Laminate floors are a lovely addition to any home, and they have grown in popularity in recent years. They are created to accommodate all interior design preferences and modernize any space in a home or office.
You can typically notice laminate flooring by the lovely wood materials that make it so popular in renovations.
While laminate flooring has numerous advantages, it does have certain drawbacks that you should be aware of. We'll talk about a huge one in this post: laminate floor water damage.
Before you run to the local flooring store to replace your entire floor, the are a few things to consider first. So now, let's look at some advice and tips about laminate floor water damage.
Jump to:
- Types of Laminate Floor Water Damage
- What If Water Goes On Top of Laminate Flooring?
- What If Water Gets Below Laminate Flooring?
- How to Stop Further Damage
- Remove the Excess Water
- Find All the Problem Areas
- Remove Your Damaged Planks
- How to Fix Water Damaged Areas
- Is this to say you can't fix it?
- Should I Call In a Professional?
- Laminate Floor Water Damage Resolved
Types of Laminate Floor Water Damage
When trying to repair water damage to laminate flooring, it's important to keep in mind that several forms of damage might develop.
Water and humid surroundings are incompatible with this type of flooring, and it can be irrevocably destroyed even in short periods.
According to the manufacturer's guidelines, you should not install laminate floors in rooms with extreme temperature or humidity swings, such as a bathroom or laundry room. Due to changes in the environment, the materials used in laminate flooring expand and shrink. If they get too wet, bubbles will develop on the laminate floor.
However, laminate floors will not immediately deteriorate if they come into contact with water. Do not be alarmed if a liquid spills on the wood flooring. There is a simple remedy for this if handled correctly.
At the very least, we recommend mopping up any liquid spills as soon as possible. This ensures that the water does not travel any farther than it needs to go.
The actual problem arises when water seeps beneath the laminate flooring.
Flooring experts build expansion gaps into laminate floors to allow them to expand and contract as needed. This is vital, but it also allows water to seep beneath the surface, causing serious difficulties.
If water gets underneath the boards, it is far more probable that it will harm them. Repairing laminate flooring is not always an option, as you may imagine.
What If Water Goes On Top of Laminate Flooring?
Only the top layer of laminate floors can become wet. The open seams, sides, bottoms, and damaged areas of laminate flooring can never become wet.
Water can travel into the laminate's seams, so mop up any standing water fast. Because the margins of the laminate are sliced and exposed, they are more of a concern. If the water has reached the edge areas or open seams, use a wet-dry vacuum to extract the water completely.
If you're installing laminate flooring in a complete bathroom, you'll need to follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. Because water is not as prevalent in guest or half bathrooms as it is in rooms with bathing amenities, installation without precautions is permissible. The primary areas of worry in these rooms would be around the toilet and behind the sink.
What If Water Gets Below Laminate Flooring?
When water enters the laminate flooring, you must remove it as soon as possible. Pull up any baseboards or quarter-round around the perimeter if a tiny amount of water has leaked into the flooring's margins. You may be able to extract the water with a wet-dry vacuum if it is not ubiquitous.
The best course of action is to have the problematic floors removed. The last course of parallel laminate boards should slant upward, making it easy to remove floorboards that run parallel to the spill. After that, you can gradually take up boards as far as you need.
The first course of boards and floorboards that run perpendicular to the spill are difficult to remove. You must remove all of the laminate floorboards in this situation.
Now you know about the types of water damage laminate floors can face. Let's move on and look at some preventative measures to curtail further damage.
How to Stop Further Damage
First and foremost, you must locate the origin of the water. This should be your priority if the damage is caused by a minor spill or an apparent accident. If a leak is coming from somewhere, put all of your efforts into stopping it before you worry about the laminate floors.
Once you deal with the leaky dishwasher or whatever else, turn your focus back to the damaged boards to assess the degree of the problem.
Remove the Excess Water
As previously said, laminate flooring will withstand a small amount of water on the surface but can be affected if left wet for an extended time. So, before doing anything else, clean and dry all of the affected boards.
Before making any repairs or applying a sealant, make sure you fix any leaks too. If the leak persists, your laminate tiles will suffer severe damage.
Find All the Problem Areas
Water swiftly spreads. It's amazing how quickly it can go through the flooring's wood materials. As a result, we strongly advise you to take your time with this step.
On your laminate floors, you must locate all impacted areas. If specific locations go unreported, you'll likely have a bigger problem on your hands, as toxic mold and bacteria can grow in regions that aren't treated or managed swiftly.
Step on each damaged board and feel for any changes or movement that could indicate there is water underneath. You should also keep an eye out for visual changes in the laminate flooring.
After being exposed to any quantity of water, damaged boards will usually show some discoloration and may buckle and become deformed. You should concentrate on these laminate boards. For the next stage, make a note of or flag any board that stands out to you.
To prevent the floor water damage from spreading to other places, you should remove individual laminate boards that have been damaged.
Remove Your Damaged Planks
You'll need to get rid of all of the affected boards. Floorboards that have bent due to the damage may usually be removed with your bare hands, but others may take more effort.
For these, you can use any tiny instrument or knife to go under the board and lift it away from the barrier beneath it. Take your time with this step; laminate flooring is constructed with a locking system, so the pieces are easy to put together.
For modest levels of water damage, taking them apart should not be too difficult, but this isn't always the case.
How to Fix Water Damaged Areas
Various floor types, including laminate floors, can be damaged when exposed to enough water. When natural wood flooring is wet, it can warp and expand. Because natural wood fibers run longitudinally, the weak direction is sideways.
Natural wood crowns or cups as it bends in this direction. Even water-resistant surfaces, such as vinyl, can be harmed if water seeps beneath the surface and begins to deteriorate the paper backing.
The distinction between natural wood and laminate is that real wood is a big difference. Wood that has been cupped or crowned can be sanded flat. It is not possible to sand laminate flooring.
Is this to say you can't fix it?
You cannot fix damaged laminate planks; however, you can replace them one for one. Packs of laminate boards are used in the majority of installations.
Because each box has a certain number of boards, it is unavoidable that some will be leftover. Extra laminate boards may have been stashed in a closet or attic by you or a former owner. Remove the baseboard and pull out the afflicted board if the board is at the end. If the damaged board is in the middle, use a circular saw with a fine-finish blade to cut it out.
Should I Call In a Professional?
Water damage is not a laughing issue, and the severity of it varies greatly. Laminate floors, unfortunately, are susceptible to some of the more severe problems. You can not repair all of these defects with items you have on hand at home or work, and laminate flooring is not always repairable.
Repairing water-soaked laminate flooring takes a long time, and if you don't know how, you'll end up causing more harm to your laminate floor.
You should be aware that there are professionals available to assist you in your time of need. You can hire a water damage expert to help you with the repairs. They can identify the source of the problem and expertly replace your flooring.
You won't have to do it yourself, and you won't have to worry about the installation going wrong. You only need to hire pros, and they will fix your issue quickly.
An excellent place to start is 1-800 Water Damage, for expert water damage repair.
Laminate Floor Water Damage Resolved
Now you should have a much better about what to do when you experience laminate floor water damage. There are simple things you can do right away. Then, there are more challenging procedures you can carry out.
If in doubt, it's probably best to get the professionals in.
So thanks for stopping by, and good luck in dealing with your laminate floor issues. Also, if you found this post helpful, why not check out some of our other articles on our blog?
