How to Repair a Bad Flooring Joint

Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva repairs a piece of wood nosing that was poorly installed and resulted in a bad joint.

Moderate

$20

1-2 hours

Steps:

Use a dull chisel to lift the nosing slightly to allow room for a reciprocating saw blade. Use the saw to cut the nails that hold the nosing and then remove the nosing.
Pull the nails from the board, then scrape any old adhesive or filler off the nosing.
Lay a straight edge on the widest gap on the flooring and then use a track saw or circular saw to cut all the flooring evenly.
For the area where the saw blade can’t reach, chisel out the floor boards so they’re flush with the other boards.
Check the fit of the nosing.
Mark lines on the nosing and the floor boards for the location of mortises and cut them on both surfaces with a mortising machine.
Use wood glue to install the floating tenons into the mortises of the nosing.
Apply construction adhesive to the subfloor under the nosing and wood glue along the edge of the flooring.
Bring the nosing in, line up the tenons with the mortises on the floor, and slowly tap the nosing in place with a hammer.
Once the floor joint is tight, secure the nosing in place with 16d nails.