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Gaps in my hardwood floors

2419 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  oh'mike
hello, and thanks in advance, ive gotten so much help on this site in the last six months.Right now im 3/4 of the way done with my first hardwood install in my sons room, so far am happy with the results, a few places have small gaps and after looking on here most of the gap repair threads where with older installs where the gaps came from wood movement, my couple spots were where i just couldnt get it to tighten all the way up, does that mean im in trouble later? IVe also dinged up some of it up while doing the install, is sanding and some type of clear coat the way to go?In those gaps could i take the the extra peices and run them down my TS cutting veneer thin strips maybe 1/16 or so and fit them in the gaps and maybe finish over them, So of this info might help, its 3/4 thick 2and a half inch thick oak from the big box ,Any advice or ideas id appreciate, thanks again
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By being a prefinished floor there is really no way to fix the gaps. There is a way you can make them look a little better. It is best if you have good carpentry skills. If you have access to a table saw follow the following steps. Use peices of your flooring to do this. Set the blade of the table saw to 7 degrees. Set the fence so that you only cut a sliver the thickness of the 3/4" hight of the wood. Flip the wood over and set the blade to 0 derees. Keep flipping and changing back to 7 degrees until you have more peices than you need.
To install these slivers cut them to length, add glue to both sides, and put the peice in the crack. Tap it lightly with a hammer. Use a utility knife and score the sliver lightly on both sides. It will then break off easily. When the glue sets up you can sand and stain to your liking. You can then put poly on to match the finish of the floor you have. Try one spot first to make sure you like this. Don't forget to tape on both sides of the sliver to make sure the poly does not go onto the finished wood.
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thank you for taking the time to respond, and i think thats the route im going to try
Those little 'zingers' in the finish----a bit of stain and finish---deep ones try a shellac stick---

There is a leaning curve to shellac sticks,so practice on some scrap wood--they are melted and wipe or dripped into flaws after carefully protecting the surrounding wood with aluminum foil.

Google and YouTube should help.--It's an old technique and almost a lost art,but is a very effective took to fix small 'zingers'--Mike---
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