Repair tips for hardwood floors - The Seattle Times

Repair tips for hardwood floors | Home & Garden | The Seattle Times

Q: My 91-year-young mother remains in the house she's lived in her entire married life. Though termite prevention has been used, I am noticing soft spots in some sections of the floor that normally are covered by furniture. Is there a way to perhaps install new flooring here and there as opposed to tearing up everything? Change does not make her happy. Her rationale is that she sees no reason to start a project that may not be finished before she is no longer in her home.

A: I'm assuming you are talking about hardwood floors, because replacing carpet or vinyl would not require "tearing up everything." Yes, the floors can be repaired without major renovation. Besides, replacing just a few boards here or there would show up as an unsightly patch. Matching the existing hardwood floor's color and texture would be almost impossible. In extreme cases, hardwood flooring is removed from a closet or pantry and used to make repairs in the living areas, and then the closet floors are covered with any type of flooring available.

If the surface of the hardwood is in good condition, the floors can be stabilized and supported by adding bracing under the hardwood. From the crawl space or basement, find the areas in need of repair.

Measure the areas to be repaired in between the floor joists and cut a piece or pieces of half-inch plywood to support the flooring above. Cut two 2-by-4 boards the same length as each piece of plywood...

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Estimated $100 Billion in manufacturing coming back to the U.S. within 10 years.

Wood does 180: US manufacturers set sights on domestics

The hardwood category came to blows in the last couple of years as overseas competition, namely from China, became fierce, and both U.S. manufacturers and importers fought for their businesses. At the same time, several manufacturers redirected their efforts to manufacture product here in the States that was previously produced overseas. Both Somerset and Mullican are now producing engineered hardwoods and Home Legend acquired domestic maker Baker’s Creek, which they now emphasize and market as a key brand. In order to shift its manufacturing capabilities to the States, Mullican will invest $12 million over the next three years in its new 309,000 square-foot facility, and will add between 70 and 80 additional jobs, according to the company. This move to domestic manufacturing or “onshoring” is so expansive that industry executives said that they believe $100 billion in manufacturing will be brought back to the U.S. over the next decade. This shift is also believed to lower the nation’s unemployment rate by 1.5 percent by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to Mullican’s president, Neil Poland. Dan Natkin, director of wood business at Mannington, said the United States is ripe for an increase in manufacturing because of its great supply of raw materials and transportation logistics. Mannington is a champion of domestically made products, with about 85 percent or more of its products made here in the United States, according to the company. “We have a long standing, well routed relationship with domestic production. It’s the right thing to do; we’d rather direct our destiny,” said Natkin. > Read the complete article here at Floor Covering Weekly