Repairing damaged hardwood and engineered flooring
Posted on June 28, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Over the years many hardwood floors develop splits, cracks and wear patterns in the surface. Often time splits and cracks can be repaired on the spot with nails to secure planks together and some wood putty to hide the nail holes.
However, if splits and cracks seem to cover a large surface area, you might want to consider refinishing the entire floor. In some cases splits and crackAnother repair we make is to areas where there are large gaps between planks. The most common cause of large gaps is natural weathering. Wood flooring shrinks as it dries out and expands when it gets wet and with more humid seasons. The regular expansion and contraction of hardwood flooring is a natural process and the main cause of gaps between planks. This natural process also tends to close gaps as weather and humidity change. As a general rule, if your gaps are smaller than the thickness of a dime, there is nothing to worry about. If the gaps are more persistent and larger, you will want to call a qualified professional like Charter Oak Flooring to come in, assess the area and discuss options to repair the problem.
In some cases, planks warp and lift up from the subfloor. This is called buckling and requires paying more attention to detail when investigating to identify the root cause of the problem. Once the problem is identified and depending on the level of damage caused by the buckling and to the planks, we can fix the damaged areas with an on the spot repair or replacing the damages areas altogether. In the case of replacing damaged areas, we will be happy to discuss additional options beyond the initial repair to blend the repaired area into the existing floor.
In more extreme cases, large areas of entire floors become warped and present a serious problem. Warped or "sagging" hardwood floors happen when there are serious moisture problems in the home and need to be addressed right away. Warped wood floors are rarely, if ever, the result of faulty hardwood or installation process, but are a tell tale sign of larger moisture problems within the home itself.
Another type of repair we address is when the ends of the planks rise up and the center sags down. The is typically referred to as cupped flooring. Cupped flooring is visible across the width of the plank and is due to a moisture imbalance where there is more water on the underside of the plank than on the top. The only solution is to balance the humidity levels in your home and give the area time to return to its normal state. After the floor has stabilized, we recommend sanding the area flat and refinishing the entire floor to restore the floor to its natural beauty. Whether your floors are damaged from moisture and water, pet stains, termites, or for other reasons we have the experience and skills to assess the issue and provide the proper solutions to ensure the job gets done the right way the first time.
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We are not happy until you are. The quality and craftsmanship of our work has delivered hundreds of repeat customers and recommendations. In many cases, we are the only contractor many of our customers continue to use for their flooring needs. No matter what the job is, if it involves flooring, tile of any sort, or completely renovating your bathroom, we are your one stop shop. We live by the motto of One Stop. One Estimate. One Check.