Laminate floors are made to withstand normal wear-and-tear of daily life. Laminate flooring in general will give you many more years of enjoyment than carpet plus you have the look of the hardwood without spending all that money. But when your flooring is damaged, it’s easier to repair it than hardwood floors – you don’t sand laminate like a real wood floor, since laminate is a thin veneer. A small dent or scratch can be repaired using a laminate flooring repair kit you can buy in you local home remodeling store.
To repair laminate flooring you need:
- Laminate flooring repair kit (repair compound in matching color + color marker)
- Plastic scraper
- Metal scraper
- Small tray
The procedure:
Small “problems” you can fix with the color marker. Simply apply marker directly to minor scratches, worn edges, blemishes, and imperfections. Repeat as needed.
For more visible dents or scratches you need to use a filler called color compound. You can buy it a variety of colors to match your laminate floor. Different manufacturers of the compounds have different conditions of use, so just in case, read their instruction before use.
1. Squeeze the repair compound into a tray, and mix it well.
2. Press the repair compound into deep scratches, gouges, nail holes and cracks using the plastic scraper.
3. Use a metal scraper to quickly wipe off excess of the compound before it has time to dry.
Do not walk or clean your floor for the next 24 hours.
In case your floor plank or section is damaged to the point that compound will not fix it, your only choice is to replace the damaged planks. Use our guide “How to replace damaged laminate flooring” to learn how to do it. It is fairly simple procedure, but if you are not a DIY guru, find experienced flooring installed to do it for you.
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I just had new laminate flooring installed. There are several places in my hallway where you can visibly see saw cuts in the middle of the plank. Mostly in the doorways. Is this normal practice? Is there some way to make them not so visible? It just doesn’t look very natural like the rest of the floor does where the planks meet. Thanks!
Pamela can you email some pictures to me at ed@bestlaminate.net that way I can give you some advice on this matter, thanks, Fred
We have interlocking laminate in our hosue, and it seems that there is a board, where the subfloor isn’t level, causeing the boards not to be flush with one another in one spot….
is there a way to correct this without ripping up the entire floor??
Thanks.
Tanya, If the subfloor is not level then the only way to correct the problem is by disconnecting the floor up to that point and leveling the floor with Henrys self leveling floor patch or a similar leveling product. There is nothing else that can be done to fix the problem unfortunately. It should only take a half of a day to do the repair and once it is done you will be glad that you did it. Good luck, Fred
Our tenant’s dog trashed our laminate flooring with numerous scratches. Plus the “coating” of the laminate looks as if it was eroded in places, maybe due to liquid being left on it? Dog urine? We replaced an entire level but not the first floor due to so much cost in repairs. Any way to keep the laminate and repair? Can you put a sealant on it?
Stacie, unfortunately once the surface of the laminate is damaged there is not anything that will bring it back to new. The best thing would be to replace the damaged planks with new replacements if possible. There is no sealant that can be put on laminate, it already has an aluminum oxide coating from the factory.
Acetone caused the very thin clear layer of the floor to “lift” in a space about 2 x 3 inches circular. Do I shave that “loose” area off and then use a filler?
Hi Yvonne, is your floor laminate, hardwood, or vinyl? With laminate Acetone won’t take off the aluminum oxide coating on your floor unless the laminate was already bubbled before or had pre-existing water damage. – Brittany