I'm replacing a half dozen board ends in a hardwood floor due to water and carpenter ant damage. Each is about 4-6" long. I have the old boards cut and removed, and in fact I can slide the new boards in from the ends, and so don't need to cut off the bottom of the groove edge of the boards. But, the floor was at one point sanded and refinished, so the new boards are about 1/32" proud of the main floor.
Should I sand down the new boards to the correct thickness before installation? Or, should I install them and then sand them in place? And the same question with polyurethaning the boards: before or after installation? (I'm worried that sanding or getting finish on the old boards will make the repair more visible.)
Best Answer
If you can slide them in, then - sand, finish (top face only), assemble. You may need to use a bit of glue on the grooves in the new pieces to hold them in place.
There still may be a visible difference between the color and finish of the old and the new. The only way to get them both exactly the same is to refinish the entire floor as suggested by @python starter. But whether the difference is too much is a matter of taste.