Looking for Advice on Installing Hardwood Flooring!

[Markfothebeast]

Is there a filler product you recommend? I'm not familiar with wood filler products. There's so many out there as well.

 

[Markfothebeast]

This comment from "Reddit" sounds like a promising method of filling the gaps. Anyone have any feedback on this?

"Having sanded and refinished hardwood floors for many years I will go over the steps we used in sealing these floors.

It looks like you have your final sanding complete and it looks great. At this point we would make wood flour and trowel the entire floor filling all the cracks and holes. To make this is quite simple, you use the finest sanding dust from your last sanding, it should be extremely fine powder with no fibers in it, like fluffed up flour. We would make a mound of this on the floor (maybe 3-4 cups worth) make a pocket in the mound and pour in some clear lacquer (finish). Mix that up until you get a paste with the consistency of toothpaste.

We then take a 12" trowel and spread it back and forth on the floor until we hit every square inch of the room. A 12' x 12' room should only take 5-10 minutes tops. As you go along the mix may start to dry up, you can mix more as needed. This stuff will dry fast, very fast. When complete, let it dry for an hour or two then repeat your final sanding. This will clean the surface and level the joints. Finish as planed.

The wood flour approach will use the same wood that the floor is (sanding dust) so it will stain/finish the same color. The lacquer is flexible enough and will make it bind with the original floor preventing it from cracking and coming out. We have done thousands of floors like this and have never had a call back with it.

Do not use those pre-made wood fillers, they are all junk and you will regret it later.

Edit: Only 700 more upvotes and this will be my top comment. Never thought I'd beat my top comment."

 

[Markfothebeast]

There's a creek in the floor. Probably from a slight high or low spot. Would face nailing a couple spots help or cause problems?

 

[Markfothebeast]

This comment from "Reddit" sounds like a promising method of filling the gaps. Anyone have any feedback on this?

"Having sanded and refinished hardwood floors for many years I will go over the steps we used in sealing these floors.

It looks like you have your final sanding complete and it looks great. At this point we would make wood flour and trowel the entire floor filling all the cracks and holes. To make this is quite simple, you use the finest sanding dust from your last sanding, it should be extremely fine powder with no fibers in it, like fluffed up flour. We would make a mound of this on the floor (maybe 3-4 cups worth) make a pocket in the mound and pour in some clear lacquer (finish). Mix that up until you get a paste with the consistency of toothpaste.

We then take a 12" trowel and spread it back and forth on the floor until we hit every square inch of the room. A 12' x 12' room should only take 5-10 minutes tops. As you go along the mix may start to dry up, you can mix more as needed. This stuff will dry fast, very fast. When complete, let it dry for an hour or two then repeat your final sanding. This will clean the surface and level the joints. Finish as planed.

The wood flour approach will use the same wood that the floor is (sanding dust) so it will stain/finish the same color. The lacquer is flexible enough and will make it bind with the original floor preventing it from cracking and coming out. We have done thousands of floors like this and have never had a call back with it.

Do not use those pre-made wood fillers, they are all junk and you will regret it later.

Edit: Only 700 more upvotes and this will be my top comment. Never thought I'd beat my top comment."

FYI, I did try a basic clear lacquer and sawdust mix. I used sawdust from the 80 grit edger sanding. It actually worked out pretty damn well on the area I used to test. I was so tired I just slapped it on. It takes a bit of effort to work it in the gaps at each angle.

After I hit it with the edge sander I was surprised that it actually worked well although I didn't fill all the gaps entirely. I mean, it came out surpisingly smooth and unnoticeable where there were some gaps before.

However, I was concerned whether the lacquer wouldn't allow the stain to absorb after I sanded it and if it would affect the stain coloration. After all, it does say on the quart of lacquer that it is a "grain filler". But I really didn't see much of a drastic discoloration after sanding it and than staining. I haven't analyzed the area enough where I did place it - which was somewhat random in this square box.

This is a poor example because I didn't spend time filling all cracks. I haven't tried this anywhere but this area that is out of sight where a pellet burner will sit on a platform. I honestly don't know if I'm going to go this route. But the poor reviews of your basic premade "wood filler" crumbling and looking like crap over time has me undecided. It's easy to use basic wood filler but its clay like texture seems like stuffing temporary Play-Do in to a crevice.

(Last image is a test of different stains).

 

[Markfothebeast]

Here's my update. I'll share with other newbies what I learned throughout this entire process.

I definitely learned with hickory that you do need to concoct your own sawdust filler. The premade fillers I tried to color match looked like complete trash after staining. The spots were clearly obvious and poorly absorbed stain.

I spent some time having to sand that off down to the wood, water pop those spots (to match the already water popped floor), and try to blend stain as best as possible.

The most vital step is sanding. I had a buddy help me that has used a floor drum sander before but he failed to heed my advice which is "feather with the drum sander before you stop" and "don't stop in the middle unless you really have to for some reason". I have several divots in the floor but not too deep.

This part is my fault but I didn't know this step. I should've rented an orbital floor sander. Yep. I have hallways where the drum sander don't fit. The orbital would've taken out the edger scratches. I ended up hand sanding which didn't take out many of the scratches because they can be difficult to see.

I also had a very poorly maintained drum sander and floor edger that required adjustment to sand at the proper angle - which went unnoticed because the assumption was that this equipment came right out of the big box store already setup properly. NOPE! Boy, was I pissed when I returned this stuff. The handle on the Clarke EZ-8 was held in by only ONE screw and every bolt and nut you'd imagine was loose. Lesson learned. Check the machines first.

I ended up water popping the hickory - I would HIGHLY suggest this if you stain hickory. I stained twice in Minwax dark walnut. I just completed the first coat of satin polyurethane. I'm sure my mistakes can be picked out. But overall, the average person can't pick out my mistakes at this point. But I'll wait to determine that after the final coat of poly.

 

[highup]

You have more guts that I do mark. Carpet covers wood much easier than poly.
Your brave going with a gloss like that. Looks good.

 

[Markfothebeast]

That's satin. I just literally applied it minutes before. It should flatten out. It does look real nice with that real glossy sheen look, though.

 

[highup]

I'm still not that brave.

 

[Markfothebeast]

Final results after two coats of Minwax Dark Walnut stain and two coats of Rust-Oleum Parks Pro Finisher satin polyurethane on hickory. With water popping. I figured the images might help someone in the future decide on a stain color for hickory since there's no photos out there with this stain.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I like it, how it pops the grain. Nice yob.

 

[highup]

I like the dark color and the satin finish. When it was wet, the high gloss looked like Bruce prefinished from the 80's.

 

[John Ramsay]

Filling gaps in solid hardwood is a tricky business. Timing is critical. Gaps showing up in the winder, or during dry seasons may just be due to natural shrinkage of wood flooring when humidity lowers (like because of forced air systems or dryer climates). Filling these in can cause problems in the future - the filler might pop out again when the climate gets more humid. Here's a great article that goes into lots of detail about wood floor gaps and the various types of fillers you can use to rectify them:
5 Best Wood Floor Fillers for Hardwood Floors

 

[Markfothebeast]

Filling gaps in solid hardwood is a tricky business. Timing is critical. Gaps showing up in the winder, or during dry seasons may just be due to natural shrinkage of wood flooring when humidity lowers (like because of forced air systems or dryer climates). Filling these in can cause problems in the future - the filler might pop out again when the climate gets more humid. Here's a great article that goes into lots of detail about wood floor gaps and the various types of fillers you can use to rectify them:
5 Best Wood Floor Fillers for Hardwood Floors

Yeah. I learned that over the winter. It'd be a waste of time to fill gaps.. I just have to deal with the gaps which aren't really that noticeable. It's just the nature of wood I suppose. But, it should last the life of the home.