wood floor, fill gaps at edges

[christophergraber]

hi,

i have standard hardwood floors and "quarter round" "molding". the house is from 1946 and their are some gaps under the quarter round that let ants come into our house. i am wondering, if i take all the quarter round out, is there some type of foam or other product i can use to fill in the gap from the edge of the wood floors to the wall. then i could reinstall the quarter round, and even if it wasn't installed perfectly, ants couldn't come up into the house anymore.

ideas? is there some standard way to do this "filling"?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, The gap is there for a purpose. Wood shrinks/expands somewhat seasonally. Or you may fill the gap since wood may have dried up real good.

[Malcolm Hoar]

1. That's a lot of work.
2. Unless you're *very* careful, lifted and replaced quarter round will not look too great.
3. The "foam" or whatever may interfere with the expansion and contraction of your (apparently) "floating" floor.
4. It won't stop the ants. If there's one tiny hole, in the foam or elsewhere, they will find it! They always do!

In my experience, you will need to use chemicals to control the ants. If, like me, you don't want to use chemicals inside the house, use them outside and spray/dust/whatever around the perimeter of the building.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Leave it alone. You have to stop the ants before they get to the flooring. Work around the outside of the house to prevent entry. If you fill the holes in the flooring, the ants will only find another path. Do a Google search on insecticides and extermination.

[m Ransley]

The gap lets the floor expand and keeps your floor from buckling up when it gets very humid in summer. I junked a rooms parquet because the idiot who installed it left no gap for it to expand, it would buckle up 3" in the middle in summer. Poison your ants.

[bamboo]

[Goedjn]

After they've entered the walls and are trying to get into the living space is the wrong place to try to control the ants.

How and why are they getting into the walls in the first place, and what kind of ants are they?

[Ether Jones]

Go to the local supermarket and buy a big box of 20 Mule Team Borax (in the laundry section). It'll cost you maybe 3 bucks or so. (Note: WalMart doesn't seem to carry it any more). Sprinkle the Borax generously in the gap, making sure it gets covered up so kids and pets don't get into it. Over time, it will stop the ants.

[Tom The Great]

IMHO:

Sounds like plugging a hole in a collender. Try eliminating the ants/ant nest. Prevent them from wanting to get into your house/get an exterminator.

Now back to your question, you block that 'space' you might prevent your wood floor from moving and cause buckling.

later,

tom @