Help Choosing Repair Method for Termite Damage in a Hardwood Floor

June 3, 2017 9:01 PM

The termites are long gone but they have left their mark on our 60 year old floor. I am pretty certain how I want to attack the severely damaged boards but the lightly damaged ones have flummoxed me a little. Here is a list of strategies and products that I think I need some advice on:

1. The really damaged boards. There are two or three short stretches of board that have splintered. I plan on cutting them out using the method outlined in a This Old House video. I have some replacement wood ready to go and I am pretty confident that I can make this work.

2. The partially damaged boards. These look like they have a tunnel bored just below the surface but that tunnel hasn't splintered yet. There are areas where the tunnel is exposed in little pinhole patches. This picture pretty accurately depicts what these areas look like. I feel like something to harden the wood and maybe some filler could save these boards and save me the headache of replacing. I've looked through Home Depot's website and, while I saw a few things that sounded like they would work, I really have no experience with wood hardeners and fillers. Anybody have any Home Depot suggestions?

3. Note that the structure of the house is sound enough and the termites are gone. The finish has been taken off the floor by someone else at some point. Also, I will be sanding my work smooth but I will not be refinishing the entire floor. We will probably be hiring a professional to do our entire house all at once.

posted by Foam Pants to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

I have successfully done this on floors that were finished and saw it done on floors that were unfinished and then refinished.

I've seen wood hardener used on outdoor decking, I'm unsure if you need it for this. Basically you slap in some wood filler, let that dry 24 hrs, and sand it flush. You do this by hand, being as precise as possible. The filler doesn't really take a stain and can leave an interesting pattern when stained of light and dark... Or I remember dabbing on stain gloss on one project where the floor was previously stained and finished. I built up the color with small brushes, it was undetectable. If you know what finished color you are heading for, you can pigment the wood filler.

I'm pretty sure wood hardener would preclude staining afterwards by its very nature. Sure of this, actually. If you think the boards don't need replacing, pipe in pigmented wood filler like you are filling cannoli or other pastry, dry, sand it down. Done.

I once lived someplace where all of these divets and defects were filled in with wood filler, sanded, and then the entire floor was stained and sealed. It had this streaky effect that looked really awesome and unusual.

This should cost you under $10 or $20. Get really fine grit sand paper and a pillow for your knees. Should be great!
posted by jbenben at 11:36 PM on June 3, 2017

If you're going to have the floors professionally sanded and refinished then I think you might want to consult with the floor sanding company before you bother attempting to DIY any of this. They'll be filling smaller defects as a matter of course, so there's not much point in your doing some only to have them do more later, with a different color filler. Also, the perforations where tunnels are just below the surface are likely to get worse / more open as sanding removes material, so there's the chance that more boards will have to be replaced.
posted by jon1270 at 4:50 AM on June 4, 2017

Well, the thing is we may not be having it professionally done for a very long time. Maybe never. I want to make the floor safe for the next two years or so.
posted by Foam Pants at 10:51 AM on June 4, 2017

On the assumption that the pinholes could be breathing holes, it might be worth trying to flip the boards to see whether the undersides are in better shape -- even the ones that are splintered.
posted by jamjam at 11:53 AM on June 4, 2017

Typical hardwood flooring boards have a top and bottom side They also can't be removed non-destructively. They can't be flipped.

I think jbenben is on the right track. I'd mask off around the areas you're filling to minimize the cleanup and sanding, then pipe in some appropriate (hardening, sandable) filler, let it dry/cure thoroughly, sand flush, apply some finish to bring back the gloss, and call it a day.
posted by jon1270 at 12:50 PM on June 4, 2017

When my business partner was refinishing her floors herself as a young newlywed about 40 years ago, a spark from an electric outlet set the maple floors of the living room on fire during the stripping process. The boards were extensively, but superficially, burned.

When the owner of the most respected floor refinishing firm of that era in Seattle managed to stop laughing after inspecting the damage as she stood there crying, he suggested flipping the boards.

Which was done w/o much effort and with a very satisfactory outcome, according to my business partner. His name was George High (or perhaps Hai, she never mentioned ethnicity), for you old Seattle hands out there.

From a previous question by the same asker, I thought the flooring being asked about here could be ~60 years old.
posted by jamjam at 3:21 PM on June 4, 2017