Simple Guide to Repairing Laminate Flooring

Simple Guide to Repairing Laminate Flooring

There are many reasons to choose laminate flooring for your Toronto home. Its attractiveness and ability to withstand dents, stains, and fading make it an extremely popular choice among homeowners, especially those with pets and/or children. You can even fix some issues like scratches, water damage, buckling, or lifting of the boards.

For more grave problems, contact the flooring store from which you bought your laminate.

If you are looking to repair laminate flooring yourself, here are some tips to do it correctly.

Fixing Scratches in Laminate Flooring

If you don’t have felt pads under the legs of your furniture, moving them to and fro can result in scratches. Your pets’ long nails or children’s toys can have the same result. In either case, it will look ugly, old, and worn out.

You could ask your flooring store for help. Take a sample of your flooring to them to get a matching kit. You can use the marker, pencil, putty, or crayon from the kit. Sometimes it also comes with the materials you need to mix together to make a filler like putty. Apply it over deep scratches using the putty knife.

Use fine-grit sandpaper to lightly sand and level the area you have just filled. Never rub too hard or you’ll be scratching it more. Then clean the area with acetone and a clean cloth. Some kits also come with a varnish that you can apply over the freshly-filled area.

Fixing Water Damage

Occasional water spills are no big deal for laminate flooring, but if it stays in contact with water for a long time, it can swell and even break down. Before attempting this repair, you should understand how laminate flooringworks.If you have no idea about your flooring, you may make the issue worse.

Water damage is difficult to repair and will likely have to be replaced. If you have leftover boards, now is the time to use them. If not, take the sample to the nearest laminate flooring store in Toronto and buy the matching board. Costs may vary from store to store, and buying a single board can be expensive.

Wear protective glasses and remove the moulding or baseboards around the damaged area using a putty knife. Start prying up the boards at the wall until you reach the damaged area. Replace them as needed. If the damaged area is far away from the wall, it will be easier to cut the boards out. Put the tongue into the groove of the new board and snap it into place. Finish your repair by putting the moulding or baseboards back in place.

How to Fix Buckling Laminate Flooring

Among the few issues laminate flooring faces, buckling can be caused by changes in humidity and temperature.

To repair buckling, remove moulding or baseboards near the damaged boards with a putty knife or chisel and hammer. Replace the spacers between the wall and the closest board with smaller spacers. Replace the boards and put the rest of the boards back in place before replacing the mouldings or baseboards.

How to Fix Lifting Laminate Flooring

Improper installation, changes in moisture and temperature, subflooring issues, and expansion of the boards cause laminate flooring to lift.

If there are issues with laminate flooring installation, like not enough space around the perimeter, the boards will expand and press against the wall as they acclimatize.

Pry off the mouldings or baseboards using a putty knife. This will take the pressure off the laminate boards and they will settle back down. In some cases, you may need to remove the last row of the boards. Trim them and then put them back down.

To help them settle, weigh them down with something heavy for 24 hours. However, if the issue was caused by a problem in the subfloor, you will have to schedule a professional laminate flooring repair.

You can repair laminate flooring, but the complexity involved makes scheduling aprofessional repairan easy decision. Not sure what you’re doing? If you’re in the Toronto area, AA Floors & More can help with a free consultation and future flooring repair services.