Closing the Gap between floorboards

[Noyade]

Hello!

Looking for tips on closing gaps in floating floor panels - don't wanna pull it all apart and start again. There's just a few of them in a hallway near the kitchen. This is where we started and where most errors appeared as we were complete novices at the time with regards to floating floor.

Hard to see on the photograph - but they're (the gaps) probably only half a millimetre.

They're 10mm boards and not of a high quality. As we learnt we got better and had no problems, but when we went back to where we started we could see where we went wrong.

I'm thinking of utilising friction > large L plate steel, rubber and a sledgehammer. 

But before I try that I'd like to hear other ideas....

Cheers

Graeme and Jule.

The Great Divide

[Jason]

Let me tag our resident flooring expert @PJA for you. Hopefully Peter will have some helpful advice.

Jason

[PJA]

G'day Graeme and Jule,
congratulations on getting it right toward the end; and especially for giving it a go.
My first question is, does anyone apart from you notice it?
Painters always blotch a spot here and there. Professionals tend to do it more than us amateurs. The thing is that because you painted it, you notice it; whereas hardly anyone else (except for a professional painter) will see it.
It will be the same for the floor. You did it; you see it.
If you are determined to fix it then you have 2 choices. Give it a bask with the Z brace and hammer, after praying fervently.
Only do this if you have some left over pieces to replace the ones you are going to, most likely, damage in the attempt.
Or... lift up the floor and redo it.
If it is near where you started, you may be able to reverse engineer the process from the start.
If you can get the piece out you may be able to remove the clip lock joint and glue the piece in place.
Your picture tells me that it is really not 'that' noticeable and with luck it may even fall into place over time.
I'd just leave it.
See what reactions you get from your friends.
Again, if you go for the sledge hammer approach, just go in very gently.
Good Luck

[ProjectPete]

Good job figuring it out @Noyade - it can be finnicky at first. @PJA is right about who will notice it. I'm quite the perfectionist and bang on about things being perfectly leveled, joined, etc and even when I point out where someone's picture isn't hung straight or their tiling has inconsistent gaps - most people still don't notice or it at least doesn't bother them.

You can simply fill it with some timber filler - take a board to Bunnings to match the colour.

Sometimes you can get lucky with those gaps/joins and give them sort of a sliding kick with your heel going toward the joint to knock it into place.

Just make sure you don't hammer directly down on the join because you risk breaking the clip-lock join then that end of the board could actually sit higher than the other.

Let me know how you go.

[Noyade]

Thanks for the replies!

Apologies to my wife - her name is Julie not Jule.

PJA - what's a "Z-Brace?"

[Noyade]

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@ProjectPete"Sometimes you can get lucky with those gaps/joins and give them sort of a sliding kick with your heel going toward the joint to knock it into place."

Based on that idea I found a solid (10 mm thick ) piece of angle iron and glued a 12 mm thick piece of rubber to one end with polyurethane glue from Bunnings..

By standing on it and smacking the other face with a hammer I thought I could shift the board. But no  - the only thing that shifted was me - just not enough friction between the rubber and the board.

About to give up but then tried washing the rubber surface with turps - which made it tacky and sticky.

Managed to close the gap!

The only thing is that sticky rubber surface is only good for one smack - you need to keep reapplying the turps as the rubber surface quickly becomes contaminated with dirt/dust.

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[ProjectPete]

Z Brace is the black thing next to the hammer 

[artrato3]

thanks for this idea we have the same problem

[BIM_Engineer]

Always check the moisture content in the timber and concrete slab for potentual shrinkage problems!

Acceptable moisture content in building materials

[TedBear]

I know it's an old posting, but for anyone else with the same issue... I recommend buying a cheap, rubber Dent Puller from an automotive shop. Place it near the join to be filled, with handle in line with the board (so you have something to hit), then use a rubber mallet (preferably, to give less shock to the board) to tap the dent puller's handle & bump board forward to fill in the gap. If it feels stuck, pull up lightly* on the dent puller to release some of the friction between floor and board. (*Not enough to dislodge the board!) If you have many large gaps, consider pulling them all way from a door crossing, so that all the gap is in one place, then cutting & fitting a piece of board across the doorway. If you can't get the same board for this, consider using a suitable contrasting colour for your fake "doorstep".