Overview
Burst dishwasher line. Subfloor rot under a window. A heating-vent slot you wish wasn't there. We repair single boards, blend in transitions where rooms used to have walls, and blend refinish work into existing floors so the repair disappears.
Floor Repairs & Board Replacement by Kovich & Savard is custom-quoted, with material quoted separately and the final number set after a free in-home estimate. We service every Massachusetts town listed below, Greater Boston, the South Shore, MetroWest, and Cape Cod, with three generations of family experience. Every job is owner-led.
Where these numbers come from: every price, timeline and job detail on this repairs page is set by the owners, Tim Savard and Steve Kovich, and reflects how they price and schedule this work in 2026, except figures credited to another source where they appear.
Board repair replaces only the damaged boards, water stains under a dishwasher, a rotted section under a window, an old vent cutout, and blends the patch into the surrounding floor, instead of redoing a whole room. It runs in steps: (1) diagnose the condition of the subfloor (the plywood or boards the finished floor is fastened to) and the actual source of the damage; (2) source matching wood from your closets, our shop stock, or a salvage supplier; (3) careful removal, cutting only at the ends of the damaged boards so neighboring boards aren't touched; (4) patch and blend: weave the new boards in, sand 6-8" past the patch so its edge disappears, then blend stain and finish. The real choice is between a spot repair, custom-quoted but often under 5% of the cost of replacing the room (our own benchmark, from jobs where 8 boards were the fix instead of a full room), and a full refinish at $4/sq ft labor, which becomes the honest recommendation once the surrounding floor is heavily worn or sun-faded enough that a patch would still show. This is not the right service if your floor is heavily worn or sun-faded (we'll tell you upfront if the patch will be visible and usually recommend a full refinish instead), or if the real problem is the subfloor, not the board (we diagnose and price that separately before touching the surface wood), or if most of the floor already needs replacing (a repair on a floor headed for a full redo just delays the real job). Call for a diagnosis. We'll tell you honestly whether a repair will disappear or whether a refinish is the better answer, before any wood gets pulled.
Spot repair is a craft skill more than an install skill. The wood has to match, same species, same cut, ideally same age, and the finish blend across the patch has to fool the eye in low, side-on light. We salvage boards from closet floors, pull from old stock when we can, and stain panels to dial in color before committing to the patch.
Common jobs: water damage in front of dishwashers and refrigerators, missing strips where walls used to stand, vent and floor-grate fills, and pet-stain blackouts that are too deep to sand out.
About this service
Repairs, the honest one-paragraph version.
Burst dishwasher line. Subfloor rot under a window. A heating-vent slot you wish wasn't there. We repair single boards, blend in transitions where rooms used to have walls, and blend refinish work into existing floors so the repair disappears. We do this work across Massachusetts for homeowners, builders, property managers, and small-business owners. Custom-quoted per project. Material is quoted separately and varies by species, width, grade, and finish type. Every job starts with a free in-home estimate, a written itemized proposal inside 48 hours of that visit, and a fixed completion date. Owner-led, fully insured, three generations of family craftsmanship since 1928.
Repairs is one of eight service lines we offer. Most homeowners who book repairs also end up using one or two related services from the same crew on the same project, common combinations include refinishing plus custom staining, install plus board-repair on adjacent rooms, and engineered hardwood plus luxury vinyl plank for a basement transition. We coordinate all of them under one proposal so you do not have to manage multiple contractors against each other on schedule.
Three generations of doing this work across Eastern Massachusetts has taught us that the same standards produce floors that hold up for forty years regardless of which service is on the proposal. Subfloor preparation before wood, proper acclimation before installation, three-coat premium finish where the system calls for it, transitions cut to fit every doorway, daily cleanup, and an owner on every site every day. Tim and Steve are the people you talk to, and the people on your floor.
Why choose this
What you get when we do this work.
What sets our repairs work apart comes down to save the floor, invisible blends and hard-to-find species. Each point below is something you can check on your written repairs proposal or see on the finished floor, not a slogan.
Save the floor
Often replacing 8 boards costs less than 5% of replacing the room (our own benchmark from past repair jobs).
Invisible blends
We sand and refinish past the edges of each patch so the eye doesn't catch the seam.
Hard-to-find species
We keep stock of red oak, white oak, and maple in common widths to pull from.
How it goes
The 4-step process for this work.
Every repairs job we take runs in the same 4 steps, from diagnose to patch & blend. The owner who writes your repairs proposal stays on the job through each step, and the proposal lists every step with its date.
- 01
Diagnose
Identify subfloor condition, source of damage, scope of repair.
- 02
Source matching wood
From your closets, our shop stock, or salvage suppliers.
- 03
Careful removal
Cuts only at the ends of the damaged boards, no damage to neighboring boards.
- 04
Patch & blend
Weave in new boards, sand 6-8" past the patch so its edge disappears, blend stain and finish.
Recent repairs projects
Real photos. Real Massachusetts homes.
These are photos from our own repairs jobs in Massachusetts homes, not stock images. More of our work, including other repairs jobs, is on our work page, and at the estimate we can point you to finished repairs floors near you.
Considerations for Massachusetts homes
What we look at before quoting repairs.
Subfloor and structure: Massachusetts housing stock spans pre-1900 board subfloors laid on beams, mid-century plywood over 2x10 beams, and modern engineered I-joists (factory-made floor beams shaped like a capital I), and we adjust technique for each. Pre-1960 homes routinely have original pine plank subfloor with hardwood nailed directly to it; post-war ranches and capes show 1/2" plywood; newer builds use 3/4" tongue-and-groove OSB (oriented strand board, panels of pressed wood strands) or plywood. Each calls for different fastener length, different acclimation tolerance, and a different read on whether the subfloor needs screwing-down before any new flooring goes over it. We test moisture content with a handheld moisture meter at every job because cupping and buckling (boards curling at the edges or lifting off the subfloor) are almost always a subfloor-moisture story, not a wood-selection story.
Material specification: species (red oak versus white oak versus walnut versus hickory), board width (2 1/4" strip versus 5" plank versus 7"+ wide-plank), grade (select clear versus character versus rustic), and finish chemistry (clear, low-odor water-based polyurethane versus warmer amber oil-based versus matte hardwax oil that soaks into the wood) each move both the price and the lived experience of the floor for the next 30 years. We bring physical samples to the estimate so you see and feel the difference rather than choosing from a catalog page. Pricing scales with those choices: the same room costs several times more in wide-plank European white oak than in narrow select red oak boards.
Adjacencies and transitions: almost every repairs project touches a kitchen tile threshold, an exterior door, a stair nose, and at least one HVAC register. We cut every transition to fit rather than hiding the edge under a trim strip, mill the rounded stair edges from matching wood, and blend refinish work into adjacent rooms so the new work doesn't read as a stripe of fresh wood against tired surroundings. That detail work is included in the labor rate, not added as a separate line item.
Dust, schedule, and living in the house: we run HEPA-filtered dust-containment sanders that pull dust into a sealed vacuum at the sander before it reaches the air, and we seal off adjacent rooms with zip walls. Most families stay in the house through a refinish. For an install, plan on the floors being walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
FAQ
Common questions about repairs.
These are the repairs questions we hear most at in-home estimates, answered in plain words by the owners who do the work. Got a question that's not here? Call (508) 962-1962 or email us. Tim and Steve answer themselves.
Will the repair be invisible?
If the surrounding floor is in good shape and we have matching wood, yes. If the floor is heavily worn or sun-faded, we'll be honest about whether you'll see the patch, and we'll usually recommend a full refinish to unify everything.
Do you do stair tread repairs?
Yes, full stair tread replacement, repair of the rounded front edge of each step, and finish-matching to the rest of the staircase.
How long does repairs take from start to finish?
For a typical 800 to 1,200 sq ft project, an install takes the floors walkable in stocking feet at day 4 and fully ready for furniture at day 7. A refinish runs 4 to 5 days end-to-end. We coordinate around your life and can work in phases when whole-house occupancy matters.
Will Tim or Steve be on-site for my repairs job?
Yes. An owner is on every site, every day. Not a project manager, not a salesperson, not a subbed-out crew. The person who measured your floor is the person who runs the work and is the person you call if you have a question two years later.
What insurance do you carry for repairs work?
$2,000,000 in liability insurance (it pays for damage to your home) and full workers' compensation (it covers our crew if someone is hurt). Certificates of insurance furnished on request, including additional-insured endorsements for condo associations or property managers that require them.
Do you offer a warranty on repairs?
Yes. Written workmanship warranty on every job, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails, we come back. We answer the phone for years afterward.
How quickly can you start a project?
Most projects start two to four weeks after sign-off. The on-site estimate happens within a few business days of your call, the written proposal lands inside 48 hours of that visit, and the wood acclimates on-site for 5 to 7 days before any nail goes in.
What's included
What you actually get with repairs.
Included in the labor rate: in-home assessment of the subfloor and existing material, written itemized proposal within 48 hours, moisture-content testing at delivery and at install, on-site acclimation of raw boards (5 to 7 days for solid, 3 to 5 for pre-finished), three-pass sanding with HEPA dust containment (where applicable), three coats of premium polyurethane with a light sanding between coats (where applicable), transitions cut to fit at doorways and room changes, owner-led job supervision, furniture moving and protection within the work zone, daily site cleanup, and a final walk-through with written care kit. The labor rate is not stripped down to a teaser number that grows once we are on-site.
Quoted separately on top of labor: the wood or product itself (priced by species, board width, grade, and quantity); any subfloor repair we find during prep (rotted plywood, reinforcing floor beams, leveling beyond minor patching); stair treads and their front edges, and risers; custom stain blends beyond a single tone; specialty moldings and transitions we need to fabricate rather than buy stock; and after-hours scheduling for commercial work. Each line item appears on the proposal so you see the math before signing.
Not included, and we will tell you up front: any work outside the scope on the proposal. If we find something during prep that changes the scope, we stop, photograph it, email you a change-order with a real number, and wait for your sign-off before proceeding. We do not silently expand scope and present a larger invoice at the end.
Warranty: written workmanship warranty on every project, plus the finish manufacturer's product warranty on the coating system. If something we did fails (a cup, a lifted board, a finish failure that we caused), we come back. We have been doing this work since 1928 and we plan to be answering the phone for the same floor in twenty years.
Where we provide this service
Repairs across Eastern Massachusetts.
Honest expectations
What we will and will not promise on repairs.
What we will promise: owner-led work from start to finish, a fixed completion date in writing, full HEPA dust containment where the service calls for it, three coats of premium polyurethane where the finish type calls for it, transitions cut to fit every doorway and room change, daily cleanup, written workmanship warranty, and a phone number staffed by an owner for the years after the job. Free in-home estimate, written itemized proposal within 48 hours.
What we will not promise: a price quoted sight-unseen, a refinish on a floor whose wear layer (the wood above the tongue that each sanding removes) is gone, a finish type that we know will yellow over the stain you chose, an install schedule that cannot accommodate proper wood acclimation, or work outside the scope on the proposal. We will tell you honestly at the in-home visit if what you are asking for is not a good fit for your floor for your situation and what we recommend instead, even when the recommendation is a smaller project than the one you called about.
Other services
You might also need…
These related services are often done alongside repairs, each with its own page, starting price and process. All of them can go on the same written proposal as your repairs work, so one visit and one estimate cover the whole floor.
