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How to cut chipboard flooring over joists


nephilim
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I need to cut out a damaged section of flooring to replace with a new piece. I need to cut it out on 2 edges over joists (about 70cm each length). Not too sure how to cut as its sitting on the joist as I obviously want to cut in the middle of the joist so the new piece has somewhere to sit. How? Thanks in advance.
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Plunge cut with a circular saw to the depth of the chipboard.

Try to locate and remove any nails first, if you cant lift them you will have to punch them down through the board.

Expect to muller a few blades, they cost a fortune in France and it was doing exactly this job that triggered a return to the UK for me to buy some more at a sensible price.

That was a few years back but only last week I did the same job in another location, no hidden hardened nails this time, the feckers had used clous à bêton before.

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You need a special electric rotary saw for this. They look quite different from the normal type of electric saw. You can set the depth and they also have a guide to help make a straight line. Normally they cost quite a lot, well over 100 Euros (more towards 200 Euros) but guess what good old Lidl are selling them for under 50 Euros in their sale at the moment in France. It's made by Parkside and it is called a Scie Circulaire PTS 480 A1. They come with two blades for cutting wood and another that cuts tiles and floor tiles. One of those tools that spends a lot of time in your tool shed but when you need it they are excellent and make life so much easier.

Follow the link for information in English and you can download the manual in English as well.

http://www.lidl-service.com/cps/rde/SID-0A57A4C7-556B4363/lsp/hs.xsl/product.html?id=10261154&title=

Hope that helps.

PS. They are made in Germany, it says so on the box.

 

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[quote user="Quillan"]

You need a special electric rotary saw for this. They look quite different from the normal type of electric saw. You can set the depth and they also have a guide to help make a straight line.

PS. They are made in Germany, it says so on the box.

 [/quote]

Not sure why you'd need a special electric rotary saw?  normal circular saw as Chancer described is perfectly normal practice and the larger blade dia means less of an angular/radius cut to clean out.

Whilst you mention the Parkside tools Lidl also have the multi tool in at the moment, this is the Swiss army knife of tools and can plunge cut nicely, suggest you secure a timber batten as a guide if your not to good with tools.

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One important aspect of cutting and lifting modern floorboards is to cut through the tenon on one side of the redundant piece along its length. Not the tenon on an adjoining piece!

Whether pine of chipboard flooring is T&G: and since the thickness now is only usually 3/4"-28 m.m., flooring relies, heavily, on the support of adjoining boards as they take out the loading by spreading this along the T&G.

If you cut through the correct tenon and at each end of the board where it sits on the joists, it is easy to lift the board out by firstly lifting the cut tenon side and then sliding it out of the extant retaining tenon.

If one cuts through the wrong tenon, then one has to repeat the process and replace two boards each time!

BTW: this made me recall the old proper floorboard saws: which had a curved blade and would thus mainly cut in the middle of the board, rather than cutting the adjoining boards each side. Laborious process, however

I still have mine somewhere: circa 50 years old!

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Hi

I am a bit of a loss on the above if you have tongue and groove it does not matter how you cut it out you will not be able to put a new T&G piece in without moving the adjacent boards

As for spreading the load a couple of timbers screwed at right angles to the missing section will do the job

PS Tenon is part of mortise and tenon not often seen in floor boards
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[quote user="crakpot"]Hi

I am a bit of a loss on the above if you have tongue and groove it does not matter how you cut it out you will not be able to put a new T&G piece in without moving the adjacent boards

As for spreading the load a couple of timbers screwed at right angles to the missing section will do the job

PS Tenon is part of mortise and tenon not often seen in floor boards[/quote]

I used the word for convenience: if you prefer then the tongue.

By replicating the removal you can at least preserve one T&G joint.

However, depending on the gaps between boards (pine floorboards shrink considerably over time), I usually would cut through the suspect board and each board next to it. With care, it is possible to lift the boards (pry bar) without breaking the tongues and replace. The boards normally will lift up to 30 deg. from horizontal.

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I am a bit at a loss a chain saw is quite capable of taking out a floor board with out causing mayhem in the right hands its very accurate Have a try

PS Whats with cutting 3 boards

"However, depending on the gaps between boards (pine floorboards shrink considerably over time), I usually would cut through the suspect board and each board next to it. With care, it is possible to lift the boards (pry bar) without breaking the tongues and replace. The boards normally will lift up to 30 deg. from horizontal."

Making work or what
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[quote user="Gluestick"]Even the smallest chain saw has a wide and rough cut.

Sawing is about selecting the correct saw for the job in hand. Which is why one does not use, say, a three foot 3 tpi rip saw for fine cabinet work.

Still, each to his or her own I guess.


[/quote]

Quite right which is why I proposed the one I did plus it is such a good price. If you have not done this before trying to use a large circular to plunge cut can be quite dangerous and can cause a lot of accidental damage. Personally I try to do things properly rather than bodge. You need a smaller blade, not a big circular blade let alone a chainsaw, the latter in the hands of a novice can be extremely dangerous. A big blade means the angle of the edge of the blade is quite big so you have to saw further into the adjacent board to get a clean cut on the one you ant to remove. A smaller blade will be virtually at 90 deg at the edge and requires only a very small cut into the adjacent boards to get a clean cut. Thats why these machines are designed the way they are.

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''Sawing is about selecting the correct saw for the job in hand.''

How true......................Mrs PD once removed a set of shelves in the pantry using a chain saw !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The room got quite smokey as it was petrol powered chain saw.

A very drastic method I thought, when I returned home.
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