Question about hardwood floor

[rodney mitchell]

I am laying my first one and I got the utility grade from Lumber Liquidators. Therefore, I have a lot of cracks, knotholes, worm holes, etc. to fill. Two questions...
1) What should I use to fill the defects? Some kind of epoxy like I have heard people use for mesquite?

2) What should I use for a just a general overall filler when I get the defects taken care of?

Thanks for any help!

Rodney

[Tim Devery]

Prefinished or Unfinished floor?
If unfinished use Timbermate.
If prefinished, I do not know of any colored filler that will match the floor AND harden up.
You might want to go here and ask. www.floormasters.com

[Bryan Berguson]

If the floors are unfinished, use a clear slow setting epoxy. Fill the holes proud and belt sand them off when hard. 5 minute epoxy will work for small holes but not well for big ones. The bubbles don't have enough time to float out. I used roofing felt under my hickory floors and the knots look like solid black knots after being filled this way.

Bryan

[rodney mitchell]

Thanks for the link Tim. I will check that out. The floor is unfinished and has roofing felt underneath. What is Timbermate exactly?

Bryan, where can you get a large quantity of a slow setting epoxy? Lowe's or HD? How large of a hole can you use the epoxy for? Some of the knot holes are fairly large. Thanks for the responses.

Any ideas on what to use for a general filler before final sanding/finishing?

Rodney

[Kenny King]

Rodney

Try Jamestown Distributors. This System Three starter kit might be just what your looking for:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1479&familyName=System+Three+T-88+Structural+Adhesive&history=i80gwxkj%7Ctop_category%7Cpage%7EGRID%5Eca tegoryName%7EEpoxy%2Band%2BAdhesives%5EcategoryId% 7E203%40iu8f8519%7Cother%7CrefineType%7E1%5Erefine Value%7ESystem%2BThree%5ErefineName%7EBrand%5Erefi ne%7E1%5Epage%7EGRID

hmmm, if that doesn't work for you try
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com
And look for system three under epoxy.

- Ken

[Sam Shank]

Find something called full trowel filler. It's water based filler that you trowel over the entire floor (after you've filled knot holes). Then it gets sanded off after your second sanding (80 or 100). It helps you find your edger marks and stop marks if your new to sanding.

Just be sure to get the good stuff. The cheap stuff will pop out after a few years. Ask at your local hardwood flooring supplier (commercial), LL won't have it. They have it at HD, but only use that stuff in a pinch. It's the stuff that pops out.

It tinted in various colors - red oak should be plentiful and in stock everywhere.

Good luck.

[rodney mitchell]

Thanks for the answers guys. Sam do you recommend an epoxy for filling the large areas?

Rodney

[John Shuk]

Rodney,
Please post pics and or your satisfaction with this flooring after you finish. I've looked into using Lumber Liquidators as a source for flooring if a new shop ever comes into my reach.

Not sure if this is an issue but you might want to make sure you don't mistakenly epoxy the flooring to the underlayment in case of movement.
Just popped into my head and thought I would throw it out there.
John

[Tim Devery]

Rodney: I should have warned you first, they can get kind of ornery on that board.
I usually use Bondo, tinted with tint-all (Burnt umber) to fill large knot holes in a floor.
Be sure to try a sample first, with your stain, to make sure you add sufficiant quanity of Tint-all.

[rodney mitchell]

John, I love the way the wood looks and for the price you can't beat it. I have a friend who used over 2000 sf of it in his house and it looks great. He had probably about a 15% waste rate.

Sam, yeah they can get a little rough, huh? That one guy was cracking me up. I don't think he likes the rustic look. Where can you get the "tint all" and are you talking about the bondo that is used for auto body work? Thanks...

Rodney

[Tim Devery]

I get the Tint-all at my local paint store. Or, I have also just asked them to fill up a small container from there mixing station.
You need a pigmented coloring agent. Dye's will fad in the sunlight, unless you also cover with a stain.
The guy's on this board probably have at least a dozen sources for coloring agents...............

[rodney mitchell]

Hey Tim, thanks. I just noticed I called you Sam in the previous post. Duh, sorry. The bondo you are talking about, it is the same bondo for auto body work?

Rodney

[Bryan Berguson]

System Three is what I have now but I used whatever I could find locally when I did my floor. DON'T buy it in the small syringes...you'll go broke if you have a lot of knots to fill.

Physically, you can fill any size knot or void you want. Visually, you may want to experiment if you have a knot that's in the inch across range. The smaller knots will look like the surrounding wood but larger ones can be clear at certain angles.

The epoxy works great for filling voids too. It must have been one of those late nights when I was laying the kitchen floor and I ended up putting a board down that was about 1/8-3/16 too thin for about 1 foot. This was in 3 1/2 wide hickory. I never noticed it until all the floor was down and I wasn't about to tear up many feet to correct it. I mixed enough epoxy to fill it in one pour and now I'm the only one that knows it's there and I have to get down on my knees and look at the correct angle to see it.

I guess I should post some pictures...

It won't hide poor sawing / butt joints. You can fill them but it will still look like you were sawing with your eyes closed... :)

Bryan