How to Replace Rotten Wood Floors
Toilets, showers, and sinks will overflow. Over time, the water can damage the wood flooring or subfloor, which is typically made of plywood. Wood rarely ever returns to its original state once damaged by water. The only option is to remove the damaged section and install a new sheet of plywood. The repair requires the removal of the floor covering, whether it is tile, hardwood, or vinyl, before the repair can take place. You only need a few simple tools to complete the task for a damaged subfloor. Damaged wood floors are slightly more complicated. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Studfinder
- Drill
- Pencil
- 1/2" drill bit
- Screwdriver attachment
- Circular saw
- Measuring tape
- Sheet of plywood
- 2-inch self-tapping wood screws
- Pry bar
- Replacement strips of wood flooring
- Finish nails or staples
- Flooring cleat nailer
- Rubber mallet
Instructions
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Subfloors
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1
Locate the floor joists to the sides of the damaged section. Screws driven through the subfloor should be visible. Run a stud finder along the floor to locate the joists, following instructions included with the stud finder if the screws are not visible. Mark the location of the floor joists to each side of the damaged section in a square pattern with a pencil.
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2
Drill a 1/2-inch hole through the subfloor with a drill and drill bit. Measure the thickness of the subfloor, which should be 1/2-inch or 5/8-inch. Adjust the depth of the circular saw to the thickness of the subfloor.
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3
Hold a chalkline tight against the floor running along the center of the floor joists on each side of the damaged section. Lift the chalkline slightly at the center and release it to snap a blue line along the center of each joist to the sides of the damaged area. Repeat the process to connect the two blue lines with a third and fourth blue line in front of and behind the damaged section.
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4
Remove any screws drilled through the subfloor along the blue lines and within the dimensions of the square. A drill and screwdriver drill bit easily removes the screws.
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5
Cut the floor along the blue line using the adjusted circular saw. Remove the damaged portion of flooring and discard it. Measure the height and width of the cutout section carefully. Subtract 1/4-inch from each measurement.
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6
Transfer the modified measurements to a sheet of clean plywood of the same thickness of the existing plywood. Cut the piece of plywood out with the circular saw and dry fit the sheet into the opening on the floor. The sheet should fit perfectly with a 1/8-inch gap between neighboring sheets.
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7
Drive 2-inch wood screws through each floor joist that the repair patch covers, with the drill and screwdriver drill bit spacing the screws by 8-inches. Drill the screws at an angle through the patch and the existing plywood into the floor joists running along the sides of the repair patch at each point where you removed a screw from along the blue chalk line.
Wood Floors
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8
Pry up the water-damaged strips of wood including a few pieces to each side using a pry bar pressed into the seam of one of the damaged sections. The wood will not come up easily and may splinter.
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9
Measure and cut replacement pieces to the size of the pieces removed in Step 1. Cut the pieces with a circular saw as needed.
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10
Tap the replacement flooring into place with a rubber mallet. Secure the replacement pieces to the floor with wood staples or finish nails using a flooring cleat nailer.
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11
Cut the tongue off of the last piece to install using a circular saw. Tap the piece into place with a rubber mallet. The piece should fit precisely into the remaining hole with no gap between adjacent pieces.
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12
Hammer finish nails, nails without a head, through the wood floor into the subfloor spaced every 6 to 8 inches along the last piece and the original strip of wood adjacent to that piece. The nails will not be visible in the finished product as the head of the nail will sink beneath the surface of the wood.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Creatas/Getty Images
