I bought a house and the timber floor has some aesthetic defects inside the closets. What is the best way to fix then?
Hi @linasuarez13,
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.
Those areas appear to be patches where the original floorboards were removed, possibly for access beneath the house, where an old internal wall was removed or simply to reuse the boards elsewhere. As the replacement boards have a different profile and appearance, they are unlikely to ever match the surrounding floor perfectly.
You could try sanding the patched boards back and coating them with something like Cabot’s CFP Floor to improve their appearance, but some variation is likely to remain. A simpler alternative would be to carpet the inside of the cupboards, which would neatly cover the patches.
Allow me to tag some helpful members to see if they have ideas - @Noyade, @Dave-1, @JoeAzza.
Let me know what you think.
Jacob
Insert sections of carpet in the wardrobe tailored to fit - put some shoes on top - and no one will ever know.
Good Afternoon @linasuarez13
A question first, are you going to remove the built in wardrobe? If not then @Noyade suggestion is the easiest way to cover followed by @JacobZ's suggestion. The hardest one would be to remove the built-ins and sand and possibly replace the floorboards that they have used to cover the removed wall sections. I have replaced the old wall plate with a floorboard years ago with a similar coloured and grained piece of timber. I had to troll through a timber recycling yard to find one that would match. The height was a little out so I used spacers to bring it up level with the existing boards.
Here are some photos of how I replaced the wall base with a floorboard.
Mmmm The cowl that was over the wall edge. The previous owners had shortened the bathroom to give this room an alcove. Under the grey carpet are bathroom tiles from decades ago. They do not even match the existing ones in the bathroom they are that old.
mmmm interesting and not what I was hoping for.
The base boards after the cowl had been removed.
Board going… :o freaky as and scary.
Removal of the base board, it was stressy as. I had never attempted it before. I had thought of the process a lot over the years and it was what I thought the process would be.
I could measure it and it was 20mm
:/ rats….
You can see the difference in height between the existing boards and the replacement I bought.
I somehow failed to take a better shot of the floorboard after I had the floors sanded :/ lol I take so many photos and still manage to miss ones I should have taken. This was the best I could find. The board is level and a little darker than the existing ones. You do not notice it tho.
If you sand the areas within the cupboard it may look nicer but feathering in between old and new may be problematic that is why It might be an idea to remove the existing built in if you decide to go that far.
Dave
Hey everyone! Thanks a lot for the amazing recommendations. I ended up sanding the wardrobe floor and using a the clear oil-based coating recommended above. I had to buy both the orbital sander and coating, but still good value for a DIY. This is after the first coating. Quite an improvement.
That looks fantastic @linasuarez13!
Many thanks for the update.
Mitchell
