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O/T Laminate flooring help please.



spongy

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2011
2,759
Burgess Hill
After 2 years of looking at an empty aquarium I set it back up on Sunday with goldfish for my 3 year old.

Overnight on Sunday the pump outflow sprung a leak. I mopped up what I could but the tank is placed near a wall and water has gotten into the expansion gap under the flooring near the skirting board.

I have no real idea how much water leaked, up to 10 litres is my estimate.

The laminate on a different part of the floor gas started to swell and rise up at the joint.

I can't move the tank as it weighs a ton unless I drain it but I'm scared the floor will spring up.

Will it dry out and go back down? Or am I looking at having to replace the entire living room and hallway? or depending on the direction it was laid can I just replace a section?

I would upload some photos but I don't know how to.....
 


mothy

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2012
2,094
It's unlikely to dry out & go back down. It will dry out but will stay swelled.

It depends how it's laid (joints glued or not, & direction of joins) on how much you need to take up to replace - do you have spares/ a colour matched board?
 


macky

Well-known member
Dec 28, 2004
1,651
Firstly I would get a dehumidifier in the room and see where you go from there
 


spongy

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2011
2,759
Burgess Hill
It's unlikely to dry out & go back down. It will dry out but will stay swelled.

It depends how it's laid (joints glued or not, & direction of joins) on how much you need to take up to replace - do you have spares/ a colour matched board?

I don't.

We rent the flat and it was already down. This is my problem. It looks like it has just been clicked together as we do have small gaps in other places where it's come apart near walls.

The boards run along the room as opposed to across it. The swelling is across the entrance to the kitchen so we can't leave it like it is, especially with little bare feet running around.

Why is it when you're just getting a handle on things something else goes ****ing wrong to cause a load of grief and expense?

Going to be a fun conversation with the landlord.
 


spongy

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2011
2,759
Burgess Hill
Firstly I would get a dehumidifier in the room and see where you go from there

We run a dehumidifier anyway as the bedrooms suffer from damp, especially in winter as they are north facing walls that don't get any warmth and the building was shoddily built.
 




Feb 23, 2009
22,840
Brighton factually.....
After 2 years of looking at an empty aquarium I set it back up on Sunday with goldfish for my 3 year old.

Overnight on Sunday the pump outflow sprung a leak. I mopped up what I could but the tank is placed near a wall and water has gotten into the expansion gap under the flooring near the skirting board.

I have no real idea how much water leaked, up to 10 litres is my estimate.

The laminate on a different part of the floor gas started to swell and rise up at the joint.

I can't move the tank as it weighs a ton unless I drain it but I'm scared the floor will spring up.

Will it dry out and go back down? Or am I looking at having to replace the entire living room and hallway? or depending on the direction it was laid can I just replace a section?

I would upload some photos but I don't know how to.....

To be blunt your fooked.

The laminate will not click back together and you will have a neigh on impossible job finding out what laminate you have down and matching it up to replace just a section. Even if you do know which one it is and can still get that laminate and colour be aware that sometimes the manufacturers change locking systems or wear layer on the surface every few years so that they can sell you more instead of like yourself just replacing a section.

Good luck, your gonna need it.
 


Gabbafella

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
4,637
Sorry to butt in, just easier than starting a new thread.
Just wanted to know how easy laminate flooring is to fit as I want to do my flat. Obviously I don't want to start something and then find out it's harder than I thought.
From others experiences, am I safer just paying for a pro to fit it? I'm no expert when it comes to diy but I'm not a total moron either.
 


mothy

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2012
2,094
Sorry to butt in, just easier than starting a new thread.
Just wanted to know how easy laminate flooring is to fit as I want to do my flat. Obviously I don't want to start something and then find out it's harder than I thought.
From others experiences, am I safer just paying for a pro to fit it? I'm no expert when it comes to diy but I'm not a total moron either.

Laying the floor is easy. I did an 18ft x 12ft room in about a day & half using hand saw & rubber mallet & gluing joints.

2 things: 1 is your floor level - as this is critical to making it easy / a good job
2 - will you remove skirting boards & replace over new floor? This looks & lasts much better than using scotia / beading to cover the expansion gaps
 




Brian Fantana

Well-known member
Oct 8, 2006
7,202
In the field
To be blunt your fooked.

The laminate will not click back together and you will have a neigh on impossible job finding out what laminate you have down and matching it up to replace just a section. Even if you do know which one it is and can still get that laminate and colour be aware that sometimes the manufacturers change locking systems or wear layer on the surface every few years so that they can sell you more instead of like yourself just replacing a section.

Good luck, your gonna need it.

This. I've got a small area in my living room which got water damaged. Luckily, it is underneath one of the sofas so not hugely noticeable.
 


Brok

😐
Dec 26, 2011
4,245
Laminate flooring? :sick:


Hate the stuff. Looks rubbish, feels horrible underfoot, wears out, expands and contracts too much, sounds awful when walked on etc. Cheap and very nasty stuff that in the not too distant future, everybody will be ripping up and putting it where it belongs. In a skip.
 






Gabbafella

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
4,637
Laying the floor is easy. I did an 18ft x 12ft room in about a day & half using hand saw & rubber mallet & gluing joints.

2 things: 1 is your floor level - as this is critical to making it easy / a good job
2 - will you remove skirting boards & replace over new floor? This looks & lasts much better than using scotia / beading to cover the expansion gaps

The floor is pretty good and even, few lumps that can easily be levelled so no issues there.
I was going to use beading as I figured removing the skirting would be a pain in the sphincter and I don't want to accidentally rip any big chunks of plaster off the walls at all.
 


Feb 9, 2011
1,047
Lancing
Sorry to butt in, just easier than starting a new thread.
Just wanted to know how easy laminate flooring is to fit as I want to do my flat. Obviously I don't want to start something and then find out it's harder than I thought.
From others experiences, am I safer just paying for a pro to fit it? I'm no expert when it comes to diy but I'm not a total moron either.

Check you are actually allowed to have it your flat first. Very few that you can and can cost you a lot of money later on. As been mentioned it's crap anyway and noisy.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 


mothy

Well-known member
Dec 30, 2012
2,094
Laminate flooring? :sick:


Hate the stuff. Looks rubbish, feels horrible underfoot, wears out, expands and contracts too much, sounds awful when walked on etc. Cheap and very nasty stuff that in the not too distant future, everybody will be ripping up and putting it where it belongs. In a skip.

This. I think the same of any tongue & groove flooring (including wood).

It's quite difficult to source decent real floor boards these days. Everyone assumes you want click clack Lego flooring
 




Cheshire Cat

The most curious thing..
Laying laminate is easy - if I can do it anyone can. But buy yourself an electric jig-saw, a metal tape measure, a mallet, and some knee pads. A hand saw will take forever, and may not even cut the stuff properly.

Beading is easy. You can always use transparent filler to make it slightly more water tight.

If it gets too wet and swells up it will stay swollen even after it has dried.

Solid wood flooring would be better, but is vastly more expensive.
 


samtheseagull

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2010
1,599
This. I think the same of any tongue & groove flooring (including wood).

It's quite difficult to source decent real floor boards these days. Everyone assumes you want click clack Lego flooring

What sort of flooring do you prefer then?
 


samtheseagull

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2010
1,599
Laminate flooring? :sick:


Hate the stuff. Looks rubbish, feels horrible underfoot, wears out, expands and contracts too much, sounds awful when walked on etc. Cheap and very nasty stuff that in the not too distant future, everybody will be ripping up and putting it where it belongs. In a skip.

Being in the flooring trade, I couldn't of said it better myself.
 








Harry Wilson's tackle

Harry Wilson's Tackle
NSC Patreon
Oct 8, 2003
49,347
Faversham
Laminate flooring? :sick:


Hate the stuff. Looks rubbish, feels horrible underfoot, wears out, expands and contracts too much, sounds awful when walked on etc. Cheap and very nasty stuff that in the not too distant future, everybody will be ripping up and putting it where it belongs. In a skip.

I have had laminate for 15 years. It has had litres of wine spilled on it and still looks brand new. Maybe that's because I tend to lick up the spills, toot sweet. Let that be a lesson. :thumbsup:
 



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