Just "Plugging" Along...

Next project is plugging all of the holes in the wood floor upstairs.  There are a lot of them.  I stopped counting at 50, not because I can't count any higher, but because I couldn't bear to see just how many damn holes we're going to have to plug. 

After a little experimenting, Tom got the process down to a science.  Here's how it goes: we bought a piece of red oak hardwood and we drill plugs out of it to fit into the holes in the floor.

This could double as a whacker when the kids act up - very aerodynamic, and very hard.

The holes in the floor are all different sizes, so Tom has to drill out various sized plugs.  Then, he either has to drill out a hole around the existing hole in the floor, or, if it's a close fit, file the hole out to make it a little larger to fit the plug.  A little wood glue around the plug, fit it in and voila!  Repaired floor!  Once we sand and varnish the floor, the hope is that the plugs blend in somewhat with the original floor - and if they don't, well, it beats having holes in the floor!

Fool your friends with a "wine cork" made out of red oak hardwood!

Checking to see how the plug holds up to "the hammer test."  It passed!

Really?  6 holes in a row?  Necessary or overkill?  You decide.

Many of the holes are oddly shaped and go through both the floor and support beams, so you can see straight down to the basement through them.

Not sure if you can really get a sense of just how thick the floor and support beams are from this, but man, they're thick!

Success!  An elephant wearing high heels could step on this bad boy, and it's not going anywhere!

We got 19 holes done in a few days, but now that we know the drill (pun intended), we're hoping it will go much faster now.