I want to replace a few boards in our pre-finished bamboo hardwood floor. After i take the damaged boards out and put the new boards in, how do i get the last board in? How do i get the existing floor board fit into the groove of the new one?
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Just out of curiosity, products like nhance, are those a good alternative to replacing boards? Doesn't sound to me like a long-term solution.– VitalikCommented Aug 11, 2011 at 14:00
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Here is a video that explains how to do it. Another series of videos (6) with lots of information Part 1. And another video.– Tester101Commented Aug 11, 2011 at 16:14
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1This process is called "stitching". Woodchips gave you a good answer. Also a Sonic Crafter saw is very handy tool to use in this situation.– shirlock homesCommented Aug 12, 2011 at 10:10
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3 Answers
The last board is always the tough one. A trick that usually works is to cut off the lower half of the groove. Now that last board will simply lay down in place.
The problem is then to get it to stay down. For that you may need a few well placed finish nails, set into the board. Then use some putty to hide the small nail heads. A bead of glue along the tongue may also help to hold it in place.
You have to cut the bottom of the grove off of the board you are inserting. Then you'll need to glue it down since it no longer has a full grove.
Oh this is a tough one. Most likely the boards are tongue and groove so you can't just pull them out. On top of that, they are probably stapled to the floor (typically the recommend stapling bamboo rather than nailing.) One strategy is to work backwards from the end of the installation toward the place where you need to replace the boards. But that may be removing more than you would like and the staples / nails may be difficult to remove.
The other approach would be to set a circular saw to the depth of the boards, and cut along the seem of the boards you want to replace. This would remove detach the tongue and probably the staples / nails holding them down. Then you would replace with the new boards, keeping in mind the last board you place will also need to have the tongue removed so it can fit down directly in place. You can rip this with a table saw.
All in all, this is a hard job, and really hard to make it look like the original installation. The "right" solution would be to remove the boards fromthe bad ones to the wall, but that is probably more work than you want.
