Many homeowners love the look and character of an older hardwood floor. However, you may find it problematic if you want to extend your hardwoods or replace damaged or worn sections while maintaining the same aesthetic. Lacing new boards of hardwood flooring into your existing hardwood floor can be the ideal solution.
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While it may seem like a daunting prospect, many do-it-yourself homeowners can successfully complete a hardwood floor lacing project. The key is to be sure to spend adequate time researching, measuring, and planning your project before beginning. When in doubt on how to proceed on a home improvement project, it is always best to consult a contractor or other professional.
Laced Hardwood Flooring Explained
Hardwood floors are well loved for their rich, warm look and durable, elegant finish. However, the very character that makes hardwoods so popular can also cause headaches for homeowners. If a homeowner wants to replace or extend a hardwood floor, it can be very difficult to match the existing look.
For many people, the cost of completely replacing hardwood floors may be prohibitive, and adjacent flooring that doesn’t match creates an undesirable choppy look. In these situations, lacing hardwoods can be an ideal solution to continue your floors into another room or area without having to remove all of the existing floors.
Lacing hardwoods simply refers to integrating new hardwood boards with ones that are already in place. The new boards are staggered into the existing pattern of the hardwoods to reduce choppiness and better blend with the current boards.
Once the new boards are in place, the floors can then be finished and stained to provide a relatively seamless appearance.
Some Reasons to Lace Hardwood Floors
Homeowners often choose to lace hardwood floors when they are extending similar flooring from one room to another. This may occur when the decision is made to change existing flooring from linoleum, carpet, or tile to wood to match the wood floor in an adjacent room. It is also commonly done when an addition is built onto a home.
Lacing can also be used to replace a certain section of existing hardwoods. This may be called for when certain boards are damaged beyond repair or refinishing. This can be a result of dents and cracks or deep stains.
In such instances, lacing in a new section of flooring can be much less expensive than replacing the hardwoods in the entire room.
Some Factors that Contribute to the Difficulty of Lacing Hardwood Floors
Lacing hardwood floors is often a fairly straightforward weekend task, but it can also become difficult quickly. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard to understand the complexity of the task until it is underway! However, there are some factors that may tell you whether or not you can expect your hardwood floor project to be difficult and time-consuming.
First, consider the flooring you are trying to match. Generally, the newer the hardwoods, the easier it will be to lace in additional boards and get a good match. Older floors tend to have odd widths, depths, and finishes that can be hard to match exactly and that can complicate the project.
Next, look at how your existing floors are adhered to your subfloor. A lot of the time spent on a hardwood floor lacing project can be attributed to attempting to remove the boards to be replaced. How the existing floor is glued or bonded to the subfloor can add to this part of the project. Similarly, an uneven subfloor will require careful time and effort to correct before new flooring can be laid.
Finally, the size of your project is going to determine how long it will take. Lacing hardwoods across a threshold to continue into another room is easier than replacing a section in the middle of a floor. However, laying the new boards is time-consuming in itself. If you are covering a lot of area, make sure to leave adequate time.
The Steps to Complete a Hardwood Floor Lacing Project
The specific steps that you take to complete your hardwood floor lacing project will vary depending on the existing flooring type, the scope of the project, the new flooring you are putting down, and other factors. However, there are several basic steps that all hardwood floor lacing projects follow.
First, you will want to determine the size of the area you will be flooring and the type and length of boards needed. Armed with these measurements, you can procure your new flooring, as well as any other tools, materials, and accessories that you need to complete the job.
Next, you will have to prep the area where the new floor will be laid. If you are replacing a damaged section, this will involve carefully removing the boards to be replaced, with as little impact on the surrounding area as possible.
From there, you will want to prepare the subfloor to receive the new hardwoods. The specific actions you take to do this will depend on the type of subfloor and the type of new hardwoods that you are laying down.
Next, it is time to install the new boards into the floor. You will want to carefully integrate your additional or replacement boards into your existing hardwoods as neatly and consistently as possible.
Finally, you will need to stain and finish the new boards and the surrounding area to ensure a clean and cohesive look across the entire floor. This may be a project that you take on yourself, or one that you outsource to a competent professional.
Locate Detailed Information to Guide You
While this article provides an overview of the basic processes of lacing a hardwood floor, you will likely want to look for more information specific to your project before you attempt to lace your hardwood floor.
You may wish to start your research online by looking at some of the premiere “how to” sites for homeowners. You can find videos and articles about lacing hardwood floors at HGTV and the DIY Network.
It can also be helpful to speak to an expert in person to answer any specific questions you have about to your project. You could call a contractor or speak to the knowledgeable staff at a hardware store, home improvement center, or lumber retailer.
The Cost of a Hardwood Floor Lacing Project
There are several factors that will determine the cost of lacing a hardwood floor. These include the type of materials used, the size of the area that you are flooring, and whether or not you use any outside labor to assist in your project.
The main driver of the cost of a hardwood floor lacing project is the new flooring that is being added. Hardwoods can vary in price from durable, inexpensive options from big box retailers such as Lowe’s or Home Depot, to very specialized, rare, and expensive varieties. These may include exotic woods from Asia or South America or reclaimed boards from centuries-old buildings.
Of course, the amount of flooring that you are buying goes hand-in-hand with the type of flooring to contribute to the cost of the project. If you are buying only a few common boards to replace a damaged section of flooring, your project will be much less expensive than adding an entire room of hardwoods.
If you are undertaking a very large or complicated hardwood floor lacing project, it may be worthwhile to consider hiring some labor to help you with the project.
This can be especially useful if the demolition of the old flooring is going to be difficult and time-consuming or if you are very inexperienced with home improvement projects. Of course, doing so will significantly increase the cost of your project.
This Project Make Take Some Time
The length of time needed to complete a hardwood floor lacing project is largely dependent on the same factors that contribute to the difficulty and cost of the project described above. The more advanced and expensive the project is, the more time you can expect it to take.
With that being said, many homeowners successfully complete a hardwood floor lacing project in a weekend. It’s always a good idea to plan a little bit more time than you think you’ll actually need. This allows you to avoid feeling rushed and provides a bit of a buffer if something goes wrong in the project or takes you longer than you expected.
Finally, your experience with home improvement projects in general, and flooring in particular, will affect the amount of time you spend on lacing your hardwood floors. Be honest with yourself about your skill set, abilities, and motivations to take on this project.
While completing projects on your home can be rewarding, it can also become a nightmare if you get in over your head.
When in doubt, consider engaging a reputable contractor or other professional to assist you in managing your hardwood floor lacing project.
Whether you’re looking for do-it-yourself help or hoping to find a professional, perusing this site will help you!
