Sealing wooden floorboards, advice please.

[bunny2]

We have the original wooden floor boards in our house. In the bathroom because there are gaps of apporx 3 mm between each board we need to make it water tight. Does anyone know what is best for filling the gaps?

We had the same problem with the oak floor boards on the landing as you could see down into the living room. DH used some brown window sealant between the gaps, but he says to make sure that you don't get it on the top of the boards.

Hope this helps...

How big is the floor? Would it be worth getting someone in to lift all the boards and put them back really tight? I've read in a DIY book that you can fill the gaps with tapered strips of wood that you hammer in but that would be really fiddly.

Or you could abandon the varnish and put vinyl down - that's lovely and waterproof!

btw what did you do in your front garden in the end? (Ours is still half done so won't be surprised if yours is too!)

You can either use a kind of foamy stuff which you just squirt them sand. Available from diy shops I presurme. Or if you are sanding anyway you can mix some of the sawdust with some varnish and use that. We've used both methods in different houses. The sawdust method blends in better but the squirty method is easier.

My husband (a builder) has the best recipe for doing this. He refinished all the floors in our last house and in our current house to the following recipie and it has worked brilliantly.

Sand floor (carefully with good sander so you don't gouge it). Put 1st coat of sealer/stain (depending on final color you are trying to achieve) and one coat of varnish. Let dry. Then fill gap between boards with clear silicone using tubes with gun. (Keyline brand seems to work the best). The hard bit is getting one long continuous "worm" of silicone running the full length of the board, rather than lots of squirts. It's worth practicing with an extra tube so that when you do the floor it looks nice and smooth. Then when the silicone dries, take an old sock, and rub off the silicone that has gooped over the edge of the gap onto the floor boards. Sand floor lightly again and put 2nd coat of varnish on. Let dry. Sand floor again lightly and put third coat of varnish on.
Good luck. Let me know if you need any more information.