How to Take on Hardwood Repairs

Hardwood floors add beauty and splendor to any home and can greatly increase the value of your home, especially if you’re putting your home on the real estate market. As much as you may care for your hardwood floors, it’s nearly impossible to prevent damage. However, before you can begin any hardwood repairs, you need to identify the damage and the type of repair that best fits the problem.

Common Hardwood Repairs

The good news about repairing a hardwood floor is that you can do most repairs on your own. Of course, how much time it takes ultimately depends on the extent of the damage and your comfort level making the necessary repairs. Contractors can be costly – but worth it – if the damage is widespread. If you’re at ease with making the repairs on your own, you can save some money.

Repairing a hardwood floor will prevent the damage from getting worse or, as in the case of a squeaky stair, prevent people from being hurt as well. It’s also important to identify the damage and repair it quickly in order to get the surrounding floor in good repair. This is true regardless of the type of damage to the floor.

Patching

Patching a hardwood floor can feel like a daunting task due to the time and exactness of the repair. You need to be diligent in your measurements and be aware when making cuts. However, when done correctly, you won’t even be able to tell where the patched hardwood floor is. Patching a hardwood floor also takes a bit more time than other repairs. If you’re planning on patching a hardwood floor, it may also be a good time to recoat or refinish your floor, especially if you are patching numerous places or making multiple repairs to your hardwood floors.

Fixing Squeaks

Squeaks and creaks in hardwood floors can disrupt a midnight snack or thwart a teenager sneaking in past curfew. While it may be handy to keep those squeaks around for just those occasions, a squeaky stair or floor can also be a tip off that boards or stair treads are in disrepair and need attending to before they worsen. If it’s a squeaky stair you’re fixing, it’s important to check both the tread and the risers. Boards can loosen over time and constant use; a stair that has loosened to the point of squeaking could eventually cause an accident if the tread has become cracked. Squeaky floors, while generally not as serious as a squeak in a stair, may also reveal weak spots in floors that need more than tightening up with shims and adhesive.

Repairing Scratches and Dents

Another common repair is to remove scratches and dents in hardwood floors. They may add charm to an older home, but deep scratches or dents may cause wood to split and need replaced through patching the floor. Typically, though, most scratches and dents can be repaired with filler and touch up kits. Dents in hardwood floors can be caused by anything from high heels on a floor to heavy items being dropped. Generally, a moisture and steam combination treatment can restore floor dents back to their original state.

Dealing With Gaps

Floor gaps can cause a loss of heat through the floor and make a hardwood floor look unattractive. Gaps can also give way to debris becoming stuck in the floor gaps, thus making it hard to get your hardwood floor completely clean. Arming yourself with shims, wood glue, or wood filler can be the exact fix you need to close the gaps and restore your hardwood floor to its original allure.

Paying attention to the needs of your hardwood floor will save you time and money in repairs throughout the lifetime of your hardwood floor. While you can’t prevent your hardwood floor from ever needing a repair, you can take great care to making sure that when your floor does become damaged, it’s concentrated on quickly and properly.

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