Hope I Repaired This Right

[MJ D]

I am by no means a carpenter, just a woman learning as I go helping out my Painting, sub-contractor son. My job was to clean up the ancient oak floors, but the landlord liked my work so much he hired me! On the stairway, a corner step pieced with 3 boards had a gap running 1/8th to

1/4 in. One piece was higher and globbed with varnish. I scraped and cleaned out the joint, sanded to level. I used some shingles to fill the gap as far down as possible, leaving about 1/16 from the top. I wet them to swell and filled wth wood putty. The next day I sanded and refilled with putty for a smooth surface. Stained and Poly. Looks nice but do you think this will last? I appreciate your time, boy this stuff is FUN!!!!!

[No]

I would not bet that the repair will last too long. It may if the backing behind the putty was solid. If it was loose then the repair will fail sooner.

Maybe the better way to repair would have been to remove the offending boards and re-install them w/o the gap. May have involved a little work with a plane to get them to meet up properly. Re-install, refinish, and away you go. Wood will expand and contract with changes in temp and humidity. That gap may not have even been visible in summer.

If removing them was not an option I would have considered an epoxy filler and left more than 1/16" to fill.

Or, another possible fix would be to use a router to widen the gap to a consistent 1/4" and then fill in with a new piece of wood.

Anyway - cross your fingers, you may have gotten lucky. If he liked your work ask him for a generic written referral letter you can use in the future. Get it now before something goes bad.

[MJ D]

Wow, Thank you for replying! I really love learning this woodworking..and you have given good options. I can see how it may eventually "fall" into the stair space. Thank you again! Mary Jo