How to Replace Oak Flooring
Replacing damaged oak flooring planks without ripping out the entire floor is a complicated project but one you can accomplish with the right process and a little patience. Oak flooring is installed with a tongue-and-groove system, which means you can't pull any of the boards straight up without ripping off the tongue-and-groove milling on the adjacent boards. Cutting out the middle of the damaged board allows you to separate the tongue-and-groove connections sideways. You'll also have to alter the milling on the replacement board to get it in. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Circular saw with wood-cutting blade
- New oak of floorboards (pre-finished) of the same type as the damaged ones
- Small, sharp chisel
- Hammer
- Wood glue
- Nail gun with finish nails
Instructions
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1
Set your circular saw on a piece of replacement floorboard, and use it to set the depth of the blade to exactly the depth of a floorboard.
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2
Run the saw along the middle of the damaged board, length-wise, making sure not to cut into the edge at any point. Keep the blade more than 1/2 inch from all edges of the board.
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3
Repeat the process. Make several length cuts that cross and overlap each other so pieces of the board start coming out in chunks. Remove as much of the middle of the board as you can without cutting to the edges.
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4
Use your hammer and chisel to carefully tap the edges of the cut board sideways off the surrounding tongue-and-groove fittings and into open middle of the board. Get it off completely.
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5
Lay your replacement board face-down on a work surface. Locate the grooved side of the board. Use your hammer and chisel to careful chisel off the bottom lip of the groove, so only the top lip remains. Run lines of wood glue along the edges and bottom of the board.
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Set the board into the open space--tongue-side first--locking the tongue into the groove of the board next to it. Set the other side down. The missing bottom lip of the groove will allow it to drop over the tongue of the adjacent board.
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7
Nail down the board with your nail gun. Sink the nails in pairs. Repeat the process for each board that needs to be replaced.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear protective goggles when extracting the old boards.
