If you have a natural wood floor that has become damaged over the years, you do not have to keep it covered up with rugs or carpets, all you have to do is engage in some simple hardwood floor repair. It really only takes a few moments to replace the damaged planks and have your floor looking brand new again. In order to undergo this project you will need the following tools: a circular saw, hammer, chisel, construction adhesive, mallet, flooring nails, scrap wood, and wood filler.

Remove Damaged Planks

The first thing you need to do when repairing hardwood floors is to remove the planks in your floor that have been damaged. In order to remove a plank you must first carve a hole in the middle with your circular saw. Next, simply hammer out this center part with a chisel. Now it should be easy for you to pry out the remainder of the plank. Repeat this process for each of the remaining damaged planks. Also make sure that you remove any nails that remain in the floor. If they are too difficult to remove, you can always just drive them completely into the subfloor.

Replace

The next step of hardwood floor repair is to cut a new plank to replace the one you have removed. Your new plank should be slightly smaller than the one you removed, roughly 1/16 of an inch. This is important to do because the wood will naturally expand a little as time goes by. Next, you will want to place some adhesive on the backside of your new plank. This will help to keep it stationary after it has been installed. Next, you will place the plank into the floor, starting with the tongue side. You may find that you will have to tap it into place with a mallet. If so, make sure you place some old wood over top of your new plank in order to keep it protected.

Secure and Hide

The next thing you need to do when repairing hardwood floors is to use your flooring nails to secure the new plank to floor. You may also want to use your nail set to keep the nails hidden; it also won’t hurt to use wood filler to keep the screws out of sight. Now, the final step is to apply finish to the new plank, trying to match the tone of the other original planks as best as possible. It is often difficult to do this, so you may have to decide whether you should simply refinish the rest of the floor or have a plank or two of a slightly different shade.

As you can see, hardwood floor repair is not as difficult as you may have once thought. All it takes is a little effort and you can have your old floor looking as good as new.