Seams between floorboards. How to fix the gap between the floor and the wall? When is the best time to start renovations?

The wooden floor is an environmentally friendly atmosphere at home, natural design that leaves a pleasant impression, warmth and homeliness. And, although wood is a fairly strong and durable material, like any other, over time it tends to lose its attractive appearance, dry out, crack and creak underfoot. The most annoying thing is, of course, the cracks. Before thinking about how to close cracks in a wooden floor, you should think about the reasons for their appearance, and there are many of them, and this is not only the duration of operation.

How cracks and crevices appear

• Too dry indoor air. For the future, to solve this problem, you can purchase special devices and sprayers to increase the humidity in an apartment or house, in addition, too dry air is harmful to the inhabitants of the room.
• Drying out of the floorboard is a natural and logical process - such shrinkage occurs with any wood, and lasts from 3 to 6 years. In this regard, it is better to immediately choose boards made using advanced vacuum drying technology - liquid has been removed from them at the cellular level.
• The reason for the appearance of cracks can be errors and shortcomings of the masters during laying work. During installation, the floor must be completely immobilized - for this you should use ordinary nails and nail the floorboards to the logs.
• Of great importance in the appearance of cracks is "underground" ventilation. The best advice is to close the vents and ventilate through the room. In cases where there is no ventilation under the floor, it will be appropriate to make holes for air to enter in the corners of the room. So you can protect the floor from dampness and decay.
• Mice can become another cause of cracks in the floor in a private country house, and rodents should be dealt with before dealing with the floorboard.

Gap filling materials

For these purposes, you can use different materials and methods. To begin with, consider how to close the cracks in the wooden floor. It is allowed to close them with wedges or slats - this is the most effective method.

Sequence of work

1. The slats should be narrower at the bottom and match the size of the gap.
2. We smooth the cracks and process them (and the slats) with PVA glue.
3. The slats are glued into the slot and knocked out with a rubber mallet.
4. If, after the glue has dried, a tubercle of protruding wedges remains on the floor surface, it can be carefully removed with a planer.
5. This is followed by a grinding procedure, emery and an angle grinder are used.

At the final stage, stain or paint with varnish is applied.

Crack filling materials

Sometimes you should not engage in such a time-consuming process as a bulkhead of the entire floor, especially when the crate on which the floorboard is located is not damaged. In cases of local damage and not very large gaps between the floorboards, you can do cosmetic repairs using modern tools. The question is how to cover up the cracks in the wooden floor.

To fill the cracks, special sealants have been created today.

• Sealant silicone and acrylic.
• Mounting foam (construction).
• Putty materials.

If the aesthetic appearance of the floors is not so important, improvised means are used.

• Adhesive solution with sawdust.
• A solution of oil paint with sawdust.
• Epoxy with cement.
• Construction foam with polystyrene.

How to use putty

It should be noted that sealants are the most convenient to use, since it is not necessary to prepare the solution, but you can immediately begin to act.

The sealant has a nozzle - a syringe, due to which the process of filling the gaps is greatly facilitated. To the sealant, instructions for preparing the floors are usually attached.

The putty is easy to use, easy to prepare and quickly levels the floor, but does not differ in durability.

Construction foam is used as follows:

1. plinths must be removed and the floorboards removed from dirt;
2. if desired, fill the gaps with foam, and then with foam;
3. after drying, the excess foam is cut off, the floor must then be puttied.

The glue mixture with sawdust is prepared as follows:

• first you need to steam the sawdust with boiling water, wait until they swell, mix. After that, mix with the adhesive base (use PVA or wood glue).
• A thick suspension is applied with a spatula, leveled, excess is removed. After 3 days of drying, it is worth sanding the floorboards or scraping.
• Oil paint is diluted to a thick, viscous state and sawdust that has been pre-soaked and swollen, pre-cooled, is added to it. Mix well and use the mixture in the same way as the adhesive solution.

Whichever floor optimization method you choose, do not forget about the causes of wood "sickness" and preventive measures during the operation of wooden floors.

How to fix cracks in a wooden floor

Warm, comfortable, harmonious life in a wooden cottage. In such a building, a unique microclimate is created, as well as natural ventilation. But for the maintenance and operation of a wooden building, a special approach is required. In this article we will talk about how to make a wooden floor.

An eco-friendly, warm floor made of pure wood has been and always remains beyond any fashion or trend. Everything about it is good - design, comfort, and practicality. But there is one "but" - cracks. Their formation is perhaps the most significant drawback of any wooden floor. First of all, cracks in the floor bother many people because cold comes through them. This is inevitable if the foundation under the floor is ventilated through external vents - frosty air enters through them, which is simply drawn into the room. The cracks in the wooden floor are also bad because everything that is possible is clogged in them - dirt, dust, organic matter. This not only gives the surface an unaesthetic appearance, but also turns out to be detrimental to the boards themselves - they can begin to rot.

But the problem is completely solvable - just choose the method or method that will be easier for you to apply.

We find out the reasons and solve the problem

But let's first look for the source of the cracks, from which we will start.

Reason #1. Shrinkage of wood

It is clear that any wooden boards dry out over time - and this is the first and most common reason for the appearance of cracks. In this case, then it is better to purchase boards that are processed at the factory by the “vacuum drying” method, when intracellular moisture is completely removed, followed by impregnation. With this material, you don't have to worry about shrinkage.

But an ordinary wooden floor dries from three to six years. And the most problematic in this regard is pine - it needs to be shifted three times in three years, and only after that you will get a normal floor that you can scrape. That's why, if the floorboard is still in good condition and, in fact, still drying - go over the floor. You will be surprised, but after shrinking, you may suddenly have a few more additional boards!

Something similar happens when working with Euroboards. And this is when you pre-acclimatized the boards themselves, and there should not have been any problems, but equally, even when pressed forcefully, up to 0.5 mm gaps remain between the boards. In this case, even before grinding, you need to putty such openings with a mixture of PVA glue, sawdust and paint, and you can rub it all in with a rubber spatula, then sand it and remove the excess.

Reason number 2. dry air

Place a bucket of water next to the heating radiators, and follow the behavior of the cracks throughout the day. If they become noticeably smaller, the air in your house is simply too dry. And if you now sort out the entire floor and pull the boards as closely as possible, then in the summer they will arch and go in “waves”. Therefore, for greater certainty, purchase a hygrometer - a humidity meter, and check the air for this parameter.

In fairness, we note that dry air is also bad for health, and therefore you should think about sprayers and other devices that can solve this problem.

Reason number 3. small rodents

If the gaps have arisen due to the vigorous activity of mice, it is not enough just to close them up. After all, there will be new ones! Therefore, we first get rid of rodents or control their population as much as possible, and only then we work with cracks. How to get rid? Here are some ways:

1. Get a good cat. It is a cat, cats are by nature more lazy. And it will be enough that the mice smell the scent of the hunter - now they will not dare to gnaw their way to where there is such danger, and will peacefully remain under the floor. Ferrets are even more afraid, by the way.
2. Arrange glue traps - if there are too many mice, and they are insolent, then this method is good as a mechanical reduction in the number of rodents.
3. Scatter dry peppermint under the floor - animals do not like strong odors.
4. Buy a modern ultrasonic repeller. Only a good device, and not a cheap Chinese fake, from which there will be no sense.
5. There is also such an effective way: sealing cracks with cement mixed with broken glass. Small uninvited guests do not like it, believe me.

It is impossible to completely expel rodents from the house, like bacteria. But to make housing as clean and safe as possible is quite.

Reason number 4. Mounting errors

Sometimes gaps arise from the fact that the boards "walk". And this is a direct consequence of improper installation. And, if the boards “walk”, then even the best sealant will come off - it will simply remain on one of the sides. Here it all depends on how “tightly” the floor is immobilized. If the maximum - not a single putty in the cracks will crack, but if the boards bend at least a little - then it is necessary.

And so that the boards do not “walk”, and the sealants in the cracks do not come off, nail them to the logs - with ordinary nails, but at an angle.

Reason number 5. Violation of ventilation

Cracks of this kind arise from the fact that the wood simply turns into dust. Be sure to fully inspect the wooden floor - in what condition is it? Perhaps the top is still solid, but underneath all the boards are rotten. In this case - only a major overhaul with a complete re-laying, and nothing else.

If the situation can be corrected, then proceed as follows:

If you have cold coming from under the floor, and even subtle cracks let in a draft, in this case it is better to close the vents themselves tightly (which is being done more and more often lately), run a vent through the room itself (there are special grilles for this) , and leave the small distances between the boards alone until spring, when they themselves shrink.

But, if the lags just sank a little, do this:

Pay attention also to this important point. If your only underground ventilation is through cracks in the floor, then closing them completely will cause the boards to rot. Just investigate first if you have air vents or a ventilation grill. After all, it often happens that the townspeople buy themselves a dacha with wooden floors in early spring, and by the summer they already sag when walking - just the former owner closed the air vents for the winter, which is technologically correct, and in the spring no one opened them. And the boards, as they say, "suffocated." And damp basements also love earthen fleas, which easily jump out into the living quarters in winter.

If your underground is not ventilated through the foundation or a special air intake system, then make ventilation holes in the corners of the floor. Otherwise, dampness and quickly rotting wood will be ensured, because before that your floors had small or noticeable gaps between the boards, where the necessary air entered, but now you will block them. If the underground is too cold, and you are worried about the thermal insulation of the floor, organize forced ventilation instead of corners through the foundation.

But sometimes, when the board has deteriorated and the cracks have made themselves felt, you have to replace a whole section of the floor:

We use modern tools

The choice of such funds today is huge!

Tool #1. Special putties

Let's be honest: factory fillers for gaps are not the best option. Firstly, they often crack, and secondly, the number of colors is limited, which is why the seams then stand out on the floor. Although some are quite optimistic about this moment - after all, in this way a good imitation of the deck is obtained.

Tool number 2. Silicone sealant

Wood is a living material, and therefore the fillers for the gap must also be elastic. Sealants for wood today are sold mainly in two types - acrylic and silicone.

Use silicone sealant to seal gaps correctly:

1. We carry out thorough dry and then wet cleaning of surfaces.
2. Dry the floor well.
3. We fill in all the gaps.

For the convenience of introducing a sealant, use a mounting syringe - they not only save material, but also make it possible to get the most inaccessible places.

Tool number 3. Acrylic sealant

We buy a special sealant for wood. It is sold in all modern hardware stores, in special tubes and in a variety of colors. One of the best brands is Kimtec Laminat. This sealant tolerates changes in humidity and temperature well, it is easy to sand and varnish. Good reviews are also about Sikaflex-11FC sealant - even when expanding to 200% of the thickness of such a gap, no cracks or gaps will occur.

Unlike silicone sealant, acrylic does not smell like vinegar, is completely transparent (it is water-based), and is well washed from hands.

Tool number 4. Foam gun

Put a thin cocktail tube on his nose, flatten it and put it into the slot. It is convenient to squeeze the tube with simple pliers. Adjust gun for low feed. Work fast because the foam hardens quickly, and it is better to have several of these tubes with you. If the gap is too narrow, and the flattened tube does not even fit through, then just lean it against the hole. You need to press the foam with a flat object - a wet soapy bar. Do not worry about environmental friendliness: the dried polyurethane foam does not release anything into the air.

But in no case do not try to remove it with a spatula while still damp - everything around will be smeared, and it will be difficult to wash it later. Just carefully cut with a sharp knife after drying. But even when dried, it is quite sticky and porous, all the dirt that is found will reach for it. In addition, the foam is destroyed by sunlight, and therefore be sure to paint over such cracks in several layers.

Mounting foam as a material for sealing gaps is also good because it creates additional thermal insulation.

Tool number 5. Reinforced tape

If the aesthetic moment is not important at all, or there is carpet on the wooden floor, then simply close the gaps with gray reinforced tape, 5 cm wide. Secure it around the edges with a stapler, and you can forget about drafts or smells.

We apply proven "grandfather" methods

But there are older, but centuries-old methods. Each of them has its pros and cons, but sometimes such simple solutions turn out to be more effective than modern tools.

Method number 1. Rail

You can also close large gaps in the floor with a rail:

• Step 1. Cut the slots with a manual milling machine so that their edges become even.
• Step 2. We cut the slats that fit the desired size. As for the material of wood, it will be most convenient for you to work with pine - it is quite pliable.
• Step 3. Lubricate the edges of the slot and the sides of the rail with glue. Use a container from under the sealant for this.
• Step 4. We fix the rail in the slot, and fill the voids that remain with a sticky mixture with sawdust.
• Step 5. We grind the boards with an electric belt machine. Be sure to wear a respirator and goggles, close the respiratory organs.
• Step 6. On the processed boards, we glue the masking tape that hides the joint.
• Step 7. We select the paint or varnish of the desired tone and thus mask the entire restoration process.

Method number 2. Homemade putty

You can prepare a good putty for cracks yourself. Get a binder resin compound for this, and collect small sawdust. Mix it all, and seal the cracks with the resulting component.

Osmo resin is also suitable for this purpose, but the reviews about Borm are not the best - those who tried to close gaps with such a binder complained of a strong unpleasant odor and a small amount in the package of the product itself.

Method number 3. Regular tourniquet

Cracks that do not exceed one centimeter are easy to close with a tourniquet. Next, fill it with the same red or varnish as the floor itself. Everything is simple.

Method number 4. Glue with sawdust

But the "old-fashioned" way to mix PVA with wood dust is bad because such putty darkens over time and looks sloppy.

Method number 5. Tow with paint

We take the usual tow for fixing plumbing pipe connections, mix it with PVA glue, put it in the cracks and cover it with paint.

Method number 6. Oil with wax

Small gaps are covered with linseed oil and wax, always hot - so the wax flows into the cracks. The only requirement is that the floor before such work must be perfectly clean, otherwise, along with the wax, dirt will clog in the cracks.

Method number 7. Plywood and chipboard, OSB

In very bad cases, when the gaps are huge, we simply fill them with wood plugs and lay a layer of wood-ply board or plywood on top. Only on top of all this it will be possible to lay a finishing decorative coating.

A little more about the process itself. Fasten plywood with self-tapping screws with plastic dowels. And so that the plywood does not deform at the points of fastening of the self-tapping screws, it is necessary to make holes in it and process them with a large diameter drill. As an option - a countersink. This will allow you to fasten the self-tapping screws "in a sweat", flush with the surface.

Buy self-tapping screws 90 mm long, and a couple of pieces 120 mm for attaching the log to the flooring itself, and self-tapping screws 36 mm long for sheets. You can also fasten plywood to logs on “liquid nails”, and fix it with nails.

You can fill the sections of the crate with any heat-insulating material, except for mineral wool. Leave gaps - if the plywood sheets are in contact with each other, you will not avoid creaking in the future. Carefully also screw in the screws - "drowned" hats often end up with the self-tapping screws themselves breaking, and chips appear around the hats. See the process for more details:

Method number 8. Bustilat with ropes

This method is well suited for the largest gaps that are difficult to fill even with sealant.

Method number 9. wood dust

Another "old-fashioned method" is wood dust mixed with floor polish. It is not easy to assemble it, but the result will definitely please you.

Method number 10. Cord

This method is one of the fastest and most reliable:

• Step 1. Mix the epoxy mixture with the hardener in a 1:1 ratio.
• Step 2. The resulting mixture is added to the cement mortar.
• Step 3. We fill the gaps with the mixture as tightly as possible - so that shrinkage does not spoil everything later.
• Step 4. We thread a rope cord into wide slots.
• Step 5. As soon as the mixture hardens, which will happen quickly enough, cover it with paint or varnish to match the floor.

If the floor slab is uneven, then under the logs it is necessary to put bosses, and on them - pieces of linoleum or roofing material. Logs cannot be supported on wooden stands alone - there must be compensators, because. wood is subject to thermal expansion.

And sometimes, in a situation with a very old destroyed floor, it is easier to replace it with a good concrete screed:

That's the whole collection of methods - choose the one that seemed to you the most simple and rational.

Large and small cracks in the wooden floor can appear due to a variety of reasons: the boards dried up, mice gnawed through, the floor itself was laid incorrectly ... But for a bath, this is unacceptable. After all, cracks are not only an unpleasant smell from under the floor, but also drafts, and a rather unaesthetic appearance. Therefore, this problem needs to be solved, and this article will tell how exactly the cracks in the wooden floor are sealed. It is only important to initially determine the cause - and from there and build on.

How to close up cracks in boards that "play"?

That's just in such a floor to new cracks - not far, even if a good repair was previously made. Varnish with sawdust as a mixture is no longer suitable here - you need to take silicone. And the work itself will look like this: the surface is well cleaned and dried. Anti-fungal silicone is drawn into the syringe and it is used to seal cracks in the floor over the entire width. And this tool is called - siliconized sealant, or acrylic sealant, you can buy it in special stores. It is sold in tubes and comes in different colors, keeps perfectly in the floor, does not crumble.

The gap between the floor and the wall: everything is fixable!

To understand how big the gap is, you need to tear off the plinth and take a good look at it. One solution to the problem, rather than sealing gaps in this type of floor, is to push more jute into such gaps, and sometimes you have to sort out the entire floor.

So, if the gaps are large enough and reach 5 cm, it is better to fill them with foam or simply foam them with mounting foam. For small gaps, 1-2 cm, it is enough to putty and install new skirting boards.

What to do with crevices due to mice?

And here, ropes or glue alone are indispensable - prevention is necessary so that the mice do not gnaw their way out again. And therefore, before covering the gaps in the floor from rodents, they are first filled for prevention with cement with broken glass, and only then the remaining space is filled with putty - for example, sawdust with PVA and just a shop for wood. After all these actions, everything is sanded and painted.

If the bath is left unattended for a long time, then the gaps after the rodents can be sealed even harder - for example, with the same concrete mortar, only you need to take more cement in it, adding aluminum chips to it.

Repairing cracks with rails - step by step instructions

This method is good because even with uneven slots there will be no problems - the rails smeared with glue bend well and easily fit into almost any gap.

• Step 1. Mill the gaps between the boards and drive in the dowels.
• Step 2. Prepare the slats - well-dried pine boards are most suitable for this, which can be dissolved into two types of slats - 5.5 mm for a 6 mm gap and 7.5 mm for an 8 mm gap.
• Step 3. We coat with glue - for reinsurance, not only the slats, but also the gaps themselves. The most convenient way to do this is with a tube from under the old sealant, drilling two holes in the spout on the sides. It is with this spout that you need to drive in the gap - smearing both boards with glue at once.
• Step 4. Reiki and dowels are glued, and small defects are puttied with PVA and a mixture of sawdust.

• Step 5. At this stage, grinding is necessary. This should be done carefully with a planer - it easily scratches the floor, with a manual tape machine - for a long time, and therefore the most practical option is a grinder with sandpaper. The only thing is that you will have to stock up on a respirator and goggles in advance - there is a lot of dust from work.
• Step 6. Now you need to hide the traces of the repair - a darker tree where the slats were inserted. But traditional stain and varnish are enough - dowels will not be visible. It is better to apply the stain and varnish in three stages, gluing the masking tape right along the board - so that the joint is not visible.

5 Alternative Ways to Terminate Effectively

If there is no time to mess around with slats, you can try these proven options:

• Tow

To seal cracks, you can use ordinary tow, which today is often used in plumbing. It is measured to the length of the gap, put in glue so that it gets wet and hammered into the gap. Once dry, you can paint the floor.

• Special solutions

If the gap in the floor barely reaches 1 mm, then it can be treated with a special wood filler solution - for example, BONA ParketGrunt, and then coated with paint or varnish.

• Plywood

If the floor in the bath is very old and nothing can be done about it except to re-lay it, then for a while you can get by with this option - hammer small wooden slats between the floorboards, lay waterproofing on top and stuff plywood, which will be held by plinths. Get a smooth and warm floor without cracks. Although the surest option is, of course, to completely sort out the floor in the bath. That is, disassemble the boards and assemble them again - tightly fitting them to each other, and replacing the rotten ones with new ones. But it's expensive.

• Epoxide

This method is one of the most reliable. Epoxy is mixed with a hardener, and cement is added to this mixture 1: 1 - until the consistency resembles sour cream. You just need to do all this quickly, and so that the mixture does not spill into large cracks that reach 8 mm, it is better to break them in advance with a rope cord, 1-2 cm deep. You need to pour all this in a small slide - after solidification, it will settle a little. And then - grind with a drill with a nozzle. Of course, it will be necessary to paint the floor - the patched cracks will turn out to be black.

• "Grandfather" method

Time-tested and such an "old-fashioned" way of dealing with cracks: a thick synthetic rope is clogged halfway between the boards, which is preliminarily well impregnated with PVA glue. And the remaining space to the edge of the boards is filled with putty from the same glue and sawdust. Moreover, there should be no impurities in the sawdust, and the density of the putty itself should be like that of sour cream. Everything is poured in such a way that a tubercle remains on top - as soon as the glue dries, it can be cut off with an ordinary knife.

The options are many! The main thing is not to be afraid of work and do everything carefully.

All photos from the article

During the operation of wooden floors, the boards begin to dry out and deform, which leads to the appearance of gaps between them. In most cases, such a defect is not a reason to replace the floors, since it is easy to fix. In this article, we will take a closer look at how cracks in a wooden floor are sealed with different compositions.

Crack sealing

There are quite a few options for filling cracks in a wooden floor.

The most common are the following:

• Glue with sawdust;
• Cement composition;
• putty;
• Paste with paper;
• Cord ;
• silicone sealant.

Let's take a closer look at all these options below.

Glue with sawdust

This method is quite versatile, as it can be used on different parts of the wooden floor.

Work in this case is carried out in the following way:

• First you need to prepare sawdust - pour them into a suitable container and pour boiling water over them. The resulting mass must be mixed until a homogeneous composition is formed. After this, the sawdust must be left for several hours so that they swell.
• Next, add PVA glue to the sawdust and mix until a viscous consistency is formed.
• Then, before covering the cracks in the wooden floor, you need to carefully prepare them - clean them from dust and dirty deposits. If necessary, the space between the boards needs to be slightly expanded so that it can be completely filled with the prepared composition.
• Next, using a small spatula, apply the adhesive to the gap and tamp it inward.

putty

If you don’t want to bother with making putty with your own hands, you can use ready-made wood putty. True, it should be noted that this option is the simplest, however, not always reliable. The fact is that many types of putty crack and crumble quite quickly.

Therefore, when choosing how to putty cracks in a wooden floor, it is better to give preference to an acrylic or latex composition. They dry quickly, have no smell and at the same time do not crack over time.

If putty for wood is chosen as the material, the filling of cracks in the floor is carried out according to the same principle as described above for other mixtures. It can be applied with both a rubber and a metal narrow spatula.

Paste and paper

To create this tool you will need:

• Paste;
• Paper;
• A small amount of copper sulfate, which will protect the floors from insects.

This putty is quite durable, while its price is minimal.

It is performed as follows:

• Paper should be cut into small pieces and filled with water.

• Then you should prepare a paste from flour or starch. To do this, the water must be brought to a boil, and then gradually pour one of the selected ingredients into it. In this case, the mixture must be thoroughly mixed so that there are no lumps in it.
• Next, copper sulfate should be added to the finished and cooled paste in a ratio of 1:10.
• After that, you need to grind the paper with your hands and add it to the paste. The result should be a homogeneous and rather thick consistency-putty.

As in all previous cases, in order to achieve a high-quality result, before sealing cracks in a wooden floor, they must be well prepared, cleaned of any dirt and flaking surfaces. After that, the mixture needs to fill the space between the boards and compact it as best as possible.

Cord termination

This option is good because it allows not only to eliminate the space between the boards, but also to get rid of their unpleasant squeak.

To carry out repairs in this way, you will need the following materials:

• Twine, cord or rope of suitable diameter;
• Sawdust;
• Joiner's glue;
• Wood putty.

The work is done in this order:

• The cord must be moistened with adhesive so that it is lubricated on all sides.
• Then you need to make a mixture of putty, glue and sawdust.
• Next, the rope must be laid in the space between the boards to a depth of several millimeters.
• Then you need to apply the prepared mixture over the cord. Moreover, the putty should rise slightly above the floor, since in the process of drying it will definitely shrink.

If the floors "play" and there is no way to firmly fix them, then it is best to use silicone sealant to seal the cracks in the wooden floor.

The application process is extremely simple:

• The composition is drawn into a syringe.
• Then the tip of the syringe is lowered into the prepared slot and the sealant is squeezed out.

Due to the fact that silicone remains elastic even after drying, such a seal can last quite a long time.

Seal the space between wall and floor

Separately, it should be said about how to remove the cracks in the wooden floor that occur between the boards and walls. It should immediately be said that in the case when the gap is 1-2 cm, then it can not be closed, since it is.

If the distance reaches 5 cm or more, then this space can be closed in two ways:

• With the help of foam;
• Filling the space with mounting foam.

Note!
Before using mounting foam, the surfaces to which it will be applied must be moistened with water from a spray bottle.

Here, perhaps, are all the most common ways to get rid of cracks in a wooden floor.

Output

As we found out, there are a lot of ways to seal cracks in wooden floors, and all the options discussed above are quite effective. Therefore, you should choose based on the condition of the floor and the presence of certain ingredients.

You can find some additional information on this topic from the video in this article.

Wood, though warm, but capricious floor material. None of the laying methods guarantees the absence of gaps between the planks in the future. In the article we will tell you how to close the cracks in the wooden floor.

As you know, a tree not only changes its linear dimensions as a result of changes in temperature and humidity, but also dries out over time. In addition, rodents can contribute to the appearance of cracks and holes in the floor. In any case, repairs are required:

• Cosmetic - the gaps are closed with various compounds or inserts.
• Partial - replacement of a damaged board or a small area;
• Full - bulkhead boarding or total replacement of the coating.

How to seal cracks in a wooden floor? The most common way is to fill the seams with the help of special ready-made compounds:

• sealants;
• Wood putties;
• Construction foam, etc.

Mixing homemade putty composition.

Instead of building chemicals, you can prepare home-made mixtures for sealing a gap in the floor. The composition, as a rule, consists of two components - a binder (glue, paint) and a filler (sawdust, gypsum).

The next method is a little more laborious - the elimination of wide gaps between the boards, as well as between the coating and the wall by sealing. In this case, strips of wood, polystyrene, special caulking cords, etc. are used. Effective and practical, but in some cases requires additional fitting and subsequent varnishing or staining.

The last way, the most expensive and costly, is to replace the floorboards with cracks and other damages with a new one, suitable in size and tone.

The exact method for eliminating defects is selected based on the width of the seams, the nature of the damage, etc. Let's consider in more detail.

Filling semi-liquid compounds for sealing cracks

In any series of construction chemicals from a Russian or foreign manufacturer, there are tools for woodworking. They are great for fixing minor imperfections. Including:

Pigmented silicone sealants

Used for gaps up to 1 cm wide, have good adhesion to wood. After application, the composition must be leveled with a plastic or rubber spatula. As a result of polymerization, an elastic, non-shrinking seam is formed, which is resistant to water and household chemicals. A special advantage is the durability of the plastic composition, which does not crumble and does not fall out due to seasonal expansion and drying of the floorboards.

The color shown on the label may not match the actual color, so ask the store for a color display stand. These are samples of finished products made by the manufacturer.

Paintable acrylic sealants

A good analogue of the previous tool, but with a slight difference. After application, the white paste polymerizes for 1 hour, then it can be painted. A very convenient way to repair floors covered with alkyd or oil enamel.

Gypsum tinted putties

Water-based or oil-based formulations familiar to customers for gaps up to 1-2 cm wide. Apply with a spatula, carefully compacted. Material shrinks and may require re-application followed by smoothing. The puttied dried surface must be sanded with sandpaper.

After drying, the finished putty brightens by 1-2 tones, so when buying, you need to choose a darker composition.

The disadvantage of this tool is its fragility. After a year, maximum two, the seam begins to crack, crumble, absorb dirt. The material is in steady demand mainly because of the price. The cost of a small package from VGT or Novbytchim is only 50-60 rubles.

Epoxy putties

Semi-liquid fast-hardening compositions based on polymer resin. As a rule, these are two-component compounds, which after drying form the strongest (inelastic) seam. The coefficient of adhesion of this material to wood is unusually high, moreover, unlike conventional putties, the hardened mass does not crumble. Accordingly, next year you won’t have to look for how to cover up the floor defect again.

Epoxy grouts are used for narrow gaps no more than 3-7 mm wide, applied with a spatula. The shrinkage coefficient is small, so there is no need for re-treatment.

Polyester pastes are colorless or white

One- or two-component quick-hardening polymeric grouts for sealing gaps between boards with a width of not more than 5 mm. The mixture is suitable for old floor coverings, as it forms a strong, rigid joint. After application, the surface is leveled with a flexible spatula, staining in the color of the main floor is allowed.

We have listed the ready-made compositions. In search of how to putty cracks in a wooden floor, craftsmen often use tools such as;

• polyurethane foam (pieces of polystyrene foam, cuttings of fiberboard, etc. are inserted into the gap as a frame);
• a mixture of small sawdust and PVA or oil enamel;
• composition of cement and epoxy adhesive, and the like.

There are many options for home-made putties for sealing gaps; they are formed according to the “what is at hand” principle. The most reliable and proven, according to experienced craftsmen, is a mixture of wood flour and PVA. A thick paste is prepared from these components, which is applied with a spatula and carefully leveled. The surface after drying and polishing can be coated with a protective varnish.

Sealing gaps by sealing

If the boards "play" and the width of the gaps exceeds 1-2 cm, it is recommended to use inserts. They will help to firmly fix the floorboards, remove squeaks. The first and long-tested tool in this case is thin slat-wedges.

How compaction is carried out:

1. The gap must be cleaned of debris, a little embroidered. It is not necessary to remove skirting boards and other decorative moldings.
2. Measure the width, make a wedge of the appropriate dimensions from the rail.
3. Apply PVA or wood glue to the floorboards and the insert.
4. Drive the rail tightly into the seam with a mallet or an ordinary hammer using a tamping bar.
5. Remove the protruding surface with sandpaper or a planer.
6. Sand the sealed floor with fine-grained emery tape and cover with varnish or paint.

Sealing cord can be used as a temporary remedy before a major floor repair. It is designed to close gaps in log houses up to 3-5 cm wide. It is a kind of rope made of foamed polyethylene, rubber or tow. It is not difficult to work with this type of material: the product must be carefully tamped into the gap with a chisel and a hammer. And so that the seam does not stand out too much from the rest of the floor, a thin layer of tinted sealant, putty or a mixture of sawdust and PVA is applied to the surface.

Local replacement of the damaged area

What to do if mice have gnawed through the floor, and the gap in the wall-floor area exceeds 5-10 cm in width. Neither putties, nor sealants, nor even sealing ropes will help in this case. You can close the top with a piece of plywood or chipboard, but such a blotch will just interfere and stand out too much. The best option is to replace the board or a small section of the floor.

To prevent the repaired floor from becoming a victim of rodents again, some masters recommend starting by creating a “barrier” for mice. In particular, cement mortar mixed with broken glass or iron filings can be poured under the coating in the mouse passage area.

The next step is to remove all skirting boards, and cut out the damaged area or plank with the appropriate power tool. New parts are glued or nailed to the base with hardware.

The last stage is grinding, or better, a complete scraping of the floor, followed by varnishing or painting. If the shades of the floorboards differ by more than 2 tones, you can try toning the planks with stain or protective and decorative azures.

In case of severe damage to the entire floor area, some experts suggest sewing sheet materials over the tree - plywood, chipboard, OSB and others. This is a good option, but only if you intend to lay a new finish on top that is resistant to abrasion, dirt, shock.

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