How do you fill a hole in subflooring?
Question:I moved into a new house that had carpet in the bathroom and after tearing that up, I found a couple holes in the subflooring underneath. I am not handy in the slightest and was wondering if there was an alternative to replacing the wood. Maybe a caulk or something? If I get it done professionally, it's going to cost me a lot more money than I have so the less expensive the better. Thanks in advance!
Answers:
The big question here is how big is the hole, and what's below it? If it's just a small hole, then caulking it might do the trick if there's something behind it. You could cut a couple small pieces of sheet metal from a soda can. Lay them flat over the hole and shoot a few staples to keep them from traveling.
There are paste or powder thin set sub floor fillers (underlayment) available at HD or Lowes that will serve the purpose for no major cost. They can be applied with a wide blade paint knife.
Often used over concrete or wood sub, where seams and nail/screws exist, as well.
Steven Wolf
In the bathroom, you are dealing with a need to have a sound floor. Take a screw driver and poke around on the floor. If the tip goes in easy, you need to get a professional in there to rebuild things.
If the floor is solid, you can use a product like this to fill surface holes.
http://woodwise.com/woodfiller/woodpatch...
If you do not have the money to do a repair, you might need to either get a loan or find a cheap handyman. I have done floor repairs for as little as $150.00 when the customer did not have a lot of money. (One job for free) I normally would charge over $500, depending on how bad it is. The free job should have cost $5,000. It was a total beam and floor replacement.
Get references.
If its a new home it should be a warranty issue, if not , locate the joists on either side if the whole, cut half on each joists and replace the plywood, as the others mentioned, if the hole is small caulk or plaster will be fine, its never to late to learn to become handy you will save tons of $$$$$$$$
More Related Questions & Answers...