Repair wood floor after woodworm treatment Cambridge

We were employed to sand and oil the Oak floor in this house, it had not bee done for decades and was subsequently covered in a very dark layer of dirt. Once sanded and oiled the floor was glowing, but a number of areas we noticed woodworm holes in the wood. We were assured that the wood had received woodworm treatment at some stage as there were no signs of current woodworm activity. However, if you believe the wood worm are still active you will need to treat the wood promptly.

In this image you can see clearly see the effects of woodworm damage to the wooden panels. This damage can be viewed in one of two ways depending on your own personal preferences:
- Rustic effect
- Visual imperfection

What you do next depends on your view.....

If you appreciate the rustic charm, the authentic aged look, then you may want to simple leave it as is.

If, however, you do not appreciate the marks then you have two options:

Replace the boards

Fill in the tracks

(Both options come with limitations)

Replacing the boards would require a good deal of research. Firstly you will need to assess the age of the wood roughly. More modern hardwood floors are often made from trees that have been modified to grow fast in order to meet demand. The wood from these trees area a lot lighter in colour than wood used decades ago. So in order to buy wood that matched the colour of the rest of your floor you must source wood from a similar era.

The best place to source aged wood is from a salvage yard, such as Solopark near Babraham in Cambridge

If you choose to use new wood you will very likely see vary obvious difference in colour that will spoil overall look of the floor. The other alternative, apart form sourcing reclaimed wood, is to replace the entire floor.

Filling in the tracks takes time and skill. The floor will be lightly sanded back and the sawdust collected and mixed with Wood Filler, such as Pallmanns Allkit Wood Filler. This will then be skillfully worked into the track marks to level out the wood. This will then be sanded down and finished.

It would be advisable to employ a floor maintenance specialist to ensure the repair is done to the best possible standard, as once you will only have one chance to fill it right. Filling the holes will improve the floors appearance greatly, especially because dirt can no loner reside in the holes giving the distinct colour difference. However, the boards will likely still have some imperfections.

If you choose to have the tracks filled in contact Art of Clean for more information and we can discuss the service we offer. Call us on 01223 863632 or see our website www.artofclean.co.uk to find out more.