Floorboards

Styccobond B94 Jon

We have exposed boards in three rooms, there are no draughts at all. I thought it was because the boards are tongued and grooved.

Mary

We have "normal" floorboards, ie with gaps between.

sPoNiX

Normal?

How about another layer running the other way? Or laminated?

In my last house we exposed the floorboards. I used wood fillets hammered in to the the big gaps, and used sawdust from the sander mixed with some PVA to fill the smaller gaps. The advantage of using the sawdust is that as we were staining the floor the sawdust in the PVA will stain as well, and the PVA is flexable so as the floorboards move with the central heating you should hopefully not get any warping. I advise that you use lots of sawdust to a little PVA.

-Alistair

My daughter wanted to do this on her ground floors... After looking under the floorboards she was dissuaded as there were skips loads of dust and god knows what under there that would come through any small gap when wind blew into the airbricks..

I have seen the wind lift the carpet in the days before a fitted carpet was put in my dining room ( gaps in floorboards, suspended timber floor with airblocks allowing ventilation ).

I exposed the floor last year and packed the gaps with twists of hemp rope ( very tedious, I recommend you don't bother and see if you can get away with it ) then finished off with natural wood colour frame sealant ( acrylic ).

It works well, and after 18 months, although there are slight gaps visible in the sealant where the boards have moved, I reckon you'll get that whatever you use.

Andy.

Take them up and re-lay over insulation/building paper. A PITA but good results. Failing that, use papier mache (with wallpaper paste). Pack some jollop under the skirtings, too!

J.B.