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...

"Andy Hill" wrote in message
om...
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...

Ask this Old House had a show on this a couple of months ago. They used
sisal rope and a putty knife and stuffed the cracks, then stained it.

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
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
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"dadiOH" wrote in message ...
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.

Hmmmm. Interesting idea. Ever actually tried this with dry oak?
Just curious if a 1/8" wide spline of dry oak would hold together
while I ripped it off with the ol' table saw. Of course, nothing
like trying it...I think I have some oak scrap out in the shop...guess
I'll fire up the table saw and see how fine of a spline I can rip off.

Andy Hill wrote:
"dadiOH" wrote in message
...
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.

Hmmmm. Interesting idea. Ever actually tried this with dry oak?

Oak, no. Teak, yes. Did it to the transom of my sailboat once years ago.
Lasted as long as I had it which was 20 years.

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________