor gaps but also will help keep any drafts that come up through the floor to a minimum as well.
If you cannot fix the problem by installing a humidifier you may need to take more drastic action when it comes to filling wide gaps.
The problem is magnified when the boards were not tightly laid in the first place.
You can fill the gaps in an unfinished floor with a mixture of.
Another exacerbating condition is water damage.
Gaps along seams are a common issue with prefinished and unfinished hardwood floors.
Using fillers such as putty powdered filler which is mixed to a putty or paste form or even caulking resolves gaps if done properly.
There are many different ways to go about correcting this type of issue but we will dive into the most common.
Water logged wood will first swell then shrink as it dries out.
How to fix old hardwood floors with gaps and cupping.
Before installing hardwood floors it is important to acclimate the product to your home.
Try to avoid gaps in the first place.