Water damaged laminate floor repair..Would never know..

[Wes]

Hi All,

I've recently been asked by a customer to replace part of a laminate floor in a kitchen. I'd fitted it 6 months prior and the washing machine leaked (Well been leaking for a while). Thought I'd post some pictures and a little about the process of the replacement. Laminate tends to have a bad name for areas that are subject to moisture and rightly so. However, it's good to know how easy it can be to replace and relatively cost effective. If a laminate floor becomes moisture damaged, it's not necessarily true that the entire floor must be replaced. Providing the laminate you've got is still available to purchase and the undamaged planks still in good condition a part replacement is a viable option and can cost a lot less than starting again, especially if the kitchen is large.

If your washing machine leaks often water will travel underneath the floor. It's important to remove the laminate as stagnant water trapped under the floor is an ideal breading ground for bacteria and the ensuing damp smell that most of us have had some experience with. If it's a small leak, sometimes you'll get lucky. It's hard to tell if water has travelled underneath the floor as the obvious signs of joint swelling can be caused from surface water ingress as well as from below. My customer had left this floor for 4 weeks prior to calling me in the hope the swelled joints would settle and the floor would dry out.

Kitchen repair balterio grey slate after removal2 (Medium).jpg (79.32 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

Kitchen repair balterio grey slate after removal (Medium).jpg (77.89 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

It's clear to see the water had travelled a good distance under the floor and the underlay was sodden. The water had also travelled under and through the hardboard and this had to be lifted up and replaced after the floorboards had been given chance to dry out.

Kitchen repair balterio blue grey slate1 (Medium).jpg (68.15 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

Kitchen repair balterio blue grey slate2 (Medium).jpg (54.93 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

You can see just under half the laminate and hardboard had to be cut out and lifted. These pictures actually show the new hardboard already installed. The initial leak had travelled a good distance over the top of the laminate and swelled a number of joints that could be seen and would not return to there original state. Surprisingly, it was also damp under the hardboard although not as visible that far out. A week was given for the floorboards to adequately dry and hardboard was installed.

Kitchen repaired balterio grey slate1 (Medium).jpg (65.76 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

Kitchen repaired balterio grey slate2 (Medium).jpg (59.87 KiB) Viewed 11022 times

The finished result is as new. The washing machine was very carefully fixed and normality restored The cost of the part replacement totalled £450 for this sized area including hardboard, laminate, underlay and labour. A complete replacement would have been close to £1000. The cost of the replacement was covered by the kitchen company as they excepted liability due to a poorly fitted washing machine feed pipe.

If any of you diy'ers are contemplating this type of work, I'd gladly share any knowledge I've gained over the years of doing this type of work. It can be tricky in places, although, very doable and worth the effort

[transitboy]

You would not known you been their mate,must admit i don't like wood in bathrooms and kitchens for that reason

[Wes]

Thanks mate

Fair enough, people can be put off by issues with water and although potentially tricky to sort, I kinda wanted to put it across that its very doable. I look at the way water travels under different floor coverings and to be able to dismantle parts of a floor, I see as a big bonus

I do think wood and laminate floors are more resilient than they're given credit for but I always tell my customers that if a washing machine or such decides to let rip, some works going to be needed

[transitboy]

I am sure I can remember a gadget ,what use to cut the water off it it detected a leak

[Wes]

I don't want to know Transit boy, I make money out of putting floors right

Sounds like a handy gadget though, perhaps for my own washing machine

[royaloakcarpentry]

Doesn't matter what floor covering is down, enough water will mean a rip up is in order. Tiles increase in moisture content and that can render them u/s, vinyl tiles or sheet can blow.

I had to take up a whole floor once to get to a damaged plank. 2 days after I fitted it. I asked where the scratch was because I certainly couldn't notice it. The client said 'you have to get on your hands and knees put your face side onto the board and look into the light. it is about 5mm long'.

Feck me you could only just see it. Thankfully it was quickstep lol.

[Wes]

ROC, I know what you're saying. It's happened to me on a few occasions where a near invisible scratch has appeared, couldn't notice it if you tried. You think, 'in a month there're going to be plenty like that...It's a FLOOR!'...Although the customer's always right as they say

Start another thread on that huge topic ROC, before we end up 40 posts on and a million miles from replacing a water damaged laminate