Laminate is a material that is quite resistant to wear, but even with time, defects like cracks, chips, bloats and scratches can appear on it. Such problems may be caused by a violation of the laying technology. Faced with special troubles can when the floor covering is not properly used. However, repairing a laminate with your own hands indiscriminately can be done. There are several ways to carry out such manipulations, and they will be discussed below.
Scratch repair
If you move furniture without using special substrates or drop heavy objects on the floor, scratches may appear on the laminate. Sometimes this happens with the most careful handling of the coating. The appearance of the laminate can be restored quite simply, but if the scratches are quite deep, then the only right solution is to replace damaged boards. DIY laminate repair can be done indiscriminately.
In order to exclude the possibility of scratches on the laminate, you should use the substrate under the legs of furniture. In addition, before moving around the laminate floor in shoes, you must make sure that it is perfectly clean, since grains of sand that adhere to the sole can cause a lot of scratches. Laminate regularly needs to be cleaned using recommended products.
For reference
The easiest solution to eliminate scratches are wax crayons, they are suitable for small flaws. You can buy a special putty in the store, it is suitable for eliminating deeper errors. The latter is useful in the repair of chips.
Recommendations for work
If you decide to repair the laminate with your own hands indiscriminately, then you must prepare:
- a vacuum cleaner;
- putty knife;
- repair kit.
At the first stage, you need to make sure that the repair kit matches the color of the floor. If the scratches are too deep, then you can simply replace the damaged boards. It takes about 15 minutes to fix a few scratches.
If you purchased wax crayons, then the scratch in the first stage must be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, and then apply the product. Using a dry rag, excess wax is removed from the surface, and then the base is polished. If the scratch was too deep and you were not satisfied with the result, then you can fill the error with putty.
Using putty
Today, home masters quite often repair laminate flooring. With your own hands, the main problems can be eliminated. For this, putty is also used. Before going to the store, you need to prepare a piece of laminate, which will act as a model for choosing a shade. You should not save on quality, this is especially true of the case when you have to deal with deep scratches.
Home Master Tips
To fill the scratches with paste, use a spatula. At first it is recommended to use as a trimmer of a laminate board, and then proceed to work with flooring. Excess paste is removed with a clean cloth, after which the restored area is left until it dries for 2 hours.
Floor swelling elimination
You can repair the laminate yourself. How to remove scratches, chips, swelling, you can find out if you read the article. When there is no need or desire to disassemble the entire floor covering, you can replace a separate section that swelled during operation. To do this, use a circular saw. In each corner of the damaged lamella, it is necessary to drill holes, deviating from the edges of the product approximately 1.5 cm. This will eliminate the likelihood of damage to adjacent lamellas.
At the next stage, the holes are made along the long sides of the board, the distance between them should be 25 cm. With a pencil, draw a line that will connect the holes. The master will have to adjust the depth of cut with a saw so that it matches the thickness of the laminate. If this recommendation is neglected, the floor base may be damaged.
If you need to repair the laminate with your own hands indiscriminately, you should definitely study the methods of carrying out these works. The use of an electric saw is one of them. On the drawn line at the next stage, it is necessary to make a cut, starting from the center. In order to cut off the short sides of the board, use a knife. The inner part of the swollen element is removed, as well as the remains of the damaged lamella. The site is well cleaned from dust and dirt with a vacuum cleaner. At the same time, the adjacent boards must remain in good condition, otherwise they can also be removed.
Using a sharp knife, the lower part of the lock of the new product is removed. This applies to the short and long sides. Carrier glue is applied around the perimeter of the laminate board, the lamella is put in place. Using a clean rag, excess glue can be removed by placing a load on top so that the board is well fixed in one position.
Recommendations for repairing a laminate when cracks and squeaks appear
If over time you notice that the laminate began to make a creak, and cracks appeared between its lamellas, then you can try to correct the situation. Such defects may occur if the strips were mounted using a lock connection. During operation, some areas of the coating are shifted.
Cracks can be dealt with using the same technology as scratches. They are masked with wax or change the damaged area. New planks can be strengthened with glue without using a locking connection. This will allow for greater reliability. Sometimes experts use self-tapping screws.
Do-it-yourself repair and restoration of the laminate is often done by home craftsmen. If you notice the occurrence of kinks, then you won’t be able to restore the trims, you will need to change them. To do this, the coating is partially disassembled, and then new slats are installed on the released areas. This should be taken care of even at the stage of purchasing flooring, ensuring a supply of material. If you want the restoration not to be needed for a long time, you must initially follow all the rules for laying the coating. They suggest the need for technical clearances. In addition, care must be taken during operation.
Lamella collision elimination
If you are thinking about how to repair a laminate, bloating, chips can even occur on a quality coating, you should know that the material described in this article may encounter the problem of collision of neighboring boards. This problem is also called bloating, as well as that which occurs when the material gets wet. In this case, the joint takes on a V-shape.
It is best to take care of this even at the stage of installation. To do this, leave a gap between the wall and the floor, in which case the boards will have room for expansion. Repairing the flooring will be quite simple. To do this, the lamella adjacent to the wall is dismantled and sawed in the longitudinal direction. Depending on the height of the swelling, it will be possible to remove about 5 cm. If the swelling has not disappeared, then heavy objects should be placed on the surface, leaving them for a day.
Of course, you can repair the laminate with your own hands. Repair methods are described in the article. However, it is still possible to prevent such a need. To do this, the baseboard should not be fixed to the floor. In this case, the lamellas cannot expand. In addition, this coating is a floating floor, so it should not be strengthened to the baseboards or base. Along all walls during installation, it is necessary to lay expansion wedges, which will allow to maintain a gap between the laminate and the walls.
Conclusion
Laminate is a beautiful, but rather moody finish. During operation, it sometimes also exfoliates. In order to avoid such problems, it is not recommended to wash the floor with soapy water or water. For cleaning, it is best to use special products called laminate cleaners.
DIY laminate repair can be done indiscriminately, but you must try to avoid such a need. To do this, the coating should be properly maintained. A special composition is applied to the surface, and then the base is wiped with a dry non-abrasive cloth. If water has been spilled on the floor, wipe it with a dry cloth. Each minute will increase the risk of delamination of the coating. If this happens, the boards will have to be replaced in whole or in part.