What is included
A scope built around the room.
- 01Water and leak damage repair
- 02Board weaving and patching
- 03Squeak and movement repair
- 04Subfloor repair and levelling
- 05Failed transitions and thresholds
- 06Insurance claim documentation
Water damage: dry it before you fix it
Wet hardwood cups first, then may crown as it dries, and a floor that is still holding moisture cannot be sanded flat because it will keep moving. The correct sequence is find and stop the source, dry the assembly with readings to confirm, allow the floor to return to normal moisture content, then assess what is permanently deformed. Sanding a cupped floor that is still wet removes wood from the high edges and produces a crowned floor once it dries. We take readings rather than working to a schedule.
Weaving in boards so the repair disappears
A good patch in a hardwood floor is invisible because the replacement boards are woven into the existing field with staggered joints, rather than dropped in as a rectangle. It requires matching species, width, thickness and grade, and accepting that new wood will not have the colour of a floor that has aged for twenty years until it is sanded and finished together. We are straight about which repairs will disappear after refinishing and which will always be visible if the floor is not refinished as a whole.
Squeaks, movement and what causes them
A squeak is movement between two components: a board against a fastener, a subfloor panel against a joist, or a gap where a shim was never installed. From below, in an unfinished basement, most squeaks can be fixed permanently with screws and blocking. From above, through a finished floor, options are narrower and more visible. Locating the source properly matters more than any product sold as a squeak fix, because face-screwing a floor that is moving for another reason just adds a new noise later.
Gaps, seasonal movement and expectations
Solid hardwood in a Toronto home gains and loses moisture with the seasons, so hairline gaps that open in winter and close in summer are normal behaviour, not a defect. Gaps that never close, gaps at only one end of a room, or a run that has pulled away from a wall usually point to a humidity problem, a missing expansion allowance or a floor installed at the wrong moisture content. We diagnose which of those you have before recommending filler, because filling a seasonal gap in February creates a compression problem in July.
Repair, refinish, or replace
The economics usually decide. Damage confined to one area of a floor that has sanding life left is a repair and refinish. Damage across many rooms, a floor already sanded to its limit, or a product no longer available in a matching profile pushes toward replacement. For an insurance claim, the documentation matters as much as the work: photographs, moisture readings, the affected area measured, and a scope that separates restoration from betterment. We provide that in a form an adjuster can work with.
Standards and references
Where we cover
Floor repair across the GTA.
Questions