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"Ludger Wolf" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We own a cabin with a pine or fir floor (I'm not sure what it is and
how to determine it either) - probably around 700 sq feet. Over the
last months I renovated the place and now it's time to redo the
floors. We like the look of the floor and so like to keep it. I will
use the Varathene Diamond Water based floor finish to put a (actually
four) coat on it.

What concerns me about the whole thing is that the boards have shrunk
over the years and now there is a gap of around an 1/16" to at some
areas 1/4" between almost all the boards. The size of the gap is
irrigular.

_________________/_
__________________\ gap
/
/ board
\
__________________\
__________________/ gap
\
\
\ board
/
___________________/
\

I would like to fill the gaps to have a smooth continues floor. But
because of the irregular gaps I can't put small wood pieces in the
gaps and I don't like the idea of taping every board and fill the
gaps with food filler? That would probably keep me busy for
months......

Is there any idea out there, how to deal with this?

Ludger


Aren't you planning to sand the old finish off. After sanding most of it
off, you can fill the joints like you were grouting tile (i.e. no tape and
somewhat sloppy) then sand off the excess from the surface in your final
pass. Might even be able to use the sanding dust (mixed w/ wood glue) to
make the filler for a perfect match. 1/4" is still a wide gap to fill and
may be cosmetically unpleasing. Maybe leaving the gaps in place will give
you that old world antique look and be less noticable after refinishing.