| In
This Article:
The jagged edges of existing
flooring are cut back to a straight line, a thin spacer
material is added, and salvaged 3/8" oak hardwood
flooring is installed. |
Related
Articles:
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| Skill Level:
3 (Intermediate) |
Time Taken:
About 2½ Hours |
By
Bruce W. Maki,
Editor
While remodeling an old house we decided to add some closets and
change the locations of some doorways. The new bedroom door joined
two areas that already had thin hardwood flooring, but previously
were separated by a wall.
This house has 3/8 inch thick oak flooring in most of the rooms.
I believe the flooring was installed many years after the house was
built in 1898. For instance, where we've removed flooring on the
second floor, we've found that the tongue-and-groove subfloor is
painted, a sure sign that the subfloor was once the finished floor
surface.
Standard hardwood flooring is 3/4" thick. If hardwood
flooring is installed as an after-thought, 3/8" or 5/16"
flooring is usually installed.
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This rough-looking area between two
existing hardwood floors was created when we cut a new
door opening in an interior wall. |
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| The ends of the boards were quite
staggered, which is normal for an edge that is covered
with trim. |
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I used this Porter-Cable 6½"
circular saw to make the major cuts. This saw has the blade
on the left of the motor, where most circular saws
have the blade on the right. I used this saw because
it's easier to handle than larger circular saws. |
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| This saw also comes with a dust collector
fitting, which I need to keep the saw dust to a minimum. |
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The dust collector fitting plugs into an
opening in the front of the saw.
I duct-taped a 1¼" shop-vac fitting to this
metal piece, so I had a dust-collecting circular saw.
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| I laid out the cut, using a 4' ruler.
I used the small speed-square to make sure the line
was perpendicular to the existing flooring boards.
A framing square would work too, and it might be more
accurate. |
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|
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With a sharp utility knife I scored a line
in the existing hardwood floor surface. |
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| Then I went over the line with a pencil to
make the line easier to see. |
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|
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A close-up of the scored and marked line. |
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| I made a plunge cut with the circular saw
and then cut along the line.
While I made this cut free-hand, I could have
rigged up a cutting guide board. That seemed like too
much work for two small cuts. |
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|
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A closer view.
The red arrow points to the line I followed. Of
course, I needed to make the right-hand surface of
the blade follow this line.
|
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| The circular saw can only cut until the
saw body hits the doorway. Then I need to use other
cutting methods. |
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|
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This is the Fein Multi-Master,
which costs about $200. It's a lot of money for a tool I
don't use often, but it's worth every cent. |
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| I used the narrow saw blade to cut the
last few boards.
The blade just vibrates slightly. If you touch the
blade it won't cut your skin, yet it cuts wood
reasonably fast.
This blade did not come with the tool... I had to buy
it separately for about $35. Fein's accessories are not
cheap. |
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|
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A closer view.
The Fein Multi-Master is a true flush-cutting saw,
and can cut right up against an obstruction.
|
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| After making the cuts I used the sanding
head to smooth out the rough edge of the cut boards. |
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|
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Using a steel ruler, I made marks 9 inches
away from the first cut.
My flooring is 1½" wide, so I needed to use a multiple
of 1.5 for the width of the patch.
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Actually, making the second cut slightly less than 9
inches would be a good idea. If the last board is too wide and needs
to be ripped narrower, that's fine... but if the last board is a
fraction of an inch too skinny, that's a problem.
| After I marked the line, I cut the ends of
the boards with the circular saw, and finished up with
the Fein Multi-Master. |
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|
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Close-up photo of the second cut.
Notice the slight bevel on the corner of the
cut (between the two arrows). This bevel should reduce
the chances of something snagging on the cut edge after
the patch is installed. If one of these boards is cupped
too high, a sharp corner will catch on things and split
the wood.
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Sub-Floor Preparations:
| A small problem:
The sub-floor is made from 1x4
tongue-and-groove planks, and the boards have all cupped
over the years, leaving these high spots at the edges. |
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|
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I used a random-orbital sander with 40
grit sandpaper to sand down the high spots. |
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| The patch area after sanding.
Note that there are several holes in the subfloor.
These are from electrical wires that we moved during the
remodeling process. |
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|
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I nailed a piece of aluminum flashing over
the holes. This should provide better structural
support. |
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The old flooring was installed over a layer of burlap, so without
special filler material the new flooring would be lower by
about 1/16 inch.
I looked at Home Depot for some type of thin filler material but
came away empty-handed. I guess they don't make 1/16 inch thick
Masonite.
| For a spacer material, I decided to use
some leftover scraps of vinyl siding, which is
about .040 to .050 inch thick (compared to 1/16 inch,
which is .062 inches)
I simply stapled the strips of vinyl siding to the
floor. |
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Flooring Installation:
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I installed the first piece of flooring.
I face-nailed the back edge, since there was no
tongue to connect with the groove. |
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| Then I carefully nailed the tongue edge,
driving the nails into the corner where the tongue meets
the edge of the board. |
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|
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Close-up of brad nail in tongue. |
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| I also tried some 18 gauge staples,
but they tended to split the wood too much. |
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|
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For the next pieces, I used a scrap of
flooring as a tapping block, to avoid hammering
directly on the flooring. |
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| Since I was using salvaged flooring, I had
to clean up the crud on the edges and the tongue of the
boards. I used a couple of different carbide
paint scrapers. |
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|
Critical Detail - The Last Piece
I staged these two photos to illustrate the method I used to
install the critical final piece of flooring.
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I used a table saw to rip the tongue off
the last board.
Using a small bench belt sander, I sanded a slight bevel
on the cut edge, so the board could be tilted
into place. |
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| When installed, the top edge should fit
snugly against the ends of the original flooring boards.
There is a slight cavity below that final edge, but
nobody can see it. |
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|
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For the last piece, I had to carefully tap
the board into place. This was a tight fit |
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| I had to face-nail the last piece.
(I later used some wood putty to cover the nail
heads.)
|
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|
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The completed patch. |
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| Later, I sanded the floor with a 3-head
random-orbital floor sander. I rented this sander
from Menard's, but Lowes also rents the same machine.
There are 3 grades of sanding discs sold alongside
this machine: 36 grit, 50 grit and 80 grit.
|
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|
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I also used a 3"x21" belt
sander to grind down the small areas that needed
more serious material removal. Using this sander I could
apply a higher pressure on a smaller area than the big
machine. This also worked well for sanding around the
edges of the room.
I used 40 grit sanding belts for heavy-duty
sanding, then I followed with the random orbital sander
using 50 grit sanding discs. |
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| This photo shows the same spot after
the floor was refinished, the new door hung, and the
trim installed.
The perpendicular boards create a slight accent in
the overall appearance of the floor. |
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|
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When looking at the larger scheme of
things, the flooring patch is barely noticeable. You can
see it at the lower right. |
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More Info:
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Tools
Used:
- Basic
Carpentry Tools
- Steel
Ruler
- Miter
Saw
- Table
Saw
- Pneumatic
Brad Nailer
- Air
Compressor
- Carbide
Paint Scraper
- Bench
Belt Sander
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Materials
Used:
- Oak
Flooring, 3/8" Thick
- 1"
Brad Nails
- Aluminum
Flashing
- Vinyl
Siding Scraps
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