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Posted by Don Young on November 9, 2007, 10:15 pm
>
>>
>>> In the tenants' apartment in our 1840's townhouse a portion of the wide
>>> plank soft pine floor has cracked. My intention is to cut out and
>>> replace the cracked piece with a patch of modern clear pine stained and
>>> polyed to match the rest of the board (it is under a rug anyway). The
>>> patch would be three inches wide between two joists (22" OC) while the
>>> original board is 8 feet long. In order to do this I have to cut out
>>> about a 3" wide piece of this board out across the top of one joist. So
>>> I only have access from the top of the board. My guess is the best way
>>> to do this is with a sharp pointed knife. Do you think either one of
>>> these would work:
>>>
>> I agree with the guys telling you to fix it. A patch will look like
>> crap.
>>
>> What is under the floorboards? Could you drill a large hole in it and
>> use
>> that to get a saw blade in? (if you decide to cut it out that is...) I
>> don't know how 1840 floors were made.
>
> OP here. Thanks for all the comments. And sorry I wasn't clear about the
> situation. The "crack is actually a break and is not reparable. I will try
> to explain it as best as I can in words as I do not want to disturb the
> tenant by having to move furniture and lift the rug just to take a
> picture). The board in question is about eight feet long by twelve inches
> wide. It is flat plank and laid directly over the joists which are about
> two feet apart. It is held in place by flat cut nails. The joists are
> about 9" deep and have the lathing for the ceiling below attached to their
> bottoms. Essentially what happened is that a piece of the board about 3"
> wide separated from the board and cracked in two. this is just between two
> joists and which I want to patch. This house has some detail and a lot of
> "old feel" to it, but is far from museum quality. It has seen a lot of
> "muddling" including some floor patches using modern wood done by
> professionals in its time. Thus the patch would be unfortunate, but not a
> total disaster.
>
> Now in order to do this I have to I have to cut this broken piece that is
> still attached to the rest of the board on its end over the joist. This
> is what I wanted to cut with a knife. Based on what is universal opinion
> that this is a terrible idea, I will do it with a rotary saw (I don't have
> the confidence to do this with a full sized circular saw). When I have
> these two pieces I will see if it is possible to epoxy them together and
> support this glued piece in the middle with a piece of wood glued to the
> bottom of the adjacent boards. Or I'll do the patch of the broken piece
> is too far gone. BTW the board and the patch do match in thickness. Bit
> if the new board is a 32" of an inch thinner, it is easy to build up since
> it owly touches something underneath it at the joists.
>
> Thanks again for all the help.
> --
> Peace,
> BobJ
>
>
Be aware that the new board does not have to lap over the joists. You can
cut the old board next to the joists, remove it and secure blocks alongside
the joists to support the new board. You can also install blocks partially
under the adjacent boards and the easiest way to do that is by using glue
and hex-head screws droven from the bottom up. A small socket and ratchet
will allow you to easily turn the screws from below. Screwing the blocks to
the joists will also prevent vibration damage to the ceiling from driving
nails.
To cut out the old board, drill holes inside the corners and use a sabre
saw. You can use a piece of cardboard or thin wood to protect the floor
finish from damage by the shoe of the saw. Piece of cake!! Drills and a
sabre saw are essential tools for home repairs.
Don Young
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