Question: How do I compensate for wood expansion when laying 2 1/4 oak strip flooring parallel to a tile floor? Kevin Answer: Dear Kevin You should have at least a 1/2″ to 3/4″ expansion gap at all side edges, (depending on your climate and how many boards have spanned the room). Including the one that abuts the tile. If the tile is 1/4″ or more higher than the hardwood, you are in luck. Boarder the tile with wooden reducing strip, of the same wood species as the hardwood floor. They are usually sold along with both prefinished and unfinished hardwood floor, and come in several widths and thickness. If the wood floor is higher than the tile you simply finish off the floor with a thinner reducer strip to reduce down to the tile, again covering the gap. But if both floors are about the same level, you will have to install a thin threshold. They do make T shaped thresholds that will bridge and cover the gap. These would be the best as they are very strong. But you can bevel the edges of 3/8″ by 2″ strip of hardwood, and nail this across the level gap. The least elegant way is to use a metal strip, as used for vinyl tiles floors. Yeach!

Question: I have waxed wood floors from the 1750s and I don’t know how to clean them… Every product says “Do Not Use On Wax Floors.” What can I do? Answer: Dear Linda This is no mystery to me, but the stores now only carry pre-finished floors, and don’t appreciate the beauty of a old waxed floors like we do. The best way to clean this floor, is of course never with water. You will need to use odorless mineral spirits. If you have little or no finish left on the floor you will not be harming it with this mild solvent. Use a white non abrasive scrub pad, while squirting the solvent on the floor. Before it dries wipe it up with lots of clean rags, until the rags are just wet with solvent, but not dirty. Let the solvent dry overnight, then apply a liquid paste wax this time. There are two brands mentioned in the maintenance article in the Floored News section of this site. And a lot more info on just how to treat floors that have a finish you cannot identify. Yes, there is a finish on that floor, wax is only a top dressing for a sound finish, and someday you might have to remove the wax and repair parts of that finish, so please read the article. You will only need to clean and wax once a year, and just do touch ups and a monthly buffing with a natural fiber (corn broom bristles) pad on an electric buffer. And of course vacuuming often, and no outside shoes should be worn on this venerable old floor. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: We had a party, and people tracked in mud from outside onto our wood floor. My roommates and I were considering two options for cleaning it. One way is to use a giant squeegee machine and a lot of water to get the dry dirt off the floor and out the door. Another way is to rent one of those wood floor sanding machines and scrape off the dirt and very top layer of wood. How do you think we should clean up our problem? Bryan Answer: Dear Bryan Please read both parts of my wood floor maintenance article available in the search box at the top of this web page. Don’t clean the floor with lots of water until you know what the finish is. And don’t use a sanding machine to clean a floor, you may destroy it, and be on the hook for its replacement.

Question: Our office recently installed hard wood floors. Do you have any tips on a good, non-streaking mop that we can use after we have swept up the dirt?? This entire mopping process has be come very frustrating, because I don’t have a mop that is dry enough to keep from streaking, but wet enough to clean. Thank you… Answer: Dear Lora Yes, please read my floor maintenace article in the Floored News section. And be sure to visit the Cleaning Center (mentioned in the article) to find their better quality and well priced mops and stuff. As always your Most humble servant, Joseph, the Wood Floor Doctor.

Question: I have a solid hardwood Kennedale Strip w/Dura-Luster Plus Urethane. Maple, I think. I am wondering what I need to use in order to clean it and preserve it. It is in the kitchen. Thank You! Answer: Dear Cherie First you should read my article on wood floor maintenance, which can be found in the search box at the top of this web page. It suggests how and what to clean these floors with. And suffice to say now the best way for this particular floor is to spray the suggested cleaner on the floor and wipe it off with a wet rag then a dry rag. And about once a week you can damp mop the floor with the same cleaner. The article describes this also. Now as to how to preserve the wood, read on. And now that that is all said, the real trick is to recoat this floor about every 2-4 years, with a fresh coat of finish. And seeing how it is a prefinished floor, you will need to use one of the professional prep agents to chemically abrade the floor, and apply 2 coats of water-based finish. I suggest using only two possible products in the article from two well-known manufacturers of industrial water based finish. The idea is to get the floor sealed up in the open seams that now exist. And that way even a daily moping of the floor won’t ever harm the wood. If the floor is now 4 years old and it still looks fine, it’s time to re-coat anyway. This only applies to kitchen wood floors. Any other area of the house can wait 5-10 years. The cleaning article also mentions a urethane dressing you can use on the floor. It’s made by one of these well know manufacturers, so it won’t interfere with a recoating later.

Question: Hi Joseph, Here is my question again regarding filling the cracks in an old doug-fir floor: I have very “rustic” quality doug-fir tx floors. There are a lot of gaps between the floor boards and numerous chips and gouges everywhere. Regardless of the distressed quality, I would like to fill the gaps, sand it down and apply a light stain to the wood. Unlike most people, I don’t mind a floor with lots of character. It’s what I’ve got and I’m willing to live/work with what I have. I’ve heard that you can color wood filler to match the final color of the floor once its been stained. I’m interested in using a non-toxic stain and have been advised to use the Livos brand Meldos Hard Oil, which is a linseed and orange oil stain. Apparently the stain has a slight yellow tint to it that will darken the wood and bring out a more reddish hue. How can I tint the wood filler so it doesn’t stand out in stark contrast once I begin staining my floors? Thanks, Kirk Answer: Dear Kirk There are many ways to fill a floor. You can certainly fill the gaps before sanding, and then when you finish the floor more of the oil or varnish will stay on the surface of the wood, rather than running down between the gaps. So, I’ll go over all your choices. The cheapest and still the most effective fillers are simply made by mixing up fine (from a floor edger machine) maple or red oak sawdust and a lacquer based finish. It dries to a pleasant reddish color. This filler is quite hard, and sticks fairly well to the the gaps. It will survive the sanding, but in time it will crack out as the boards move seasonally. But this could take a couple of years to occur. It will accept the pigment in the oil finish and remain just a bit darker than the floor, so just apply the finish over the filled floor. One better filler than this would be the same dust mixed with a good oil based polyurethane varnish. You will need to add some whiting (powdered chalk) to lighten this up. The varnish causes the filler to turn very dark, so the whiting will help, and you can also add some universal tints. This filler is generally troweled on just after all the sanding is done. But it takes a lot of skill to keep excess filler off the boards. Have someone right behind you neatly wiping up the excess that does occur. This will act as a good sealer for the wood, but only if you are using the same finish for the following 3 coats. (Oh, oil finishes cannot be used as a binder for a filler). The advantage to this poly blend is that it dries very hard, but stays in the gaps almost forever. I used it on my floors 22 years ago, and most of it is still there. Tough job though. This filler doesn’t accept much color once dry, so you have to get the color right in the mix of ingredients. Next choice would be the rope trick. Again after the floor is sanded AND a coat of finish is applied, get various sizes of cotton or hemp rope. Pre-stain these with a regular wood stain, to match the final color of the wood. Stuff these ropes into the gaps, using the various sizes to fill the various widths of the gaps. You can even unravel a section of the rope to down size it and make it fit better. Don’t be tempted to glue the rope in place. This may cause the floor to “panelize” as it shrinks in the heating season, and pulls a bit of it’s glued neighbor off in the same direction. Instead apply the coats of poly to the floor, and the rope will just absorb it and dry and get stuck in place. The rope method doesn’t look nice, and you do have to keep the rope below the surface, or else your bare feet will feel it texture, on an otherwise smooth floor. But it’s easily replaced. Next down the list of choices would be the water based fillers in the big 5 gallon tubs. There are many many makers of type of filler, and they range from very poor to mediocre. This stuff can be troweled in before and even just after the coarse sanding process. You can use a masonry trowel at first then later during the sanding stick to a 12″ drywall trowel. The drywall trowel applies the filler in a more controlled manor, but the filler may have to be thinned to make this work. Water thinning makes this stuff weak and crackable. It would be better, albeit expensive, to thin this stuff with a good water based finish. Here are a list of brands to try : Dura Seal’s Trowelable Wood Filler at http://www.duraseal.com/sections/products/cs/fillers/tro-fill.htm Bona Kemi’s Pacific filler at http://www.bonakemi.com/productspecs/pacfiller.html Berger-Seidle Aqua Choice Trowelable Filler at http://www.berger-seidle.de/frameset/area_northamerica/index_frame.html Almost all the water based trowel fillers come pigmented already, so choose a color that is a just a tad bit darker than your final finished floor color. Oh, and speaking of finishes, the one you are about to use, is not very non-toxic, nor durable enough for floor use. I would try the Tried and True brand of varnish/oil if you HAD to use an oil finish. This product contain no solvent of any kind, check it out at

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And that’s the key to any filler, it has to have some sort of varnish-like binder in it to make it hard, stick to the wood, and it keep flexible. The last quality is not really achieved except by the rope. I wouldn’t, in any case expect the filler to match the various color of the wood floor, and trying to stain by hand it with a wood stain would be one of those “forever jobs”. Just one more note, I always use 4 coats of oil modified polyurethane on all my softwood floors. These floors will last longer and look better if finished in this matter. You can read the introduction to the use of this great finish at https://www.woodfloordoctor.com/_how_tos/particlesshort/bubbles.shtml

Question: The more I think about the idea of v-joints, the more I think they actually reduce the lifespan of the floor. The joints, regardless of how “micro,” will tend to collect things like dirt, or other abrasives. Although Mirage and Lauzon are suposedly well-rated, they don’t seem to offer unfinished, non-v joint wood. Is there a high-quality (Select and Better) brand of wood you recommend that doesn’t have v-joints? As you indicated, sanding v-jointed wood is like throwing money down the drain. Thanks. Doug Answer: Dear Doug I only hope more people are using their common sense like you and are returning to well sanded and finished hardwood flooring. My poly finished floor will last at least 23 years now and counting. Should go about 40 years before cracking a crazing sets in on these reactive varnishes. As to brands, choose something locally made by a reputable mill. Almost all hardwood mills still make unfinished wood flooring. It still makes up half the wood flooring market. Check with your local flooring contractors as to where they buy their material. Every major city will have several of these stores. It will still be at a wholesale type store, but one that caters mostly to tradesmen. Use local material, also because long distance shipping will add too much to the final cost, and a local supplier using NOFMA grading standards (and the NOFMA stamp) cannot cheat you. Don’t confuse NOFMA with NWFA (the later is just a wood floor marketing association). Visit the NOFMA site and see the standards they certify flooring with at http://www.nofma.org

Question: Purchased your How to’s for refinishing hardwood floors. I installed red oak wood flooring in 3 different rooms (physically challenging) but I am absolutely tickled at the outcome. I have come this far and want to “finish” the job myself. Thought about hiring a pro, but want to complete this myself. After researching this and talking to a number of folks, I found your articles. They were well worth the $$$$. One question did arise, any guidelines to use in the amount of sandpaper to get. Was hoping to find a guide like 5 sheets of each grade for a 12x 12 room or something like that. My wife wants a cherry stain (the oak floors in the rest of the house that had hardwoods were done with on a red oak floor. Can you suggest which stain and finish you would use on red oak ? I have 3 teenagers and 2 dogs! Thanks for the great articles. Ken Answer: Dear Ken Thanks for the compliment, and for your feed back, it’s much welcomed. As to how much sandpaper to buy, I didn’t write about that because every floor (new or old) is different. In your case, a sheet of 36 grit should last about 200-300 square feet. You can tell when the paper is wearing out when you have to really push the machine to remove the “over-wood” on the newly installed floor. And generally speaking the finer grits will all go about as far. But buy more paper than you need . I’m sure they allow you to return unused sandpaper. Be sure to sand with 36,60 (slowly as to take the coarse marks out) and then 80 and finally 100 or 120. Like I said in the article I don’t buy the really fine paper preferring to burnish the 80 on the running machine. Nice Trick. As to the stains, the easiest to use are the Minwax wood stain, especially for a light color like cherry. But, I still say to hire the pro to follow my sanding instructions, he’s got the better machines. But most certainly do all the finishing of the floor yourself, that’s the fun part anyway. If you think that the installation was tough, you will find the sanding about 10 times more difficult. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Oh, and as to the finish, for sure 3 coats of oil poly applied just as I said in the article. Don’t be tempted by the new industrial water based finishes (Street Shoe, Traffic) they will make your floor look like plastic. And all the water based finishes last only about 10 years before they turn opaque. I will do an extensive article on this very subject sometime this year. I’ve been talking to industrial chemists and art restorers, about the whitening of water based finishes. Big Problems. Hidden from the public. For now I would say the brand of oil poly that I mention in the article has held up well in my household with the same sort of use (that your mention) for about 22 years now. Not bad.

Question: I am looking into engineered flooring. I am having difficulty getting information about what I truly need. I am looking at several name brand products, Mannington, Robbins, Bruce. Do I truly need 5-7 ply products or is 3 ply fine? I am located in Texas so we are not real moist. The three-ply products, Robbins in particular has a much thicker top layer than the 5-7 ply. Will 3-ply buckle a lot easier? Any suggestions on brands that are a good buy? I am a “best buy” type person, not a most expensive type. Answer: Dear Tres The three ply might be fine until it gets wet. It’s not very moisture stable because of the thick sliced wood it is made of. And it’s not all hardwood in most cases, softwood cores are the norm now. I looked in my area for the old 5 ply laminated wood, and could find none readily. It looks like all that material has been discontinued. Pity the poor person who had the older 5 ply floors and now cannot find a single box for a simple repair. The prefinished wood floor industry has the attention span of a butterfly. It’s become much like most floor covering, very fashion conscious, but not very practical in the long run. That all said, we will see how this new batch of 3 ply and in some cases 2 ply material holds up. It promises to allow you to sand and finish the floor at a later date. But we’ll see if this stuff will last the 20-40 years until the first sanding is due. That is more time than most of these prefinished wood floor makers have been in business. So they may not have the perspective to see that far in the future. I’ve seen loads of poorly thought out products coming from this industry, and this may yet be another one. If it were up to me, I would choose an elegant pattern of square edged parquet (not the cheap t&g stuff you now see in stores). I would glue it down with Dri Tac 6200 adhesive, and sand it silky smooth on site. A dark walnut stain, and 3 coats of a satin poly would make this wood glow, and put those paneled prefinished floors to shame. And there is a lot more to installing wood floor on concrete than just choosing the wood. I have an article about Wood Floors on Concrete, which you can find in the search box at the top of the web page. There are a lot of problems with this sort of installation. More than most floor boutiques are going to admit, of remedy. The article is a must read, before you install any floor on a concrete slab on grade.

Question: One time you said to install 5/8 inch plywood over 19/32 OSB (which I have). Another time you said to install 3/4 inch plywood over OSB. A third time you said to remove the OSB. So which is correct? Answer: Dear Avi All three answers are correct, it just depends on your budget and other factors. At the very least you should nail down 5/8″ plywood (over the OSB) hitting the joists with 4″ spiral nails. I say this is the least because the flooring nails will still penetrate the OSB 1/4″. But I would hope this would not cause too many squeaks in the future. And this will keep from raising the floor too much, so as making too high a rise to the various stair cases. But 3/4″ plywood would be better, as the flooring nails will almost only contact the plywood, and be as if the OSB wasn’t there at all. And the very best thing to do is to remove all or most of this substandard building material (OSB) and replace it with 3/4″ plywood, or even 1 by 4 Southern Yellow Pine laid diagonally to the joists. This last suggestion makes the very best nailing surface for hardwood flooring, if you’ve got really deep pockets. I will always try to answer each question with first, what is most practical, and last, what is the most ideal, but I cannot take too long on each question. Now, could you please answer me these two questions? Did you really ask your question about the OSB three separate times, and what do you intend to do about this subfloor?