Fix gaps in laminate floor

Sometimes the locking system on laminate floor fails over time. When this happens, the piece slides around, leaving a big, unslightly gap in the floor. Tearing the floor up and replacing the worn-out pieces takes a lot of time and runs the risk of creating more damage. When this happens, here’s how to easily fix gaps in laminate floor.

You will want to fix these gaps sooner, rather than later. Gaps in laminate floor increase the risk of gouging the individual pieces.

Fix gaps in laminate floor

Fix gaps in laminate floor
In this photo, I’ve glued two broken pieces of laminate back together. All that remains is to wipe up a bit more excess glue and let it dry.

The two things you need for a lasting repair are a good quality wood glue, some towels, at least 12 hours of minimal floor traffic, and perhaps a bit of painter’s masking tape. That’s it. I like Titebond wood glue, personally, but any good quality yellow wood glue will be OK.

Slide the pieces apart and clean up any debris that might be inside the gap. Use a vacuum cleaner if need be. Then squirt some glue onto both pieces. Run your finger along the piece to spread the glue out. You want a generous amount, but the more you squirt into the gap, the more glue you’ll be cleaning up in a minute.

Slide the two pieces together as tightly as you can. With some luck, you’ll end up with a minimal gap. If there is a bit of a gap, the glue can fill it for you. Wipe up the excess that gets onto the surface as quickly as you can. The glue will dry clear, but excess glue sitting on your floor surface changes the finish and doesn’t look good. Put a piece of tape to mark the pieces near the repair to make it easier to avoid the area.

If you have more gaps, move on to the next gap. Fix it the same way.

As long as you clean up the debris between the pieces, glue them, fit them together tightly, and give the glue about 12 hours to dry, you’ll have a permanent repair.

Fix damaged laminate pieces

If you end up with damaged laminate pieces, it’s possible to fix them without replacing the whole piece. Fill in the damaged area with some wood filler, ideally some with a color that’s fairly close to the color of your floor. Use a darker wood-toned acrylic paint to paint in lines to fill in the gaps in the grain. Let it dry, then apply a bit of acrylic floor finish like Quick Shine over it to protect it.

The result probably won’t look as good as the floor did originally, but it looks better than a damaged floor. As long as you’re not right on top of the repair, you’re not likely to notice it.

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