When disaster strikes, sometimes the only option is to take action. If a laminate plank is broken or severely damaged and cannot be fixed with a repair kit, it’s time to replace it. This blog article provides a step-by-step guide on how you can replace a laminate plank yourself, without having to remove the entire floor. We also offer tips on how to prevent damage to laminate flooring and how to repair minor damage to a wide laminate floor.
Prevent laminate plank damage before it’s too late!
Did you break or damage a laminate board? Prevention is better than cure! If you’re curious about reducing the risk of damaging a floor, consider using laminate flooring. Compared to vinyl flooring, laminate flooring is stronger and less likely to scratch due to its anti-scratch finish and the use of compressed wood fiber (HDF) in its construction. However, if a herringbone laminate or any other laminate floor does suffer damage, it can be a little more difficult to fix than with a vinyl floor.
You can quickly cause damage to your laminate flooring, but unfortunately, solving it can be a bit more difficult. However, there are a number of things you can do to prevent scratches or other damage from causing you distress.
Accidentally putting scissors with the tip down on the floor or letting something else with a sharp angle slip out of your hands can cause damage to the floor. To avoid scratching your laminate or vinyl floor, you can place felt pads under the legs of the furniture. These soft pads ensure that hard metal or wooden legs do not scratch the top layer of your floor, reducing the chance of damage.
Keep it clean
To prevent stones and sand from being tracked inside, consider purchasing a Barrier Doormat and placing it near your door. Regularly vacuuming and mopping your home not only ensures a clean floor but also reduces the risk of damage from stones or sand.
If you like the look of stone floors, consider the Tile Rigid Click Vinyl floors which feature vinyl tiles with a concrete appearance. Additionally, if you prefer a vinyl tile floor without a click connection, you can opt for the tough & stone Dryback Tile Vinyl.
Damages on laminate
Has prevention failed, resulting in damage to your laminate floor? If you have one broken part, there is no need to remove the entire flooring, so don’t panic. You can easily repair minor damage with a repair kit or laminate filler. A laminate repair kit helps you fill the scratch with a wax mix, which you can then scrape away. With a laminate filler, you can fill the scratch in the same way and remove the excess product.
If you have a scratch or damage that is too large to be repaired with a repair kit or filler, unfortunately, you’ll have to replace the click laminate. The step-by-step guide below explains how to do this from start to finish.
Replacing a laminate plank, how to do it?
Do you need to replace a broken laminate board and want to do it yourself? Follow these step-by-step instructions and you can replace the piece of laminate without needing anyone else’s help!
If only one or two boards in your laminate floor are broken, you don’t have to take out the entire floor. Unless the broken laminate plank you need to replace is resting against the wall with a skirting board on it, you don’t need to remove all the skirting boards when replacing a piece of laminate. In that case, simply remove the skirting board where the board rests on it. This makes it easy and quick to replace part of your laminate flooring. Follow these instructions and replace the broken piece of laminate today!
Good to know…
A click connection of a laminate plank comprises a groove and a tongue. It’s useful to know this when replacing a laminate plank.
Instructions for replacing broken laminate
- First, make sure you have the necessary tools. To replace wide laminate, for example, you will need the following: tape, a Stanley knife, a pencil, a plunge saw, a chisel, a hammer, a crowbar, and a tapping block. Once you have all of these items ready, you can begin replacing the broken laminate.
- Mark the damaged plank using a pencil. This step will indicate which plank requires replacement. Use tape to cover the board and identify the exact board that you need to remove.
- Draw a saw line on the new laminate board, specifically on the click connection. Be sure to also mark the underside of the plank so you know where the click joint runs.
- Remove the groove from the click joint by cutting it from the horizontal side of the new board. This will make it easier to glue the board together later.
- Cut two lines along the length of the damaged board. Make sure these slots go all the way to the edges.
- Cut several notches at an angle on the ends of the board to ensure easier removal.
- To remove the damaged laminate board, use a chisel to fit it in the sawn grooves. You can then remove the laminate plank. After removing the entire plank, use a vacuum to clean up any remaining sawdust.
- Apply the Floer Wood Adhesive Glue to one of the long sides and both short sides of the hole where the plank was removed.
- Attach the new plank by snapping the new laminate board into place with the unsawn groove on the side of the hole where no glue has been applied. Then gently knock the plank into place with a tapping block.
- Distribute a weight of about 40 kg evenly on the plank. Allow the new laminated plank to dry for several hours afterward.
Congratulations!
If you have followed and applied all the above steps correctly, then you have successfully replaced your damaged laminate plank! To avoid having to replace a laminate plank every other week, we recommend taking good care of your floor by using a Laminate Cleaner once in a while to keep it clean. On our website, you will find many blogs on maintaining and taking good care of floors. Including a blog that explains why a floor needs acclimatisation.
In addition to numerous blogs, we offer a wide variety of floors to choose from. Are you a fan of the herringbone pattern? Then check out our Herringbone Laminate collection! Do you prefer a maintenance-free and 100% water-resistant floor? Then consider our Herringbone Vinyl or its bigger brother, the Whalebone Vinyl. If you prefer a vinyl floor with straight planks and a click connection, then the Nature Rigid Click Vinyl might be the right choice for you!
