How to fix wood flooring in cabin

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
SpartanEpoxies
House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
P

papakevin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2011
Messages
228
Reaction score
29
Recently purchased a camp cabin which has some unique flooring and a situation I need to address.

Apparently instead of using real tongue and groove flooring, the previous owner put down 1x10" and just laid them side-by-side. They were stained so they look nice. This issue is they went for a rustic look secured them with what looks like Masonary nails. (Photo attached of a similar looking nail I found online.) Not surprisingly, some of the boards have a lot of movement and it appears the nails aren't holding.

I took one up and there does appear to be something on top of the subfloor (maybe roofing paper, not sure).

So my questions. Any recommendation on a replacement for these nails? Is there a decorative type of screw I should use? Thinking I would pry up the loose boards, remove these Masonary nails and reattach with something better. Obviously a standard screw would do the trick, but don't want a Phillips head showing if I can avoid it.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1509919927.677686.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1509919938.949936.jpg
 
You can drill and counter bore a hole for the screw head and then glue in a wood plug to fill the hole. Sand flush and finish.

Our house is 150 years old and when I found the chestnut floors under the old carpets I wanted to sand and finish them. I had something like 30 holes drilled over the years to plug some were as large as 1.5 inches. We turned a bunch of plugs out of different woods and then matched the plugs to the holes for shading and grain. Once sanded and finished you have to look hard to find them.
 
The nails are a standard carpenter nail, which are no longer carried, except by long standing lumber yards, from the 20's and 30's. I used to use them for constructing "antic" furniture, bird houses, tool boxes and work benches.
 
I would just re nail with finishing nails, they don't have to be long just put them in on an angle apposing each other.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to see if I can screw in the one or two really bad boards then patch over top of the screws. I'm a little concerned the finish nails won't hold because the hole left by the old carpenter nails is huge. Going there this weekend to try it.
 
papakevin said:
Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to see if I can screw in the one or two really bad boards then patch over top of the screws. I'm a little concerned the finish nails won't hold because the hole left by the old carpenter nails is huge. Going there this weekend to try it.
Click to expand...

You would want hold the board down tight and nail on an angle. In the old hole or not still easier to hide.
 
I found nails like that in my oak flooring dated back to the mid fifties. Except mine were toe nailed through the grooves ( or maybe it was the tongues) in my T&G floor
 
LOWE's sells a similar screw that drives with a #1 square bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top