How to repair wooden floor

[eytonxav]

Looks great. Personally, I like old floors that show off the character of an older home.

 

[JoeWras]

Actually, I am a thoroughly incompetent DIYer but I wanted the floors to look better and didn't want the disruption of a major pro job so I HTFU'd and did the work. If I can do it, you can do it. Just be careful.

Super, super job!

I find that a lot of handy work just requires patience and time. If you went into business, you won't make money doing it at that pace, but who cares, it is your stuff.

 

[Willers]

Looks great! Thank you for saving an old floor rather than replacing it. Old house lovers like me really appreciate that!

 

[Ronstar]

Good grief, I looked on Amazon and found hundreds of 2 part epoxies. Do you have a suggestion about what to get and do you buy clear and then add dye or buy epoxies with a dye? If you add dye, is it something special or just the stain I used on the floor (or maybe a little darker)?

I usually use loctite or JB weld epoxies - but they are only good for small areas. They are double syringe applicator type. So these would work only if you only have a few small gouges.

You'll probably need more epoxy than what is in these syringe type applicators if you have a bunch of places to fix. A lot of woodworkers use West System epoxy for big volume jobs where they have several cracks and knot holes to fill.

The dye to use is transtint dye - liquid - has a bunch of colors so you can probably come real close to a color match to your floor. I'm not sure how your stain would work. It might work ok - mix some stain with epoxy and test it on a small crack/ gouge in a piece of wood.

Here's a video from a woodworker that I follow. He knows his stuff. The video is not for a floor, but you'll get the general idea how to epoxy your gouges.

 

[ERD50]

... Here's a video from a woodworker that I follow. He knows his stuff. The video is not for a floor, but you'll get the general idea how to epoxy your gouges. ...

Great video. It might be too late now, but if donheff saved some of the sawdust, that might make a good filler with the epoxy? Though it probably would not take stain once it gets an epoxy coat, but maybe if the epoxy is tinted first, then some sawdust added?

The gouges don't look that big to me, I would think he can get by with one or maybe a few hardware store sized packs of epoxy?

-ERD50

 

[Winemaker]

Another way to invigorate old dry wood is to take equal parts of mineral spirits/BOILED linseed oil, and mix well. Paint affected areas and let dry overnight, then put on your preferred finish. Brings wood back to life.

Do not use raw or unboiled linseed oil. It will not dry, and make a mess.

 

[Walt34]

Very impressive repair!

 

[Ronstar]

Great video. It might be too late now, but if donheff saved some of the sawdust, that might make a good filler with the epoxy? Though it probably would not take stain once it gets an epoxy coat, but maybe if the epoxy is tinted first, then some sawdust added?



The gouges don't look that big to me, I would think he can get by with one or maybe a few hardware store sized packs of epoxy?



-ERD50

I don’t see why sawdust wouldn’t work mixed with epoxy. I use crushed turquoise mixed with epoxy and it works fine.

Nope - the epoxy will not take stain. So it has to be tinted while mixing in order to get color. And sawdust could be added to the mix and it should harden nicely.

Donheff could get by with a few of the double syringe packs if he has only a few gouges. My rough guess is that each loctite or jbweld 2 part epoxy pack would give enough epoxy to cover a foot long gouge about a 1/4” deep by 1/4” wide. It sets up fast. The 5 minute working time isn’t much when you have to take time to add dye, sawdust or whatever in a mixing container, then mix, then transfer to the gouge and spread it out. I usually apply enough so that the epoxy is about 1/16” above the wood surface. It’s easily sanded down flush with the wood.

 

[donheff]

Interesting video. It would have been best to epoxy earlier but I may give it a try and see how I do.