Whether to fill gaps when restoring a wood floor

markin

If you get under the floor and insulate it, It wouldn't matter, But without doing that i would expect it to be freezing cold when it hits below 5c outside, or on windy days.

I thought that fad had ended now that we have nice laminates or Vinyl planking... And an energy cap of £3K coming in October.

_________________________

"According to the Energy Saving Trust, just filling gaps between floor and skirting boards will save around £20 (2011 prices) - (This year £75 a year if you insulate a semi) – and 100kg of CO2 – annually, paying for itself in less than a year."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2011/dec/16/1

katejo

ChilliBob said:

I've got a reasonable amount of experience in this having faffed around with it for ages in my old house..... my tuppenceworth:

1. Slithers - Are a massive pain in the !!!!!! - putting them in, planing/getting them level....... Then as the usual expansion and contraction happens you find they can pop up, and, if the gaps narrow and they're too think they can crack. They do look really great at first. If you go down that route take extreme care putting them in - I'd probably use something stronger than PVA, and avoid in gaps of say 1mm or less. 

2. Leaving the gaps - this was probably the best option tbh - we didn't find it that draughty or cold really in the rooms we did. We did finish around the skirting with a quarter bead of wood - which was okay, but taking off the skirting and refitting might look better - but we didn't want that hassle.

3. Some v shaped bit of plastic -  I can't remember the name, but this was actually really decent - basically you cut to length, unravel, push in using a credit card - you still *see* the gaps, but they're 'filled' so to speak so less dust/draught. We tried this and it was decent, but then we didn't bother in the smaller room we did.

Unrelated to gaps, but related to floors:

1. Knot holes - a bit of a pain - I ended up lifting a board, gluing something under - like wood - then filling with epoxy resin - it actually looked decent. There's other ideas - cork, wood filler etc - but holes all the way through need consideration - especially with children.

2. Gaps and children - my brother had this, and his son liked 'posting' stuff like credit cards in the gaps - eek, a right pain! 

3, Bona Gap master is pretty good for some gaps too if you want a filler based approach.

4. Depending on finish you want there are lots of options - but Osmo Polyx oil is what I'd recommend - it was great stuff and looked awesome. 

5. Don't even consider sanding it yourself with a belt sander - I still have a Matika one and about 3 dozen belts of different grades in the shed - we did an area about 50x50 cm and it took ages - we got a bloke in with a machine, way better! Obviously you can hire these yourself, but I believe you need to know what you're doing or you can really mess stuff up.

Lastly...... be aware of cables for say alarms, speakers, coax, internet etc - ours got cut through by the sanding guys, bit of a pain!

No plans to do sanding myself. I have a quote and someone to do it and yes it will be Osmo oil. My living room was cold last winter but the boiler was on its last legs. It has since been replaced and I also have a new front door (previous one very draughty). One issue I have in my house is that slugs appear during the night. I thought they were coming under the front door rather than from under floorboards  but it is still happening with the new door. 

Bendy_House

katejo said:

No plans to do sanding myself. I have a quote and someone to do it and yes it will be Osmo oil. My living room was cold last winter but the boiler was on its last legs. It has since been replaced and I also have a new front door (previous one very draughty). One issue I have in my house is that slugs appear during the night. I thought they were coming under the front door rather than from under floorboards  but it is still happening with the new door. 

Chances are you have a slug-sized air gap :-)

Seriously, with energy costs going the way they are, the decision to fill these gaps - if not even insulate under the floor - should be made for you.

And also seal between the floorboards and the skirtings.

FreeBear

Bendy_House said:

katejo said:

No plans to do sanding myself. I have a quote and someone to do it and yes it will be Osmo oil. My living room was cold last winter but the boiler was on its last legs. It has since been replaced and I also have a new front door (previous one very draughty). One issue I have in my house is that slugs appear during the night. I thought they were coming under the front door rather than from under floorboards  but it is still happening with the new door. 

Chances are you have a slug-sized air gap :-)

Depending on the slug, the gap could be as small as a couple of millimetres.