Hardwood floor repair

Usually closely, sometimes exactly, occasionally not. It depends on the species, the width and profile of the boards, how much the existing floor has aged and darkened, and whether the finish is a stain or a natural oil. A new board from a store often looks different from a floor that has been down for decades, which is why salvage or a board borrowed from a closet is sometimes the better match. We give you a clear read on the likely match before you commit, because a repair that stands out is worse than no repair for some people.

Sometimes, but not by sanding it, at least not first. Cupping means the underside of the boards has taken on more moisture than the top, so the priority is finding and fixing that moisture source and letting the floor stabilise. Boards often flatten substantially on their own once the cause is removed, and only then is it clear which boards, if any, need replacing.

There is no fixed number of days, so it is measured rather than guessed. A pin meter shows the moisture near the top of a board and deeper down, and on a cupped floor the underside reads wetter. Boards are replaced, or the floor sanded, only once those readings have settled and the new boards read within about 2 percentage points of the existing floor. Sanding a cupped floor flat while the underside is still wet leaves it looking flat for a while, then it can crown as the boards finish drying.

Not always, and it is worth waiting to find out. The National Wood Flooring Association treats gaps that open in winter and close again in summer as normal seasonal movement, and filling them causes problems when the boards expand again. Keeping indoor humidity between 30 and 50 per cent year-round, as the NWFA advises, limits how far they open. Gaps that stay open all year are a different matter and can be addressed. We would want to know what the floor does in both seasons before recommending filling.

Repair, in most cases, and often by a wide margin. Board-level replacement uses a small amount of material and targeted labour, while replacing a room means removing a floor that is largely sound, buying new material for all of it, and reinstalling. Replacement makes sense when the floor has been sanded to the end of its life or the damage covers most of the room, and that is a job for a flooring installer rather than for us.

Yes, when the damage is in specific spots. A deep gouge or a chipped board edge is repaired by replacing the damaged boards and blending them in, and smaller marks in a board that is otherwise sound can be filled and the finish touched up in that spot. We explain which option suits each mark before we start. The limit is spread: if scratches cover the whole room, that calls for a full sand and refinish, which is not work Squeaky Floor does.

No. We do not sand and refinish whole floors. Our work is repair, which includes treating a damaged finish locally in the area we have worked on. A full sand and refinish of an entire room is a different trade, and if that is what your floor needs we will tell you so rather than sell you a repair that will be sanded away six months later.