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Floor Repair

Floorboards suffer more from beinglifted for access to pipes and cables beneath them than they do fromeveryday wear and tear. If the floor has nothing worse than the occasionalcreak, the trouble can generally hecured by lifting floor coverings and then nailing or better still, screwing the offending hoard down again. Witha chipboard (particle hoard) floor,make sure that the boards are nailed to even' joist they cross, not just at theedges; if they are not, the hoards canbow upwards and will then hang againstthe joists when walked on.

Belore lifting a section of floor togain access to services below it, lookfirst of all to see whether someone hasalready cut an access panel. If they havenot, it will be necessary to create one.Locate the joist position closest towhere access is needed the positionsof the flooring nail will reveal itswhereabouts. Then drill a starter holeand use a power jigsaw (saber saw) tomake a 45° cut next to the joist. Priseup the cur end and wedge a strip ofwood underneath it, then saw throughthe board over the centre of the nextjoist to free the section. To replace it, nail one end to the joist and either skewnail (toe nail) the other angled end toits neighbour or nail a support block tothe side of the joist and nail or screwthe board end to that.

With a concrete floor, the onlyrepair that is likely to he needed is thefilling of cracks or small potholes that may be revealed when an old floorcovering is lifted. Cut back any looseedges, brush away loose material and fill the cracks with a fine mortar mix. If thefloor surface is sound but uneven or out of level, lay a self-smoothing compound over it.

CREATING AN ACCESS PANEL

I. Start by locating an adjacent joist. Drill astarter hole for the saw blade. C:r. throughthe hoard at 45° next to the joist with apower jigsaw (saber saw).

2. Use a bolster (stonecutter's chisel) or asimilar broad-bladed levering tool to priseup the cut end of the board and release itsfixing nails.

3. Slide a length of scrap wood under theraised end of the hoard to hold it clear ofthe floor, and saw through the board the centre of the next joist.

4. To replace the panel, simply lay it back in position. Nail the square-cut end to iys joist and skew nail (toe nail) the angled end to th eneighbouring board.

5. An alternative way of supporting the curends of an access panel is to nail small woodblocks to each side (tithe adjacent joists.

6. You can also screw down the panel on tothe wooden blocks. 'Phis will allow easyaccess without damaging the panel.

REPAIRING A CONCRETE FLOOR

1. If you discover cracks in a concrete floorafter lifting old floor coverings, use a cold(box) chisel and club (spilling) hammer toundercut the edges of the crack.

2. Brush away all loose material from thecrack and use a vacuum cleaner to pick upthe dust.

3. Dilute some PVA building (whitegeneral-purpose) adhesive, and brush italong the surface of the crack to help therepair mortar to bond to it securely.

4. Mix up some (pack-setting repair mortarand trowel it into the crack, levelling itflush with the surrounding concrete. Leaveit to harden.

5. If the floor hasnoticeable potholesin its surface, packthe hole with somesmall pieces of stoneor other non-compressible filler.

6. Patch the potholewith quick-settingmortar, using theedge of a steel floatto remove excessmortar so that thepatch is flush withits surroundings

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