How to Fix the Separating & Gaping in Your Hardwood Floors in the Middle of a Room

Hardwood flooring moves over time, expanding and contracting with different climates. Depending how old your floor is, this movement can create gaps and spaces in between the planks of the floor. If you fill the cracks with something solid like wood putty, the problem will just reappear the next time the floor moves. Hemp rope expands and contracts in much the same way that hardwood does, making it the perfect material to filling those gaps.

Hand-held vacuum
Thick hemp rope (braided)
Razor knife
Wood stain, to match the floor
Five-gallon plastic bucket
Newspapers

Instructions

- 1
  Clean out the gaps between the floor boards using a hand-held vacuum.
- 2
  Measure the first gap from end to end, and across the width of it.
- 3
  Cut a section of rope to the proper length with your razor knife.
- 4
  Unwind the rope, pulling apart the braided sections until you have one that’s about 1/4 inch wider than the gap.
- 5
  Repeat the process for each of the gaps in the flooring, measure them and cutting and unwinding rope to be the same length, and a little wider.
- 6
  Pour enough wood stain in your plastic bucket to submerge all the cut rope. Drop the ropes into the stain and let them soak for one minute. Lay them out on newspapers to dry for 12 hours.
- 7
  Place the first piece of rope onto the space for which it was cut, covering the whole length of the line. Press the rope into the space with your fingers, getting it set completely into the line, with the surface of the rope even with the surface of the floor. Repeat for the ropes that were cut for each of the other lines.

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