Home Floor Repair and Flooring Supplies

The flooring in your home is important for maintaining the overall decor of the house. After all, whatever overall look you’re going for can hardly be achieved if your floor is visibly damaged or stained. While most people take it for granted, flooring adds character to your home and serves as the springboard from which a great design can come to life. If you’re looking to repair or replace your flooring, the most obvious choice is to call a professional since the job can be quite intimidating. However, if you have some time on your hands and a penchant for handywork, you can always choose to do it yourself. There will also be some cases where the job is small enough that even a flooring rookie might be able to give it a try. All you need are the right flooring supplies and of course, an eye of safety.

Wood flooring can give a great look to a house, and it is prized for its simplicity. Some people also like that wood isn’t always necessarily uniform in appearance so a more natural look is achieved. Unfortunately, wood is susceptible to types of damage related to water, temperature, and even termites. Replacing a wooden plank takes some effort, but in essence it’s like fitting a piece into a jigsaw puzzle. It also requires a degree of finesse to make sure each piece is eased into place, as simple brute force alone will put your floor at risk for further damage. Some of the necessary flooring supplies might not be items you would normally have in your house so in those cases a rental might be in order.

1. Start by vacuuming the floor and eliminating as much dirt and dust as possible. Depending on the size of the job, you will have a lot of dust particles getting into your face if you clean the floor thoroughly before hand.

2. Use you band saw to cut the wooden plank you want to replace. You will cut three times to section the plank into three strips vertically. This will make it possible to pry out each strip (and thus the overall board), using your chisel to help get the piece out.

3. Take your new wooden board and make sure it is cut to the right size. Depending on the conditions of your house, you’ll want to allow a bit of room to allow for possible growth or contraction.

4. Take your flooring glue and apply it liberally to the spaces where the old and new wood will come into contact.

5. Cut the lower part of the groove side using a chisel. Fit the floor tab into the floor groove and use a block of wood and a hammer to knock the board into place.

6. Use a nail gun, or a regular nail and hammer to secure the board in place. Nails should be located in a place that is not visible and using a nail set will help to drive upper nails down further where they can later be covered by sandable wood filler.

7. Use a belt sander to even out the height of the new floor board. Follow that up with a Drum Sander that will further even out the look and feel of the new board.

8. The final step is to stain and finish the board to match the existing condition of the floor.

When the job is done you want to remember what caused the damage to the board in the first place, and take steps to remedy the problem. For example, if you have termites then the job will not stop as simply replacing the floor boards. If you are still not too confident about your ability to do a wood floor repair yourself, you can go ahead and call in a professional. But take the time to watch him at work and ask questions about each step and the associated flooring supplies. The right repairman will be happy to tell you what he’s doing and in time you can learn to do it for yourself.

Floor Repair and Flooring Supplies

Replacing or installing carpet is a more physically demanding job that you will unlikely do all by yourself. However, if you have one or two physically fit friends who would be willing to help out, it would make the job entirely possible. As always, safety should be your main concern so keep in mind how heavy carpet can be. Never lift large rolls from your back or you risk hurting yourself. And while new carpet is being installed, the floor will be rife with objects and flooring supplies that can hurt your feet, so make sure to wear adequate protection that may include boots, knew pads, gloves, and goggles.

1. Give your old carpet a final farewell by vacuuming it thoroughly so that you won’t be breathing in loads of dust when you remove it. It’s also a good idea to put on a face-mask for the entire removal process because you never know what you will uncover when that carpet comes off.

2. Cut the carpet into strips with a utility knife to make it easier to remove and start to roll it up off in sections. It’s always good to be as organized as possible and take each step in order, so you should make sure all the carpet has left the room before you do anything else. Leaving loose strips with the promise of “getting to it later” will just create more mess as each step progresses.

3. Now remove all the old tackless strips and padding as well.

4. Give the floor another once-over to make sure it is as clean as possible. Check the foundation to make sure there is no underlying damage.

5. Install the new tackless strip around the room. Use work gloves to prevent possible injury from the nails and tacks.

6. Lay the under padding on top of the tackless and secure it in place with staples. If there is any excess padding then trim it off with a utility knife and use duct tape to seal the seams. You want a nice tight seal at this point or you run the risk of having a bulgy carpet.

7. Before you lay your carpet on top, make sure to have the proper length of material. That means something that is around 5-6 inches longer than what it takes to cover the room. You’ll want to give yourself leeway to make sure the entire floor is covered, and any excess can be cut off later anyways. In areas where two pieces of carpet will join together, you’ll want to use seaming tape underneath to keep the carpet in place. Hopefully you’ve measured things properly so that the connection is not noticeable. Remember, you can always fix something is you have more carpet than you need.

8. Once everything is in place, use a knee-kicker to secure the carpet to the tackless strips. Among flooring supplies, the kicker is a handy little contraption that grabs the carpet on one end, and attached it to the tacks on the other. It will also serve to stretch the carpet so that it is placed tightly and you don’t have to worry about it moving under your feet.

9. The last step is to touch everything up, using a wall trimmer. Go around all the edges and make sure to get rid of excess carpet. Some people even like to leave the room for a few minutes, then come back later so they get a fresh perspective on which areas need further trimming. Finally, give your carpet its first official cleaning with something like a Shark Steam Cleaner to start it off on a fresh note.