Help needed - going to sand floorboards

[jgbfkh]

Hi there,

We have just bought our first house, and it seems the spectre of DIY is something we will need to get to grips with!

We are going to start by sanding our floorboards, which are in good condition buy have been varnished with a horrific orange colour!

I am going to rent a floor sander from HSS for the week, then use Ronseal Diamond Floor Wax.

My query is, one of the floorboards has a split down the centre

Has anybody got any ideas on what can be done with this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Untitled

• jgbfkh
• 29 May 2011
• 1

Thanks in advance.

James

 

[ladylola]

Not just split , but with a piece missing too looking at the picture.
So seems you have a couple of options-
You could just live with it, or replace the board as it doesn't look like anything too fancy.
Run a circular saw down the joint cutting the scrap board if the joint is tight. Make sure the saw is set to around 5/8" or 16mm as you are only aiming to cut the tongue and NOT any cables or pipes lurking underneath. Cut the board to length over a joist if possible. As you probably don't know what is underneath then first cut the board short of the joist to expose the void. A router is good for this, again set shallow cutting across the grain. Stick a screwdriver or chisel into the damaged board and well damage some more to get it out without touching the surrounding boards.
The new board will probably need planing to fit nicely and will of course be square edged and it may need a play with a stain before the final finish is put on.

 

[Burnerman]

You could try prising the crack open as far as you dare, then brushing some PVA glue into the crack......close the split with a few panel pins, but don't nail them all of the way down, just until the crack closes. Leave to dry for a day or so, then pull the panel pins out with pincers.
Just a wee tip about floor sanders: a friend of mine used one, and parked it up at the end of the day. At some time, a spark from a nail or similar had got into the dust bag, started smouldering and eventually burst into flames - causing massive drama This is completely serious so please empty the dust bag and ensure there are no nasties confined within.
John

 

[ladylola]

Good point burnerman, I did the same with a hand held belt sander and burnt a hole in the dust bag

 

[geraldthehamster]

Hi there,

We have just bought our first house, and it seems the spectre of DIY is something we will need to get to grips with!

We are going to start by sanding our floorboards, which are in good condition buy have been varnished with a horrific orange colour!

I am going to rent a floor sander from HSS for the week, then use Ronseal Diamond Floor Wax.

My query is, one of the floorboards has a split down the centre

Has anybody got any ideas on what can be done with this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Untitled

• jgbfkh
• 29 May 2011
• 1

Thanks in advance.

James

The boards will already have been sanded once, and you have some quite deep pits in the boards in the picture. By the time you've sanded to the bottom of them you'll have thinner floorboards. If they are Victorian/Edwardian they'll have been up to an inch thick to start with, so maybe not a problem.

Are you sure you can't live with the varnish? It's probably not orange varnish per se, just the colour the varnish has turned the wood.

On the specific question, as someone suggested, reattach the sliver with PVA glue.

Cheers
Richard