Gap Filling

The Hidden Power of Gap Filling: Enhancing Your Wooden Floors with Floorworks

Gap filling is an accompanying floor restoration service, especially when it comes to floorboards sanding and parquet floor restoration. It is a procedure that is used to fill in the space that can occur over time between the floorboards as a result of the natural contraction and expansion of the timber. There are several methods for gap filling, but the most practical and widely used is the clear solvent resin mixed with sawdust collected from the sanding stages. This can be also used, in combination with strip filling (slivers) for wider gaps.

Gap filling does not only provide smooth and uniform floor finish, but it is also very efficient for draught insulation.

Gap Filling with Resin & Saw Dust

One of the most common method for gap filling of wooden floors involves the filling of spaces with a putty made up by mixing clear solvent-based resin with sawdust collected during the floor sanding process. Each wooden floor has its own unique shade and colour as a result of its timber and aging. Using dust from the same floor guarantees the filling mixture will have a matching colour. The filling mix is manually applied with a wide spatula to ensure that all gaps are carefully filled and covered.

While this is the most popular and practical filling method, it is recommended for gaps up to 5-6 mm, as the resin and sawdust mixture tends to fall through in wider gaps. It is a common practice in siuch cases the gap filling to be applied twice and left overnight to settle.

There are various factors which define the durability of the gap filling.

Gap Filling on Floorboards & Planks

Gap filling on original floorboards can improve the appearance, reduce draught and help prolong the life of the floor finish.

In case of minor movement or vibration in the floorboards, planks or blocks, the gap filling may not last. Thinner floorboards or floors with floating installation may not be suitable for gap filling at all and we may not be able to identify this before the actual works.

Any quoted services, which are not carried out will not be invoiced.

Gap Filling on Parquet Flooring

Gap filling is highly recommended for parquet flooring blocks. It improves the appearance, increases the bonding and solidness, and it helps extend the life of the floor finish.

Solid wood parquet flooring laid over concrete without a proper damp-proofing barrier, can be affected by moisture changes in the sub-floor. This can cause seasonal contraction of the blocks and affect the gap filling in the long term.

The above issue will not be classified as restoration service fault, as it is due to improper installation or structural changes in the property.

Please note, gap filling is not suiable for floors with higher moisture content (over 10%) due to the technical specification of the products used in the process.

While we make effort to minimise movement on wooden floors or avoid application on floors which are not suitable, the gap filling service remains excluded from our Service Guarantee, as in the general case it is beyond our control.

Wood Strips (Slivers) Filling

This method applies to original floorboards restoration, where bigger gaps may appear over time between the pine boards. The technique involves the use of small strips of wood (slivers) and gluing them into the gaps. The strip filling is used in combination with sawdust filling and at FloorWorks, we only use this method of filling for cosmetics improvement. We believe that large amount of slivers spoil the look of original floorboards and does not

Please, see below examples of various floor restoration projects with gap filling...