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I have a condo with a concrete subfloor so I floated an engineered wood floor above it. It's not a "click-lock" floor, it's a glued T&G install.

A contractor recently did some work in the unit and damaged one of the boards. How can I replace a single board in the middle of the floor for a floating installation?

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You'd have to treat it like a hardwood floor t&g repair:

  1. Run a circular saw down one side, staying away from seam at least the thickness of the tongue, with depth set to board thickness.
  2. Repeat #1 along the other side.
  3. Connect the top and bottom cuts across the board, either with a chisel or OMT (Oscillating multi tool).
  4. Carefully cut into corners to free the 4 border pieces, as necessary. They may just pry out.
  5. Trim the bottom half of the groove off. (I like to use a table saw and fence). You should be able to wedge it in with the tongue intact, though a small bottom bevel might assist it.
  6. Sparingly glue along edges of existing tongues and the new board edges and weight it down, as necessary.
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  • I cannot glue down, this is a floating install. – Matthew Feb 27 '13 at 19:13
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    you're not glueing down, you're reglueing the tongue and modified groove, which is why you have to weight it down, because the bottom of the groove is gone. The end result are 4 glue joints around the perimeter of the board. – HerrBag Feb 27 '13 at 19:15
  • I think I understand... Remove the bottom of the groove on the new board, clear the groove on the intact board... Insert the tongue of the new board into the existing groove on the intact board, then set and weight the top-half of the modified groove on the new board? – Matthew Feb 27 '13 at 19:19
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The general principle is you cut the length of the board with a circular saw set to a very shallow depth, making sure to not over-run in to adjacent boards. Then you use a chisel or utility knife to cut all the way to the end. You should then be able to lift the middle of the board out. If the ends are also T&G, you might need to use a utility knife to cut the tongues.

Now for the new board: Cut the tongue off the short end. Then cut the bottom of the groove off from the opposite short end and the long side. Apply glue to the tongue and the (modified) groove. Slide the board in to place by inserting the tongued edge in to the appropriate board in the floor and rotating the board down so the (modified) groove edge fits in to place. Apply liberal pressure to the long edge, wiping up excess glue with rag wetted with warm water.

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  • Do you think the board will be stable with only a single tongue on one side of the board? What will keep it from flapping? – Matthew Feb 27 '13 at 19:13
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    The glue in the modified groove will hold the board down. Wood glue is crazy strong. – longneck Feb 27 '13 at 19:21

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