Filling Holes In Floorboards. Help Please

Mr_Yoda

I need help with two problems although they are both sort of related.

Firstly, I've got a few holes in my living room floorboards, from where a gas fire was fitted and also where the mains gas came into the meter, and I need to cover them up. Here is a photo of one of the holes (from the gas fire) and the others are slightly larger. Does anyone know if there is a product which will be suitable for the job? Or am I best just covering them with ply board and if this is the best option is it likely to be noticable once a carpet is laid?

Secondly, this again involves holes in the floor. This time it is around the central heating pipes which go through the floorboards. The area I live in has a problem with mice and the holes provide an excellent access point for them. I'm wanting to fill these in as well but don't really know how to do it. I know I could probably use the expandable foam but this would leave a mess, and I'm not sure it would be safe to cut it back down. Any help on this would be absolutely brilliant.

Lancastrian

Find an old flat lolly-pop stick. Cut to twice the size of the hole. Punch a small hole halfway along and feed 6" of thread or string so it looks like a little swing. Put a drop of glue on each end of the stick and feed into the hole. Pull up so the glue will stick to the underside of the boards. When dry cut the string and fill the void with some wood filler. Smooth off and the job's done. Good luck.

Mr_Yoda

Thanks for that, it sounds like a right plan. I did think of wood filler but with it being on the floor I just sort of discounted the idea.

ormus

better to make a wood bung/plug approx the same size as the hole. (slightly bigger).
glue it and then hammer it home. when its dry you can plane/sand off any excess wood.

Mr_Yoda

Thanks for all the help. Would either of these work for these holes around the central heating pipes? Or could I use the foam stuff?

ormus

for those pipes i would use the lollypop stick trick.
and use a flexible filler. to allow the pipes to move a bit.

due to heat expansion.

Mr_Yoda

ormus wrote: »

for those pipes i would use the lollypop stick trick.
and use a flexible filler. to allow the pipes to move a bit.

due to heat expansion.

Thanks for that. I'll give it a go sometime. The most urgent ones are the holes in the living room so I'm just working on those at the moment.