Laminate Floor Repair

HandyHails

I went to look at a perspective job today. These folks have a laminate floor (Pergo?) installed for the last 5 years. Recently they have been having problems w/ the pieces unclicking and sliding all over the place. This was obviously marketed as a no-glue install, but now the pieces have just enough dirt and such in around the seams that they won't click back together well enough to hide the seams.

There are a few replacement pieces available to me. Honestly I don't feel that the time and effort to fix this will be worth my hourly rate for these folks. I'm gonna try my best to sell them on a new floor probrably bamboo. I told them I would look into what it would take to fix it if it is at all possible.

Any ideas on what can reasonably be done to solve this problem? I want to give them a few options here in the next few days.

Thanks,

Josh

Mike Costello

Not really enough info to give you a good answer. How many sq ft? What percentage of it is coming apart? Are you sure its a click and not a glue together?

HandyHails

o.k. Sorry.
About 100 square feet. 30 to 40 percent is loose. Just a small kitchen really. She said her father in law put in down 5 yrs ago and couldn't believe that it would work without glue. It has held up until now. The pieces move easily and are tucked as they should be under the base w/ plenty of space for expansion. The homeowner says they are looking to move within the next year so they don't want to spend too much getting the house in order. I'm really just looking at this as a gateway to open up some more work down the road.

I'm thinking if I have to pull the floor up from beginning to end and relay it, I may as well have them drop the $400 bones for some new flooring.

I know I could yank the base mouldings and just pull the boards and glue them back in place after trying to scrape the yuck off of the tongue and grooves. I'm just trying to see if anyone has come across this and found a way to repair without having to yank up the flooring.

silvertree

First I heard of that happening. Those are so cheap to do its too bad they want it fixed. Follow up on your results OK?

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Mike Costello

Ahh ok . If there is crud keeping them from re locking I would say pull it out.

You can get a base grade lam for 1.25 a ft and just use the same underlayment. Its not a Cadilac fix but its better than loose flooring

If you have a really good shop vac you can try getting the crud out . If you can skid them back together with your feet you could add a litte wood glue first and see if that makes them stay.

Can you snap a pic?

wyoming 1

they make a laminate flooring glue for the joints called blue fussion. We have had some mfgs recommend it for our altitude. The glue may work if you can get the flooring back together as previouly stated. My biggest concern would be them wanting you to waranty it " gosh we allready paid you to fix it once" ect.

Jerry T

There is tool for fixing this problem quite easily.... i have one and you will need to glue up the butt joints to keep this problem from reoccurring down the road.

Take a look at this video if I can find the link..... http://flooringinstaller.ning.com/video/torlys-bulldog

HandyHails

Cool. Thanks Jerry. I can now talk to them intelligently about what needs to be done. Since so much of the floor is loose, I think I will suggest to them that I pull it up and use some standard laminate floor glue and reinstall. I'll be able to use any new pieces they have during the install and I shouldn't even need a saw to cut anything as the floor is arleady installed. I should be able to make this happen in about 4 to 5 hours. What do you think?

I like the idea of the bulldog. It looks like the only innovation is using their special tape. It seems to me I could rig something like this up w/ a small piece of rubber roofing or something under a 2/4. I couldn't find a price on this little contraption though. Any idea on what they are asking for it?

Jerry T

I said I own one, but in truth mine is called the Quickstep UniFix repair tool...... same thing. Here is a link to it, http://www.1877floorguy.com/qustuntorela.html


I have no good idea how long it might take you to do this It should not be coming apart like that, wonder if it is a version that needed to be glued up to start with?

3rdFloorDesign

unclick it and replace the pieces that are sliding with the extras, then click it back together. Ive seen this happen before.

Another trick i've used is to pry together the boards so they are tight, and them shim that row in place against the baseboard. This is not a great long term solution but it will fix the problem for now, or until they can replace the floor.

KurtisC

ok so in the video it didnt show him getting the pieces back together. it in my experience would be very hard to get the pieces to snap back while standing on the section of floor (unless floor is perfectly flat ). i am presently working on an apt built in the 60s and have a corner that lifts when you walk on it and it is cheap flooring i know the cause of this but cheap and fast is wha the owner wants however i do not want to leave this piece if it is as easy putting it back together please get back to me so i can get this fixed thank you

darr1

its not worth the hassle talk them into a new floor otherwise you only be taking on their headace

Jean-Marc

Personally, I never tried fixing those type of cheap flooring. I only repair solid wood floor and engeneering floor. Cheap stuff cannot last long.

jatco

Excellent vid on the 'bulldog' - I'll certainly keep that in mind...for Laminate.
I have Torly's down for more than 5 years without issue..Laminate and cork flooring, but this tool could be useful for its applications...
In the case for HandyHails, I would probably go with a new install.. Its not a large area to redo.. to get it up to spec, vs a repair.
Inexpensive (cheap) stuff can last a long time, if properly installed and cared for...
Not everyone can go with hardwood or engineered..base on circumstances and/or enviroment...(ie raising floor height in relation to cabinets etc.)
If one is doing a Total reno, thats a different story...!

N&K_Interiors

never the same after a repair... customer always got some input on joints in laminate... ITS FRIGGIN LAMINATE NOT WOOD i tell em

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ernesto

Old thread but I'll put in my 2 cents anyway. My buddy Howard makes a similar tool and I have used it many times even on 3/4 inch x 8" engineered ten foot long planks. This one is a beast and I beat the hell outa it and I have had it over a year now.

http://www.strapclamps.net/Bully/index.htm

I undercut all this base and installed the 3/4 in TEKA 8" ten foot planks with the Bully. I could not have done it without Howards tool. You can order it direct from Howard. The key to using these tools is getting a quality cloth double faced tape, not a thin cheapo one.

FYI- I repair anything for money. Vac out the end joints and just use some quality adhesive for floating T&G and the Bully. Piece of cake.

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jatco

Having the right tools for the job, makes the job all that much easier to accomplish...!!

boman47k

Old thread, but it would have been interesting to see the plank put back in with the Bulldog. Seems to me every time a plank was joined to another, one would unsnap. it just seems this would require going all the way to a wall rejoining planks. Surely not.