On 13 Nov 2004 01:33:16 -0800, (Dave Young) wrote:

This time I'm planning to fill them with a mixture of
sawdust and glue

I don't like this approach - although I've used it on plenty of
floors. It works fine at first, but it shrinks over time and gaps
open up. If your gaps are small to begin with, then it might work for
you.

Screwfix offer a slightly flexible floorboard sealer in mastic gun
cartridges. I might use this sometime and see if it's any better.

- What glue would it be best to use?

Cheap PVA - go to the builder's merchant and buy a gallon for almost
nothing. It's also a perfectly usable wood glue. Don't let the frost
at it though.

(I'm planning to use a water based varnish - Ronseal Diamond Hard).

Works fine over the sawdust filler.

Personally I always use acid-cure formaldehydes on floors (Rustin's
Floorcoat), but Diamond Hard should be OK.


- I'm planning to sand down to fine grade, then fill the gaps leaving
the filling proud of the gaps, then sand with fine grade again to make
everything level. Anything wrong with this plan?

Two things:

You can't sand the gaps until the sawdust has dried, and this takes
ages. If you're doing more than one room you can do it by pipelining
and filling the next room the day before you need to finish sand it.
Otherwise it will slow you down considerably, just in drying time.

Secondly, you don't need it level - it'll shrink anyway. The main
reason for running the sander over it again is to clean up the boards
alongside, if there's any spillage.

--
Smert' spamionam