[Closed] Bare floorboards- what can I use to effective 'fill' the gaps to prevent drafts?

http://www.draughtex.co.uk/

the sanding 'dust' from when you sanded them, wood glue and wood satin to colour. if you haven't just sanded them I'm pretty sure there's some similar products out there

you can buy s pecifc product for it from one of the big DIY retailers.

any solution is to mix up some clear glue and sawdust and paste into the gaps.

Moved from a house that was totally floorboards into one thats totally carpets. BLISS

Interested.

For the record I tried Gapseal Tape, but it was rubbish.
No use on big gaps, difficult to get flush and didn't look good once fitted.

Carpet?

we used old school type string or twine, coated it in wood glue and pushed into the gaps and painted with the boards, has worked better than anything else we tried.

Same problem here - have just ordered the draughtex sample pack - thanks for the info!

got a crawl space underneath the floor? you could use a foil blanket under the floor to preserve the aesthetics

caulk?

Underlay and a carpet work pretty well, maybe with some local newspapers to provide amusement to the next owners.

When I ripped up the floorboards from the previous owner/OAP's there was a dark pool of brown stuff in the middle of the room inbedded in the floorboards 😯

Same on the stairs -but as it was gloss underneath it was hair/matted stuff.

a dark pool of brown stuff in the middle of the room inbedded in the floorboards

I wouldn't go digging under the patio if I were you...

We've moved house earlier this year & the entire downstairs is varnished floorboards.
It looks like when this was done, some kind of wood filler was used to fill the gaps between the boards. It works, but doesn't match the colour that well. It looks OK, but not fantastic.

sawdust and upvc glue mixed together to a paste then fill the gaps and when dry sand down the floor then the floor wax .this drys out darker than the boards but looks good.

Or just rip them all up and get a t/g floor put down. 🙂

I'm going to use a filler called Lecol 7500

the sanding 'dust' from when you sanded them, wood glue and wood satin to colour.

Is it worth filling gaps before laying a new carpet?

Friend of mine used cork strips......dont know where he got them from though or how much of a pain they were to use, sorry!

Not floorboards but the same principle, when I layed some reclaimed parquet flooring I used epoxy resin mixed with sawdust, pointed the gaps and sanded it flush, worked a treat,
Finished
[IMG] [/IMG]
Before varnish but sanded
[IMG] [/IMG]

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khani, how did you sand the floor? We've got one hiding under our carpet downstairs and I fancy setting it free - but have heard they're tricky to do because of the block directions...

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I hired a big belt sander and an edge sander, when you start sanding keep it moving or it'll sand a trough if you keep it in the same place for too long, fill any gaps with epoxy/sawdust mix and sand again, it takes a while but patience is a virtue, then varnish with a roller for an even finish, three coats of varnish lightly sanded between each coat
Don't mix too much epoxy in one go or it'll go off before you can get it down

If you hvae circular holes, plug the holes with corks from your wine bottles (if you can still get any!) that's what we did in our bedroom! Works a treat, they are still there 5 years later.

It would need to be something flexible as the floorboards have a lot of movement and most fillers with glue in will fall out over time.

or alternatively as deadlydarcy said ,or if you are lazy t&g an top of the existing boards at 90 deg

I'm going to use a filler called Lecol 7500

This is one of the greatest products ever made for people who fit and finish (especially parquet) floors. It will not be suitable for hora's needs though - when it cures, it's completely inflexible, will crack and fall out.

That Draughtex stuff that Stoner linked, would be the best solution...and if you must fill the gap, you'd be better off doing it with "fillets" of timber - possible not a job for a DIYer - depends on what kit you've got...if the fillets can be machined with a V-shape, they can be whacked down with a hammer and then sanded flat.

Make sure the floor is already ventilated with air-bricks either side of the room before you do anything though.

Nice job with that parquet khani.

I don't use drum sanders with parquet - instead using a gigantic orbital sander (because of block direction) and because I can charge a fair whack for the extra time it takes. 🙂

If you're a DIYer, then bloody well done mate - that looks fantastic!!

dd: what will happen if I fill gaps in floor boards if there aren't any air bricks? My victorian house is rather draughty.

Surely filling gaps in boards is no different to if I had underlay and carpet on top?

Thank you 😀 yes I'm a diy'er, it took ****in ages and a lot of Internet, the worst bit was cleanlng it up as it was covered in bitumen, 28 large rubble sacks worth, and laying 30square meters of plywood screwed down to 100mm centers, thank the lord for power drivers! I used that lecol stuff to stick it down, it sets like concrete that stuff

Your floor joist's will rot if you have no air brick's

look around out side Im sure you will have some air brick's somewhere

My victorian house is rather draughty.

Unfortunately (but I'm no expert on ventilation tbh) I think that's how it's supposed to be - because once upon a time, there was no central heating - only open fires in the rooms. You may now have vents in your windows, walls etc for ventilation. There will be no damp course in your floor - there may be a layer of slate in the walls though. The loss of ventilation may lead to an increase in damp - affecting your joists etc. - then again, it may not.

Are you definitely sure there are no air bricks anywhere at low level? Sometimes they're hard to spot (sorry, not patronising you here but I've struggled to find them before sometimes 🙂 )

Underlay and carpet can still "breathe" (if you get me).

Like I said, I'm no expert, and maybe I'm just perpetuating a myth - go onto DIYnot or screwfix forums and check the discussions on air bricks there - I'd say it's better to have them than not.

Ta for advice khani - I'm hoping that I won't need to stick too many down with epoxy because the floor is already there (I've not inspected it all under the carpet mind you - so there may be a few loose/missing ones). I used a drum sander for our boards upstairs and that worked well in the end - but like you say - patience is definitely a virtue...

Thank you

You're welcome - always commend a well done job me

Did you use Lecol glue then? One day, we won't be able to use solvent based glues anymore 🙁 But I know what you mean, it's the dogs for parquet where you want it to go off as quickly as possible so some eejit (yourself most likely) doesn't step on it and send a hundred blocks "out" 😀

Yours will probably be easier than mine cos it's already down and (hopefully) level, mine was very uneven when I stuck it down as it was reclaimed and previously sanded so not all the same level, if you use a drum sander keep it moving at a nice steady pace up and down without stopping, have fun 😀

The concentrated sweat of a hundred fatties should do the trick.

so some eejit (yourself most likely) doesn't step on it and send a hundred blocks "out

dd: not patronising at all - i assumed i was being stupid when i couldn't find them... but I'm positive there are no airbricks - I've looked all over...

The groundfloor is actually level with the street/garden and the floor *appears* to be solid parquet laid on I-don't-know-what. The previous owners had installed a chemical damp proof course in the walls - but I doubt it went under the floor.

Upstairs we have boards on joists - but there aren't any air bricks there either. These are the ones I’m thinking about filling the gaps in... I've heard the thing about timbers rotting if you block air bricks - but given that we haven't got any - I was wondering if filling the gaps would have the same effect...

I do it for a living and still walk on the wrong bit 😀 sometimes. Cue quite a bit of effing and blinding.

Upstairs

Oh right...sorry, yeah, upstairs. Knock yerself out then...I wouldn't worry too much about ventilation up there.

The mrs calls it the 'f'kin bastid floor' cos everytime she walked past that's all she could hear 😳

the foil blanket under the floor is well worth doing as well.

Sorry...going to be doing this in a few weeks...