Repair Water Damaged Wood Laminate Floor

When looking to fix damage caused by water on laminate flooring it is essential to understand that different types of damage can occur.

Repair water damaged wood laminate floor.

When the water reaches under laminate flooring the water must be removed immediately. Manufacturer instructions make it very clear that laminate floors should not be placed in rooms with severe temperature or humidity fluctuations like a bathroom or laundry room. Your only recourse at this point is to remove the finish because paint creates a seal over the floor that traps water in the wood below. In most cases you will need to use a chisel and hammer to start pulling away the damaged pieces without ruining the surrounding surface.

Symptoms of laminate floor damage. This specific type of flooring is not compatible with water or humid environments and can be irreversibly damaged even in short periods. Also water will be trapped underneath the floor between the boards and any cushioning material and between the cushioning material and the subfloor. Laminate flooring is popular among homeowners because it looks nice and is durable.

If a small amount of water has leaked toward the edges of the flooring pull up any quarter round shoe molding or baseboards around the perimeter. If the water is not pervasive you may be able to extract it with a wet dry vacuum. You can typically use a circular saw or crowbar to repair water damage to a laminate floor by removing the wet sections. Water under laminate flooring.

After scraping off the paint scrub the wood with an abrasive cleaner such as barkeeper s friend or use a tsp water solution with an added cup of ordinary laundry bleach per gallon of water. That said the wood in the laminate floors is prone to water damage if. If spacers were used between the wall and the board closest to it replace them with smaller spacers. What makes laminate floor repair so difficult is that it s difficult to find perfectly matching laminate.

These floors can last for years and don t require much maintenance along the way. Laminate floor buckling like lifting can be caused by changes in temperature and humidity levels. Use a hammer and chisel or putty knife to remove baseboards or molding near the damaged boards. The repair process is basically the same.