How to Patch a Hole in a Wood Floor from a Furnace Grate

To patch a hole in a wood floor left by the removal of a floor furnace grate – such as we had in the Kuppersmith Project house – start by installing floor joists across the opening, followed by a subfloor, felt paper, and flooring. Here’s how to go about patching a wood floor in your home.

Once the gas line had been disconnected, and the old gas floor furnace taken out:

  1. Remove Grate: Remove the metal grate covering the opening.
  2. Install Floor Joists: Install floor joists across the opening from underneath.
  3. Cut Plywood Subfloor: Cut a piece of plywood the correct thickness and size to fill the opening, so it’s flush with the bottom of the flooring.
  4. Attach Subfloor: Place the plywood subfloor into the opening, and attach it to the floor joists using nails and construction adhesive.
  5. Remove Existing Flooring: Remove any short pieces of flooring, and/or stagger the joints in the flooring by chiseling back every other board.
  6. Install Felt Paper: Cover the exposed subfloor with felt paper.
  7. Patch Flooring: Replace the missing floor boards with matching wood flooring of the same species and width. When possible use matching flooring from the house, such as that found in a closet or flooring that may have been removed during renovation
  8. Sand and Refinish Floor: Sand and refinish the floor so the old and new flooring match.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

2 COMMENTS

  1. We have a 120 year old home with Heart pine floors. There are many cracke between the floor boards and at the ends of the boards. I thought I saw an article on how to fill these gaps with some sort of rope, have you any suggestions? The floors are laid in interesting patterns and I really want to preserve them. I would also like to know what is the hardest finish to use on these floors? We had some refinished and I am very diappointed in the lack of durablity. Thanks, Susan

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