If the laminate is swollen

If the laminate is swollen, do not rush to completely change the floor covering or scold the manufacturer. In many cases, this problem is easily eliminated and does not require additional costs.

Before doing any manipulation with the boards, you should understand the root cause of the problem. Most often these are:

• mistakes made when laying laminate;
• water poured onto the floor;
• poor quality of the material itself.

Depending on the nature of the swelling, each problem is resolved in its own way.

If the laminate is swollen and rippled due to the absence of this gap, the following steps must be taken:

1. Remove all skirting boards;
2. Find the places where the laminate rests against the wall;
3. Carefully cut the lamellas in these areas so that a distance of 1-2 cm is obtained between the coating and the wall;
4. Remove from the floor all objects that prevent the boards from straightening. The laminate will gradually straighten itself.

5. Sometimes heating pipes cause swelling. A gap is also left between them and the coating.

Another reason why the laminate is swollen can be skirting boards, door latches and other elements that need to be fastened to the floor screwed to the floor. In this case, the skirting boards are attached exclusively to the walls. For the rest of the elements, you must first cut holes in the boards and mount directly to the floor screed.

If the cause of the bloating is water, then you need to act quickly:

1. Remove damaged boards. Good quality lamellas, when dry, can restore their previous appearance. Therefore, they can be returned to their place. Cheap low quality laminate swells a lot and rarely returns to its original shape, therefore, requires replacement.
2. Wipe off any water accumulated under the boards.
3. Replace underlayment.

If the dried boards have retained their shape, then they must be returned to their place. Otherwise, the damaged laminate should be replaced.

When the coating is several years old, it is much more difficult to select lamellas by color and texture. Alternatively, for replacement, you can dismantle the boards from under the cabinet or sofa, and put new slats in their place. Such castling, hidden by furniture, will not be visible to the outside eye.

If the laminate is swollen at the joints due to the low quality of the lamellas themselves, then the only way out is to replace the damaged boards

Buy only quality material and lay your laminate correctly. Otherwise, over time, the imaginary savings will be eaten up by the cost of repairing such a coating.

It is important to remember that laminate flooring does not like wet cleaning. Therefore, the coating requires special care: surface treatment with water-repellent polishes or wax.

And in rooms with high humidity, it is recommended to lay a special waterproof laminate.

Another common problem is laminate flooring squeaks. You can also eliminate the squeak.