Laminate flooring worn - any tips to fix?

Barbet

Hi all, just wondering if any one has tips on dealing with worn areas of laminate flooring?

The flooring is in the kitchen and near the sink has worn through the protective top coat. It now looks grey there and clearly has no waterproof coating as if I drip water on it, it soaks in. The floor is less that 4 years old and so I'm wondering if there is a way of fixing this part and making the whole floor more durable?

I was thinking about very lightly sanding the worn patch, hiring one of those floor polishers with a slightly abrasive pad to go over the whole kitchen, and then varnish or lacquering the whole floor? Any thoughts? Is this a ridiculous plan of action? Any one got advice?

Many thanks in advance.

DirectDebacle

Unfortunately repair is going to be virtually impossible. Laminate flooring is typically a layer of HDF (high density fibreboard) with a photo of wood/tiles or whatever placed on it and covered with a wear coat (melamine or similar). Attempting to sand it will cause even more damage. If you try to reseal the damaged area you will be sealing in and trapping moisture that has already found its way through the laminate. This will lead to further problems.

If you can find identical laminate to that fitted then it is possible to replace the damaged boards. However it may well be better and not much more expensive to remove all the laminate in the kitchen and replace with either laminate or another material e.g. tiles or vinyl.

scottishblondie

Sanding isn't going to help - there is no real wood there so you'll just take off the image on the top. I'd probably just get a mat/run and lay it over the worn area - I actually have one in from of my sink because it's nicer to stand on when I'm doing all the washing up! Otherwise your options are probably to replace the worn planks, or replace the entire floor.

Barbet

I've just been looking at the floor using a magnifying glass! and also a small bit which was lifted by an electrician recently. It looks like there is about 3/4 mm of real wood rather than an image - so I realise this means it is actually engineered wood flooring rather than laminate. Sanding with a proper floor sander I'm sure would take off all this wood so...hmmm....stuck...any suggestions?

squeekswhenwalking

If it's wood you could sand the damaged area with a belt sander then varnish? If it's laminate and you want a cheap fix, if reasonably flat use self adhesive vinyl tiles?

scottishblondie

Engineered wood is generally advertised as being able to be sanded and refinished 1 or 2 times before you strip the wood layer entirely, but I would seek a professional opinion before doing anything!

But if it is engineered wood then you might get away without refinishing the entire floor. You could lightly sand the damaged area (by hand) and then refinish it with wax/oil/varnish to match the rest of the floor.

robatwork

Why do "professionals" ie. house builders put laminate in kitchens and bathrooms when it's plainly not suitable for that purpose?

To the OP - I would save up and replace it with at worst vinyl and better tiles. Something you can get a mop and bleach on....and something that won't warp when you spill boiling water on it.

Barbet

In case anyone is interested, I've been advised to hire an orbital sander and then polyurethane on top. I'll let you know how it works out.

Robatwork I agree that a wood floor in the kitchen is pretty useless - other than one drops something and often it doesn't break - phew!