Filler recommendations for wood floor

phavel

Hi,
I am working to repair a wood foor in my kitchen. There were some spots where the previous owner had added on and filled 1/4 inch gaps in the wood with some type of wood filler. The gaps are several feet long. They have now started breaking apart and the filler is coming loose and needs to be replaced.
My dilemma is I'm not sure what type of filler to use. I've heard some say to use a non-hardening filler to allow for the shrinking and expanding, but this doesn't seem appropriate - just doesn't seem right to leave a "soft" joint of that size in a high traffic area. I've tried a couple of "stainable" wood fillers from Minwax, but there consistency, while solid, doesn't seem quite right either.
Whatever the previous owner used, it held up for many years and I hadn't even noticed it was a "fill" until it started to break loose. I'm just looking for any recommendations from folks on what would be a good product for this. If you can name specific brands/types that would be great.
Thanks!

woodman58

The best way to fix gaps in wood is to put wood in the gaps. Do this by finding the wood to match the floor. (oak, cherry, walnut, etc) Do not buy flooring. Go to a wood shop and buy S4S (surfaced 4 sides). One board will do fine. You will probably have to buy 8 ft. length. Use a table saw and set the blade at 7 degrees. Set the fence to cut just over the width you need. In this case 1/4". Make one cut and then set the fence back to 0 degrees. (straight up). Make another cut. This will be 7 degrees also. Then repeat the process of flipping the blade back and forth untill you have enough peices to fill all the gap. Cut the peices to length. Glue both sides with wood glue. Put the peices in place and tap them with a hammer. Let them dry for 20 to 30 minutes. Now cut the access off on both sides. Cut it a little long. Now you can sand the peices down and stain them if they have stain. If not just add the poly.