How do I stabilise a delaminating pine floor?

Question

We bought a flat with softwood pine floors in the living room. The area of the flooring that receives the most traffic is beginning to delaminate/flake/splinter (I'm not sure of the correct term!)

I'm aware that we could sand and refinish the entire floor but my question is: is there any way to stabilise this and prevent any further damage in this specific area (the rest of the floor is fine)?

Answer 1

Do the edges of the growth rings actually lift up if you put a fingernail under them?

• If so

  • squeeze some wood glue under there
  • push the grain back down
  • put down a sheet of waxed paper (shiny side down toward the glue)
  • cover with a board, thick cardboard, sheet of metal, whatever's handy and flat, and put some weight on top of it for a few minutes.
  • lift everything up and wipe up any glue that's squeezed out and visible (use a damp sponge or paper towel)
  • place all the materials back on top and wait a couple of hours until the glue dries.
  • This will hold the slivers down to keep them from popping off.
  • Refinish to your heart's content. ^*

• If not

  • It's probably not going to lift any more than it has.
  • Do not try to put wood putty in there to fill the hole, it'll only be more noticeable.
  • Lightly sand the whole area and carefully pick up all the sanding dust.
  • Mix the sanding dust in with some wood glue to make a thick paste.
  • Spread the paste into the voids to fill them. Allow the glue to dry.
  • The sawdust from this wood will make the patch nearly disappear.
  • Refinish to your heart's content.^*
    • Having glue in this patch will make this stand out a bit, especially if you stain. Stain won't soak into the glued areas like it will into wood or wood filler.
    • More sawdust and less glue will help reduce the visibility of the filler under stain, but may not completely make it disappear.
    • Woodworkers use the dust/glue trick as filler all the time, but staining has, somewhat, gone out of fashion, so it's not as obvious.

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^*Note that the refinished section will probably be noticeable (different stain color and/or finish sheen than the rest of the floor) to some extent, but will be perfectly functional until you decide you can't stand the look anymore (or sell). The only way to completely blend in the finished repair (without years of experience) will be to completely strip & refinish the whole floor in one shot.

Answer 2

If you have any chairs near this spot, it will get much worse. Especially if the floor is meant to have a varnished surface.

Just put a piece of carpet over the area.