Floor Repair

Once in awhile a laminate floor may need repair due to high traffic usage. While they are normally durable, laminate flooring will undoubtedly need repaired at some point. Below is a list of common problems with laminate floors and how to repair them :

Scratching

Scratching in a common problem for laminate floor and happens as furniture is move around, or from pet claws or heel of shoes. Use felt castors on furniture to reduce inevitably scratching the floor or paw socks on pets. To fix a minor scratch in laminate floor, purchase a laminate floor repair kit from most hardware stores. Make sure to take a piece of flooring with you so you can match up the colors. Follow the directions on the package.

Peaking

This happens when the laminate floor boards push up against each other, resulting in high points at the joints. Common cause of peaking is a lack of expansion space between the laminate floor and the walls around the perimeter of the installation, or a lack of expansion space between the laminate floor and laminate moldings. If moldings in the doorways or around the perimeter of the room have been fixed to the floor, this prevents the laminate floor from expanding as it is a floating floor and must not be fixed to the sub floor or moldings at any point. 

Buckling or warping

High moisture content in the air or excessive water on the surface of the floor can lead to buckling or warping. It is important never to wet mop a laminate floor. Laminate floor installed without sufficient moisture barrier (especially if it’s on a concrete sub-floor) leads to water or dampness to rise from the sub-floor, thus causing buckling/warping. Inferior product construction may also be a cause. Ensure that a moisture barrier is installed between the floating floor and sub-floor during installation.

Gapping

When laminate flooring boards pull away from one another it results in gaps between the boards. This situation occurs if the temperature drops to a point way below what is considered normal. Always acclimatize your flooring to the room temperature and conditions of the room in which the laminate is to be installed. As oppose to removal of spacers to remedy peaking/buckling, if there are gaps between boards, increase the spacers at the wall.

Mold and mildew

In order to prevent, control, or eradicate mold and mildew, one must first identify, evaluate, and eliminate the source of excessive moisture. Prior to removing an existing flooring or installing a new floor or repairing an existing laminate floor, if there are visible indications of mold or mildew or the presence of a strong musty odor in the area where flooring is to be removed or installed, the source of the problem should be identified and corrected. 

How To Repair Wooden Floor

Common Repairs


The most common types of repairs we do consist scratches, dents, gouges, water damage, chemical/fire (sparks) burns, pet stains, plant stains, holes from preexisting cable or wire installations are all very common repairs. All of these repairs repairs require the sanding and finishing of the whole floor, not just sections. Sections of floor cannot be matched up or blended into existing areas without doing the whole floor.


Repairs can be done in almost any situation. However, the extent of the repair depends on various factors. Bud's Floor Service is limited to hardwood flooring and refinishing repairs, as well as small subfloor repairs. If there are subfloor repairs we don't feel comfortable addressing, we will let you know and you may need to call a carpenter. We have repaired and refinished floors that are over 100 years old and made them look close to new. We most certainly can help with your hardwood needs!


Repairs on finished floors are very difficult. Deep scratches and dents usually require entire floor sanding to repair the damage. Occasionally, light scratches can be touched up, but they will usually not look perfect. Floor finishes begin to change color after 6 months, which makes the repair process more costly and extensive.


Scratches, Dents, and Gouges


Dents, gouges, and scratches that are less than 1/8 inch deep can usually be repaired by sanding and refinishing. If any of these are deeper than this, the board/s will have to be replaced and the whole floor sanded and finished.
Chemical/Fire (sparks) Burns, Pet Stains, and Plant Stains


These types of occurrences can be sanded and finished unless they are too deep into the wood. All of these have the potential to have boards replace, sanded, and finished. Once again, anytime we mention sanding and finishing, it requires the whole floor, not just a section where the damage has occured.
Holes in the Floor


Nail holes, and staple holes caused from carpet installation, can be filled, sanded and finished. This is the true use of wood filler. Holes in the floor resulting from cable or speaker wire installation may be able to be filled also; however most require board replacement, sanding, and finishing.


Water Damage


Water damage can occur from many differenct sources. Refrigerators, dishwashers, toilets, water damming from rooftops, pipes leaking, and over watering of plants, are all common problems. When the damage occurs:


First, mop up all the water in sight. Find the source of water and repair immediately.


Second, place a fan blowing across the affected area.


Third, place a dehumidifier on the affected area, and if you have a humidifier on the furnace, shut it off.
If you do all of these things immediately after water incident, it is possible that the damage will be minimal and may not even require that anything be done. The things that you may see on your floor could be finish peeling or flaking off the boards, discoloration of the wood, boards cupping (warping), or gaps created when the wood is drying out. If you experience cupping immediately, do not get alarmed and have someone or yourself remove the wood. Some amount of cupping occurs in all water damage cases. Even after you have done all of the above, a dehumidifier can usually get the floor's moisture content to a 12% level. After this level is reached, the floor has to dry on its own. Here in the Chicago area 6-8% is normal for most homes, except for the Lake Michigan shore can be different. A 6% moisture content must be reached and maintained for at least 4-6 weeks prior to repair. This process can take a considerable amount of time, and each case it may be different lengths of time.

Where to Start

Repairs to hardwood floors are not as hard as you think. Besides the right tools, the most important things any homeowner should be armed with when going to repair their damaged hardwood floors are patience, time and a little knowledge. Having these things in their tool box will let the average homeowner make most repairs to damaged hardwood floors. 

The place to begin is with the knowledge. You can find many sites on the internet that will give you tips on repairing hardwood floors. Another good starting point is your local hardware store or home improvement center. Not only will they be able to give you tips on repairs to your hardwood floor but they can also suggest the proper material to use. Other great starting points are your local lumber yard or flooring dealer. If your hardwood floor is new enough, you may even have the floor repair kit that commonly comes with new hardwood flooring. At the end of this article you will find a resource list for repairing hardwood floors.

Flat Roof Repair

There really is no escaping the fact that if you own a home, or commercial building, eventually the roof is going to spring a leak, or two. Then once this happens, you really have but two choices, and those are to call in a roofing contractor, or roll up your sleeves and do the job yourself. 

Suppose your roof springs a leak though, and you either don't have the money to hire the job out to a professional, or you're simply unwilling to pay their high fee? Then of course your next option is to have a friend or loved one do the work, or simply climb up on the roof and do the job yourself.

What this means, is that the water stain on your ceiling can be as much as 11 feet from where the actual leak is. Now 11 feet is definitely on the extreme end, but just the same, you can expect to locate a leak on a flat roof at least a few feet away from where the water is entering a building.

Another place to look for problems is low areas of a flat roof, where water is pooling after it rains. Often roof joists, or even trusses settle or warp to cause dips in a flat roof, and water that pools in them will eventually find its way through, unless it dries out.

Stick with it long enough, and through trial and error in time you will locate the source of the water in your building, and then your next task is to do a quality patch-job. For this the natural choice will most likely be roofing patch that you can pick up at your local hardware supplier and if the roof is wet, make sure to buy "wet patch".

Flooring, Installation, Renovation

Use Wooden keel Fixed wood floor construction is drying equipment, drying, moisture-proof insulation materials are more corrosion under the conditions behind the laying of the floor of the methods commonly used in drying, drying equipment is very advanced materials, a wide variety of today's run in problems.

Installation and labor costs expected, that the noise floor after the installation of wood prone to many problems. Single Solid Wood Flooring Most of the content of complaints tile deformation, drying cracks, walk noisy. Use of the single solid wood flooring tile deformation of most of them appeared in the hall, why is not there in the hall or less in the bedroom in there? Why is completed several years of house, old floor tiles hall will also appear deformation of plate? Why covered with a layer of Plastic Film or a layer of moisture-proof membrane deformation of the tile will appear? Most people are puzzled.


Both old and new building or floor tiles hall severe deformation plate reasons: in the room Decoration Process, bathroom, kitchen tiling, floor tile, to be in the hall and gray, large amount of water infiltrating into the floor, the winds to the surface, as did the actual floor contained a large number of water inside.

When the wooden floor Pu Wan, the potential large amounts of water within the floor by the end of the dry wood floor absorption, so that the bottom plate plate deformation caused by expansion. Although some in the ground layer of plastic film or foam film, if the film has holes in the ground water will continue to enter the membrane, especially around the film did not turn on-board pressure in the Skirtboard , The wall and the water environment around the floor from the expansion and contraction joints into the end boards. As the surface layer of moisture-proof membrane into the distribution board but not the end of the water out, dry wood floor can only be caused by absorption of plate deformation. In particular, single-layer solid wood flooring is dry without scientific manufacturing, not for the strange phenomenon of the deformation.

Protect Your Home From Sound With Acoustic Panels

When you purchase a home the last thing on your mind is sound insulation. Sound insulation isn't exactly on the top of everyone's list; however, it's of high importance if there's a daytime sleeper in the home, such as someone that works nights, or the home is located on a busy street with lots of outside noise. You can either soundproof your entire home, or just create a personal sanctuary which you can run away to whenever outside noise gets to you and have the true sound experience of your choice; either way, there are some things to consider and know about soundproofing first.

There are two options to soundproofing your home. Firstly you can get the sound insulation foam or spray foam installed between the Sheetrock of your home, this way you don't have to install acoustic foam on your walls. The only other option is with the acoustic foam on the walls, which looks very retro and really adds to the room, but that's a matter of aesthetics and personal choice and design. Today you can find very attractive designs and looks of sound insulation options which are not only very effective but great design wise for your home. The only thing left up to you is deciding how far you want to take your sound insulation.

Acoustic foam is rather inexpensive to the surprise to many people, but not everyone can afford to install it in their entire home, or maybe they are not ready to have the foam spray between the Sheetrock in the home, as that can be more pricey. Not everyone is ready to have all of their walls in acoustic foam, but if you choose a room in your home which you particularly like and can turn it into a nice and quiet sanctuary where you can run away to is also a great option.

If you have an extra room in your home you can create anything from a personal music studio or chill-out room or even a nice little home theater. Create a comfortable space for yourself with comfy chairs and all of the sound gadgets you enjoy such as your stereo, computer, television, or games. This is also great for a music studio if you are a musician. Having such a room in the home will not keep the sound in, but the outside noise out.

Overall, having a nice little comfortable place where you can relax and really enjoy silence, or your favorite sounds is a great stress reliever in a world with so much noise and stress. Soundproofing your home is a wonderful way to protect yourself from the outside noise if you live on a particularly busy street, whether its cars or people. 

How to Find a Pet Safe Ice Melt Product

There's a lot of really great things about it from beautiful spring mornings, cool fall evenings when a campfire, and all the fall smells are welcome. In between you get the varying temperatures in the summer with fishing, hiking, all kinds of other outdoor activities, and in Minnesota where I currently live, mosquitoes the size of World War II aircraft. The other inevitability would be winter. Winter for many is a time of different indoor, and outdoor sports activities from basketball and hockey, to skiing, snowboarding, hunting, and Mall walking. Is that actually a sport? So much for the fun stuff.

In between the weekends when we can get out and have fun with winter sports we all have to do with the time in between, otherwise known as the work week.

That's the fun time when you have to be up in what seems to be the middle of the night. After all, you have to get the kids ready for school, get ready for work, and once it's light outside, look out to discover that there was a foot of snow over night. It's a beautiful sight if you could only stay inside, but you can't. So now it's time to get out and clear the driveway so you can get out and get to work. That's assuming the car will start since it's now below zero.

So you get the sidewalk, and the driveway cleared, and try to get the dog to go outside. Good luck. He doesn't like the cold. So you've got the kids on the bus, and are all sweated up from shoveling snow, so you try to get quick shower before leaving for work. You've managed to get all of that done. You pull the car out of the garage, and bolt out the door toward the car. All of a sudden, your feet leave the ground. They are now passing your eyes in an upward motion. And just as soon as that happens your shoulders hit the pavement, followed by your head, and finally your feet. It's not a good day.

All kinds of thoughts rush through your mind. Where's the phone number for my chiropractor? Are my parents the "snowbirds" having a good time in Arizona this morning? And finally. Why didn't I buy some ice melt when I was at the store last weekend. Yes, it's a necessary evil. And by the way, if you are wondering by now why the previous few paragraphs were so graphic, guess why? As they say "Been there, done that." Way to many times.

So now we get to the real reason for this article. Ice melt. Yah, it melts ice. Sometimes. It thaws a little, then refreezes. Not all of it. Some of the chunks are so big that you could twist your ankle from stepping on one. So you put more down on the bare spots, and repeat until spring.