Laminate Floor Water Damage Repair

As laminate flooring continues to grow in popularity, how to repair laminate flooring after water damage is becoming an interesting topic for many homeowners. Water Mold Fire Restoration, 800-905-0277, would like to point out some of the pluses and minuses of laminate flooring.

Some of the things that make this flooring so popular are its durability and the fact that it requires much less maintenance than carpeting or hardwood. One of its major disadvantages is how quickly it can be damaged when flooded with water.

Nuances Of Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is technically resistant to water damage. If you spill some water on laminate flooring but promptly wipe it up, the floor will suffer no damage. Unfortunately, the situation changes if and when flooding occurs. If laminate flooring becomes saturated with water, it tends to warp quickly. This warping will first be noticeable at the ends of the individual boards. When this occurs, your only option becomes to replace the boards with new ones. What makes laminate floor repair so difficult is that it’s difficult to find perfectly matching laminate. Also, water will be trapped underneath the floor, between the boards and any cushioning material, and between the cushioning material and the subfloor. This trapped water is next to impossible to removed without tearing up the floor.

Symptoms Of Laminate Floor Damage

So how do you know if your laminate is floor is damaged? It’s actually easy to detect visually. Look for the following types of symptoms:

• Puffy/swollen plank edges - especially on the ends of the boards.
• Cupping or crowning – in cupping the boards bow upward from side to side; in crowning the center of the board will bow upward and be higher than either side.
• Buckling – the sides of the boards actually separate from each other.
• Cracking or splitting – major damage within the board's surface.

Unfortunately, drying cannot rectify any of these symptoms. This means you must at least replace part of the floor.

Positives Of Laminate Flooring

Here's one of the better thing about laminate flooring — it's composed of numerous pieces. If carpet gets really wet, then the entire carpet may have to be replaced. With laminate flooring, you can just replace the boards that were affected.

Let The Repairs Begin

Before you begin any DIY repairs, you should have Water Mold Fire Restoration's water damage experts inspect the situation. We will provide these inspections at no cost. The water has probably affected your subfloor, which needs to be dry. The last thing you want to do is lay down your new flooring on a subfloor that isn’t 100% dry because any excess moisture will then be absorbed into your new flooring, creating the same type of damage to the floor as you just had. Here are some basic repair tips:

Stop The Leak - before you even think of dealing with your floors, make sure you locate and stop any leak.

Identify Damaged Areas of Flooring – determine where the damage starts and ends. Look for the previously mentioned types of damage.

Remove slightly more than you think is necessary – many times, the water has crept further than you think or can see. Keep removing boards until you can’t see any more moisture underneath them or also underneath the underlayment.

Board replacement – gently slide or tap the new boards into place. The hardest board to replace will be the last one.

Additional Tips

• Make sure you deal with each board on a one-by-one basis. Avoid trying to remove multiple boards at once. They need to be removed one by one.
• Obviously, make sure that the new boards are a reasonable match to the rest of your laminate flooring.
• Consider hiring a professional to do the repair and/or replacement.

Seeking Professional Assistance

No matter what you do, make sure you speak with a water damage professional. It costs you nothing to have Water Mold Fire Restoration, 800-905-0277, give you a cost-free inspection. Remember that you can only fix what you identify! And those things you don’t fix — those things you fail to identify — could wind up causing you far more problems down the road! If you would prefer, you can email us at help@watermoldfire.net.