How to Take on Hardwood Repairs
|
|
Time to read 2 min
|
|
Time to read 2 min
Hardwood floors add beauty and splendor to any home and can greatly increase the value of your home, especially if you’re putting your home on the real estate market. As much as you may care for your hardwood floors , it’s nearly impossible to prevent damage. However, before you can begin any hardwood repairs, you need to identify the damage and the type of repair that best fits the problem.
The good news about repairing a hardwood floor is that you can do most repairs on your own. Of course, how much time it takes ultimately depends on the extent of the damage and your comfort level making the necessary repairs. Contractors can be costly – but worth it – if the damage is widespread. If you’re at ease with making the repairs on your own, you can save some money.
Repairing a hardwood floor will prevent the damage from getting worse or, as in the case of a squeaky stair, prevent people from being hurt as well. It’s also important to identify the damage and repair it quickly in order to get the surrounding floor in good repair. This is true regardless of the type of damage to the floor.
Squeaks and creaks in hardwood floors can disrupt a midnight snack or thwart a teenager sneaking in past curfew. While it may be handy to keep those squeaks around for just those occasions, a squeaky stair or floor can also be a tip off that boards or stair treads are in disrepair and need attending to before they worsen. If it’s a squeaky stair you’re fixing, it’s important to check both the tread and the risers. Boards can loosen over time and constant use; a stair that has loosened to the point of squeaking could eventually cause an accident if the tread has become cracked. Squeaky floors, while generally not as serious as a squeak in a stair, may also reveal weak spots in floors that need more than tightening up with shims and adhesive.
Floor gaps can cause a loss of heat through the floor and make a hardwood floor look unattractive. Gaps can also give way to debris becoming stuck in the floor gaps, thus making it hard to get your hardwood floor completely clean. Arming yourself with shims, wood glue, or wood filler can be the exact fix you need to close the gaps and restore your hardwood floor to its original allure.
Paying attention to the needs of your hardwood floor will save you time and money in repairs throughout the lifetime of your hardwood floor. While you can’t prevent your hardwood floor from ever needing repair, you can take great care to make sure that when your floor does become damaged, it’s concentrated on quickly and properly.