Andy Hill wrote:
We had a roof leak a bit over a year ago that resulted in water
getting under a bit of a hardwood (oak) floor (roughly 30 sq ft
effected). Now that the floor has had a chance to get back to
ambient moisture levels, the boards in the effected area are badly
bowed, such that there is a 1/16"-1/8" gap between the boards.

I've considered kludging the problem with wood putty and sanding,
but the gaps are wide enough this doesn't look like it's gonna be a
reasonable solution.

So, do I have any other options other than ripping / replacing up
the problem boards and refinishing the area? At least the area is
along the edge of the floor, so rip-up won't be drop-dead horrible,
but I'm not really looking forward to the job...

Splines? Use a cutoff saw to rip along the joints so that you wind up with
gaps of uniform width (use a straight edge as guide). If the gaps are less
than the width of the saw blade, one pass is all you need. Only cut about
1/8" deep...you want to leave the existing tongue and groove.

Make or have made some oak strips the same thickness as your grooves and
about 1/16 wider than the groove is deep. Glue them in, shave off excess
with a plane and finish.

Even better is to have the splines slightly thicker than the groove and
taper them very slightly. That way they will self adjust for variations in
groove width when you glue and hammer them in.

--
dadiOH
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