# Hardwood floor repair weaving



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

I had a wall removed in our kitchen and needed to repair the floor where the wall was. I hired a contractor that weaved / laced the floor. After I paid and a few week later we noticed that some boards that he weaved would move up and down. If we slide a chair over that section, the chair will stop. when we walk on it we can feel the difference. The contractor refuses to come and fix the problem. He won't even look at the floor. Says it was not his problem because I had built a pantry over the patched floor before it was sanded. I have hired a lawyer and they have sent a letter, but he still does not feel that he did anything wrong. Although he did say he would come and fix but never does. 

I have gotten an estimate to repair for $1300. 

*Question:* What is the proper way to 'patch' a floor where a wall once was? The area were the wall was is patched with small pieces of wood. 
sOmeone had told me there is a profession call 'Hardwood Inspector". Could not find one in my area. If someone on this forum knows of one or is one, please let me know. 



This contractor advertises on the site called 'Thumbtack'. Although we found him on 'NextDoor'. 

We may have to go to small claims court. 

I have attached some pics to see better. I tried attaching a video .mp4 but would not allow a video. A video really shows the problem compared to a image. Any help is appreciated. 

Cas Nowak


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

If the boards move up and down they need to be nailed better. You could face nail those boards and then fill in the nail hole with colored putty to match - no need to refinish. And while the pantry might have complicated sanding a little, I can't see where it has any effect of boards being loose.


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

Thanks Mark, I did think of that but if they get nailed down like that then the the bord next may be higher or lower.. having the same problem.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Is this a floating floor? I was assuming it was a nail down floor in which case each board should be securely nailed to the subfloor via the tongue.


----------



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

Did the lawyer's letter say that you will have it repaired & bill him? That's the best way to go, if you really think that he owes you.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

How long was the patch material in the house before he did the work?


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

The repair patch work was down probably about 1-2 mo.. before sanding and coating. I could get a closer time if I check some pic dates. Are you thinking it was down too long without having something done.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

takes-time said:


> The repair patch work was down probably about 1-2 mo.. before sanding and coating. I could get a closer time if I check some pic dates. Are you thinking it was down too long without having something done.


 No it should be in the house long enough so it has the same moisture content as the rest of the floor. If it was much dryer it could swell after it was installed but you would expect that to show up in the time waiting to be sanded. 


When the weave like that they cut the bottom of the grove off in order to get them in, that would leave that side of the board needing face nails.
He may have faced nailed with a pin nailer to make it show less they would not have a lot of holding power especially if he nailed them straight down. 


That said I would repair it with a pin nailer but nail on an angle, that would leave a tiny hole to deal with


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

I remember he knocked off the tongue on the side of the wood. But don't remember on which boards.. I think he did that to several boards. I remember he would hammer several in from the end. when doing the last board how would that be installed since it has the tongue on one side? He used some spare wood to fill in the section where the wall was.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

takes-time said:


> I remember he knocked off the tongue on the side of the wood. But don't remember on which boards.. I think he did that to several boards. I remember he would hammer several in from the end. when doing the last board how would that be installed since it has the tongue on one side? He used some spare wood to fill in the section where the wall was.


 Go to about 840 on this video and see how he finishes.


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

WOW!!! He never did anything like that... Of course he had about 10-12 pieces to do... Would you do the same thing for several pieces??? And then he used a lot of wood putty as you can see from the picture..


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

takes-time said:


> WOW!!! He never did anything like that... Of course he had about 10-12 pieces to do... Would you do the same thing for several pieces??? And then he used a lot of wood putty as you can see from the picture..


He had to do something like that for the last piece or few last pieces. I haven't done enough to say I could do a better job. 
When install the floor only one side gets nailed and the T&G hold the other side. So when they slide in a long repair piece there are no nails on either board on one side of that board. I would assume that would be face nailed.


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

Thanks, I appreciate all your comments.


----------



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

takes-time said:


> Thanks, I appreciate all your comments.


 I was hoping some flooring guys would comment.


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

Yes hopefully, some flooring guys will jump in here... And if there is a official Flooring Inspector that would be great!


----------



## 195795 (May 24, 2013)

Ya know, I did this type of deal on my 1950s ranch in Chicago - I turned a bedroom into a dining room, so I removed the door and about 5' of that wall so I could have an "open concept" look with the living room and arch it like the other openings I did like that. Well, I have to say, I removed a lot of individual 2 3/4" red oak boards in order to get the weaving seamless. Then I re-sanded the entire house (entire house was hardwood except kitchen) and restained it all to make it "perfect" - yes, it was a big job but those floors WERE THE HOUSE !


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

Thanks TexasDiyer for your response. That is exactely what I hired the 'contractor' to do.. He just wasn't very professional in his work.


----------



## KHouse75 (May 14, 2008)

You have to remember that in that video, he's working with prefinished flooring and he has replacement pieces of the exact same model so they fit perfectly.

When you are trying to weave in brand new wood into an existing floor of old wood, it's going to take a whole lot of work to get things fit. There's are most likely going to be gaps and spaces requiring lots of wood filler.

I have a feeling that where he went wrong is he didn't glue the remaining groove area. This is what would lock the boards in place. Here are a couple videos of Tom Silva doing this the way I've done it.










The best I could suggest for the places where the floor is moving like that is to try to force wood glue down in between them if there's enough of a gap.

They make a screw that will go through the hardwood into the subfloor them break off below the surface. The other option is to screw them from below using screws that are long enough to go through the subfloor and a good bit of the flooring without penetrating through the surface. This will require screwing into the new and old boards. You may run into issues with these options because they may be of different thicknesses which will cause them to be uneven requiring the floor to have to be sanded and refinished.


----------



## takes-time (Feb 28, 2014)

Thanks KHouse75.. I was able to find some information on the internet and when I suggested some things to do or I questioned why he was doing it a certain way... He got really upset and said i was 'under-mining' him and his professionalism. He did it the way his grandfather taught him and didn't need me suggesting anything..Since he was the best in the area...


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> He got really upset and said i was 'under-mining' him and his professionalism. He did it the way his grandfather taught him and didn't need me suggesting anything.



I've worked in areas where there were few [if any] real pro painters .... and many of my new customers didn't even know what a real paint job was supposed to look like or entail until I did a job for them. Just because he was taught by his grandfather doesn't mean his grandfather was correct. Plus materials and methods change over time.


----------



## 195795 (May 24, 2013)

takes-time said:


> Thanks KHouse75.. I was able to find some information on the internet and when I suggested some things to do or I questioned why he was doing it a certain way... He got really upset and said i was 'under-mining' him and his professionalism. He did it the way his grandfather taught him and didn't need me suggesting anything..Since he was the best in the area...


That's when I would have told him to gfy and thrown him out of my house !


----------

