Repairing LVT flooring

fiish

I just moved into a new home, and inherited herringbone LVT flooring in the kitchen/dining area. From a stash of spare tiles I found, it appears to be 5mm thick tiles laid as a floating floor, over a foam underlay on top of timber floorboards (this is an old house)

There's a few areas where the tiles have got damaged edges and the floor clearly has a little 'give', this wasn't present even when we viewed the place before exchanging contracts, I suspect extra loading from when the previous people moved out did the damage.

Any tips/advice on how to repair this flooring? I put jobs on Checkatrade and Rated People and didn't get any responses for anyone to even have a look at the floor. I looked on YouTube to see how to DIY replacing the damaged tiles, anyone done this before without the use of a circular saw?

My gut feel is the best long term solution is to replace this flooring, at least with thicker tiles, so there's less flex underneath. But we might redo the kitchen anyway in the few years' time, seems like it might be a waste to redo flooring now and possibly do it again in less than 5 years.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

fiish said:

 I looked on YouTube to see how to DIY replacing the damaged tiles, anyone done this before without the use of a circular saw?

You should be able to cut the flooring with a jig saw. 

If normal blades become blunt then carbide blades will do the job.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MSPCJB6/

I'm pretty sure LVT needs an expansion gap around the edge so cuts would be hidden either under the skirting or something like scotia beading meaning they don't have to be 100% perfect. 

fiish

I don't have a jig saw either, if I need to buy a power tool for this I might as well get the circular saw which seems (from the videos I've seen) to be the more appropriate tool, since I only want to cut to 4-5mm.

I was hoping this could somehow be doable with hand tools

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I would assume the average person would find more future jobs for a jigsaw than a circular saw? 

There are hand cutters for laminate but they appear as expensive as a budget jig saw and obviously far fewer future purposes. 

You could try scoring several times with a Stanley knife and snapping the boards but I've no idea if that will actually work. 

grumbler

If it's floating floor, i.e. not glued, then it's 'click' type. I'd just re-lay it if it's possible to 'unclick' the planks without damaging them.

Doozergirl

If it's only 5mm thick then it shouldn't have an extra underlay underneath it because it creates movement.  It also needs a perfectly level base, which floorboards are not. It would probably need help from a new layer of ply over the floorboards. 

I know many builders have had an issue with the stuff, it's too thin and the click elements are brittle, so they snap and lift.  

It's really only suitable for small areas.  

I suspect, like you, that it needs replacing.  You could glue it down as if it were regular LVT but I'd start from scratch with a decent base before doing that and some of it may not be good to reuse.   

ThisIsWeird

Hi Fiiish.

Any chance of a photo? And the spare tiles - do they flex or are they rigid?

Assuming they are not rigid - ie not SPC - then you can cut a tile out using a Stanley knife along the presumably-bevelled join. You will only need to cut around half the depth, as you'll actually just be cutting half a 'click' connection. Use the bevel as your blade guide, and do repeated gentlish runs.

The only issue then is how to fit a replacement! A MickeyMouse method could be to glue it in place. This could be done by, say, first slipping a slightly larger piece of thickish plastic film under the surrounding tiles, gluing it around the upper edges so's they stick to the undersides of these tiles, and then glue the replacement on in place - after cutting off its tongue. Obviously do a dry run first.

What's the proper way? Would they all need removing - unclicking - until the damaged one is reached? 

If your floor is SPC, I don;t think a knife will get through, at least not easily.

fiish

Here’s a couple of shots of the damaged tiles:

fiish

From reading the packaging on the spare tiles, they're these: https://storiesflooring.co.uk/products/bentley-townhouse-parquet-spc-click-nordic-oak-4mm-inc-1mm-underlay?_pos=3&_psq=townhouse+oak&_ss=e&_v=1.0

Looks like they're rigid SPC tiles. Some of the damaged tiles feel a bit loose and it feels like I could just pull them out, but it could damage the adjacent (undamaged) tiles.

Currently my very short term workaround is laying rugs/mats over the damaged areas.

ThisIsWeird

Ok, so they are the 'solid' type, which is usually good news are they are pretty durable, but not so good as they will be tricky to cut easily with a craft knife - I suspect.

How many planks need replacing, and how many spares do you have?

I guess the right thing to do is to contact the manufacturers for advice - how to replace 'click' planks in the middle of a floor. Bear in mind that these won't flex, so some 'tricks' might be out.

That floor is seemingly designed to 'float' and not be stuck down, but I see no good reason why it cannot be, as the SPC material also makes them more stable, so less likely to move with temp (afaIk).

So, first find the correct way to do the job... If that involves having to lift the floor until you get to the damaged area, and if this is impractical, then I'm pretty sure I know what I would do... That would be to cut along the bevels with a Stanley until the T*Gs are cut through, and lift out all the damaged planks and loose bits. 

Next step would be to dry-fit the spare planks, seeing how many require any of their T&Gs to be trimmed off so they drop right in - keep any T&Gs that can still act together. 

I'd then go for my get-out-of-hassle adhesive, Stixall, and squeeze a wiggly bead under the surrounding planks (after ensuring it's fully clean under there), and walk around them all to force them down fully flat - leaving some heavy objects on them overnight if the floor is sooo springy that they lift up before the adhesive sets.

Then more Stixall squiggles, and drop the new planks in. Press down firmly until completely level with the others.

This should be invisible - the fit should be perfect.

But find the proper way first.

Doozergirl

ThisIsWeird said:

Ok, so they are the 'solid' type, which is usually good news are they are pretty durable, but not so good as they will be tricky to cut easily with a craft knife - I suspect.

How many planks need replacing, and how many spares do you have?

I guess the right thing to do is to contact the manufacturers for advice - how to replace 'click' planks in the middle of a floor. Bear in mind that these won't flex, so some 'tricks' might be out.

That floor is seemingly designed to 'float' and not be stuck down, but I see no good reason why it cannot be, as the SPC material also makes them more stable, so less likely to move with temp (afaIk).

So, first find the correct way to do the job... If that involves having to lift the floor until you get to the damaged area, and if this is impractical, then I'm pretty sure I know what I would do... That would be to cut along the bevels with a Stanley until the T*Gs are cut through, and lift out all the damaged planks and loose bits. 

Next step would be to dry-fit the spare planks, seeing how many require any of their T&Gs to be trimmed off so they drop right in - keep any T&Gs that can still act together. 

I'd then go for my get-out-of-hassle adhesive, Stixall, and squeeze a wiggly bead under the surrounding planks (after ensuring it's fully clean under there), and walk around them all to force them down fully flat - leaving some heavy objects on them overnight if the floor is sooo springy that they lift up before the adhesive sets.

Then more Stixall squiggles, and drop the new planks in. Press down firmly until completely level with the others.

This should be invisible - the fit should be perfect.

But find the proper way first.

ThisIsWeird said:

Ok, so they are the 'solid' type, which is usually good news are they are pretty durable, but not so good as they will be tricky to cut easily with a craft knife - I suspect.

How many planks need replacing, and how many spares do you have?

I guess the right thing to do is to contact the manufacturers for advice - how to replace 'click' planks in the middle of a floor. Bear in mind that these won't flex, so some 'tricks' might be out.

That floor is seemingly designed to 'float' and not be stuck down, but I see no good reason why it cannot be, as the SPC material also makes them more stable, so less likely to move with temp (afaIk).

So, first find the correct way to do the job... If that involves having to lift the floor until you get to the damaged area, and if this is impractical, then I'm pretty sure I know what I would do... That would be to cut along the bevels with a Stanley until the T*Gs are cut through, and lift out all the damaged planks and loose bits. 

Next step would be to dry-fit the spare planks, seeing how many require any of their T&Gs to be trimmed off so they drop right in - keep any T&Gs that can still act together. 

I'd then go for my get-out-of-hassle adhesive, Stixall, and squeeze a wiggly bead under the surrounding planks (after ensuring it's fully clean under there), and walk around them all to force them down fully flat - leaving some heavy objects on them overnight if the floor is sooo springy that they lift up before the adhesive sets.

Then more Stixall squiggles, and drop the new planks in. Press down firmly until completely level with the others.

This should be invisible - the fit should be perfect.

But find the proper way first.

...And then the boards surrounding have free movement and the glued down ones don't.  So they end up cracking too. 

I'm not hopeful