How to repair laminate flooring that is lifted, swollen or dented

What you need

• Oscillating multi-tool (Bosch, Dremel or Einhell) or jigsaw
• Flat pry bar and hammer, 8-10 mm spacer wedges
• Pull bar and tapping block (floor installation kit)
• Tape measure, square, pencil and plastic spatula
• Vacuum cleaner and iron or hairdryer (for wax)
• Hygrometer (optional)
• Spare planks of the same model and batch if possible (Quick-Step, Pergo, Tarkett, Artens from Leroy Merlin)
• D3 laminate glue (Titebond, Pattex or whatever the manufacturer recommends)
• Laminate repair kit with hard wax and filler in several shades (Leroy Merlin, Bricodepot)
• New skirting board or scotia, if the old one is damaged on removal
• Masking tape, plastic sheeting and cardboard for protection

Step by step

1. 1

   Find the cause before touching anything

   Ask when the damage appeared. If the floor lifts into a tent shape in the middle of the room and creaks underfoot, the expansion gap is missing or something is in the way. If the damage is next to a bathroom, kitchen or balcony, it is water. If the joints are opening, the floor has shrunk or moved. If you do not fix the cause, the repair will fail again.

2. 2

   Remove the skirting boards and check the perimeter gap

   With the pry bar and a wedge, carefully take off the skirting boards, working left to right, and number them with tape. Floating laminate needs 8-10 mm clear between wall and plank. If the plank touches the wall or there is a rawlplug, a pipe or a door frame with no clearance, that is the problem.

3. 3

   Free up the floor that is pushing

   Mark 8-10 mm from the wall in pencil and, with the multi-tool blade held vertically, cut off the surplus strip along the edge of the planks. Vacuum and check with a straightedge that the floor settles. Do not cut the floor towards the middle: only the edge.

4. 4

   Scratches and surface dents

   Warm the hard wax with a hairdryer, fill the scratch or dent, remove the excess with the plastic spatula and buff with a microfibre cloth. For dents of 2-4 mm, use filler made for laminate, leave it to dry as the pack says and sand with the finest grit (240).

5. 5

   Open joints between planks

   If the planks are apart but sound, place the tapping block against the edge and give sharp taps with the hammer, starting at one end. If they will not close, the cause is an obstacle or a plank in the previous row not fully engaged: take the row apart up to that point, clean the joint and refit.

6. 6

   Swollen planks: mark the area to replace

   A laminate plank swollen by water does not recover its shape: the high-density fibreboard expands and does not return. Draw a rectangle in pencil inside the plank, 3-4 cm from the edges, and check that the neighbouring planks are not affected. Check that the floor under the plank is dry; if it is not, wait.

7. 7

   Cut out and remove the damaged plank

   With the multi-tool or jigsaw, cut along the marked rectangle, make 4 corner cuts and remove the centre. Then carefully cut the edges along the joints without damaging the neighbouring planks and lift out the remains with the pry bar. Vacuum the hole and check the base.

8. 8

   Prepare the new plank

   With a craft knife and a ruler, trim off the lower lip of the groove on the spare plank along both long sides and one short side. That way you can drop it in from above onto the neighbouring planks. Check that the hole takes the plank with 0.5 mm to spare.

9. 9

   Glue and seat the plank

   Apply a bead of laminate glue in the grooves of the neighbouring planks and on the tongues of the new one. Engage the long side first at an angle of 20-30 degrees and lower the plank until it clicks. Put weight on it (books, sandbags) for 12 hours with plastic and masking tape over the top.

10. 10

    Refit the skirting boards and leave to dry

    Once the glue has cured, nail or glue the skirting boards back without pressing them down on the floor. Leave 2-3 mm of vertical clearance. Do not mop the floor for 48 hours and do not move heavy furniture for 24.

Before repairing laminate flooring: why it lifts or swells

Laminate is a high-density fibreboard with a printed decorative layer. It is sensitive to water, especially along the edges, and expands with temperature and humidity. That is why it is laid floating, not glued to the subfloor, with a perimeter gap of 8-10 mm to the walls that the skirting board hides. If that gap is missing, or there is an obstacle (a radiator pipe, a partition wall, the door frame), the floor cannot expand and lifts into a tent shape, usually in summer.

If the damage is on isolated planks next to the sink, the washing machine, the balcony door or a shower, it is water. If the whole floor has raised edges, it may be ambient damp or damp from the screed. If joints are opening and the plank creaks, the base is uneven or the underlay is worn. In ground-floor flats and coastal buildings it is always worth checking the damp in the floor before repairing.

Common mistakes when repairing laminate

• Gluing laminate to the subfloor. It stops the floor expanding and makes the lifting worse. It is a floating floor.
• Cutting out a section without finding the cause. If there is water under the floor, the new plank will swell just the same.
• Mopping with lots of water. A well-wrung mop or a damp cloth is best; water gets in through the edges.
• Fixing the skirting board to the floor. It has to be fixed to the wall so the floor can move freely.
• Not keeping spare planks. In two years that model may have been discontinued and the colour will not match. Keep 1-2 boxes.
• Using wall filler or silicone. They stay soft and do not stand up to foot traffic; use filler made for laminate.

When to call a professional

Fixing a dent with wax is a ten-minute job. Replacing a plank takes a steadier hand and the right tools, and a carpenter should do it if the floor is old and you have no spares, if several planks are affected, if the source is a leak you cannot find or if the laminate has been glued down. With damp, the key is to find out whether there is still water: a carpenter checks with a hygrometer before cutting.

At Manitas Costa floating floor costs €10-15 per m² labour. To replace one or two planks or free up an edge, we apply the hourly rate: first hour €35-45, following hours €28-35, at a fixed price. Send us photos of the floor and the joint on WhatsApp and we come the same day in Valencia, Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

See carpenter at your home and carpenter prices. If you are replacing the whole floor, there are how to lay laminate flooring and how to lay vinyl flooring. For a solid wood floor, how to repair parquet. And if the doors rub after the new floor: door rubbing on the floor.

Laminate flooring in coastal homes and second homes

The humidity on the Alicante and Valencia coast makes laminate move more than it does inland. In beach flats that are barely aired in winter, the floor takes in damp and swells at the edges; if the air conditioning is then switched on in summer, it dries and contracts. It helps to keep relative humidity between 40 and 60 % with a dehumidifier and always to respect the 8-10 mm gap.

If your flat is on the ground floor of a building with a garage, or is a bajo (ground-floor flat), ask the comunidad de vecinos (residents' association) whether there has been rising damp or a problem with a soil stack, because the problem may come from the common areas and not be yours. In an empty second home, a leak from the washing machine or water heater can ruin the floor without anyone seeing it; a monthly visit from a handyman by the hour prevents that.