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I wonder if gluing a sticky silicone pad (like the kind you can buy to put on your car dashboard to hold a phone, keys, etc.) Your subscription could not be saved. As you can see, we had some big, honkin gaps! Enjoy and say goodbye to those floating floor gaps! to the bottom of your piece of wood would work so that you dont have to keep replacing the (extreme-stick) tape? I was thinking I would have to pull out the molding and go that way, but now Im off to the hardware store to get my double-sided tape. I find a sharp, angled blow from the palm of my hand works best for driving pieces of flooring back together again. I had about 4 gaps & I was able to find a roll of 3m double sided tape, 24 piece & hammer in our garage, I did exactly as you said & now NO MORE GAPS!!! Also dont forget to use a welcome mat to get rid of the dirty shoe bottom and dust that can be one of the biggest enemies of your laminate floor faces. Welding isn't just for the pros, you can learn along with Steve Maxwell everything you need for home workshop welding. This lets the planks acclimatize to the temperature and humidity state. I pulled the shoe molding off and saw that the row of boards where the gaps appeared was cut ta bit too short leaving an overly large expansion gap between the wall and last board. Problem solved. Your post saved the day. A floating floor is meant to float. Consider using a DIY laminate floor cleaner. I had a real hack install my Regal engineered hard wood floating floor. Its been nearly a year, and those gaps have not returned, so Id call that a fix. To keep your laminate floors in their best condition, mop every other month. It was so easy, saved so much money, and my floors look so much better! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. Hi Claire, Im so happy to help! This closes one gap and opens up another behind it. Every laminate manufacturer recommends that their product sit inside its new home for a week or so to acclimatize to the humidity there. It was educational and very cute!! Most laminates these days click together on their long edges during installation, but on some designs the end joints are just ordinary tongue and groove connections. . This was super helpful and totally worked! 4021 N Freeway Blvd #100 1671 E. Monte Vista Ave, What is your laminate floor separating? But our planks were just too stubborn to budge, so I had to take more drastic measures. . Wow, I didnt know that thanks, Tom! Water vapor can cause serious harm to your floor. Just a thought. Before you apply glue, however, make a dry run, experimenting to discover the best way to move your flooring and close the gap. This is why its always recommended to take preventive steps. Dont use cleaning products that arent made for laminate. Its so easy, Frani, and youll save a ton of $$$ . Why pay $60 when you can make one for just a few bucks! Floor mats and rugs will also help prevent wear and tear. Your email address will not be published. I have the same problem too on my floating engineered floor. just say. This gap is covered by baseboards, so you cant see it, but the laminate is still free to slide underneath the trim. Thats a 3/8 inch gap. But if damages are few, you can use caulk putty, filler, wood, or long pieces of string. Its an incredibly easy fix, and when youre done, youll feel like you have new floors again! Sometimes closing one gap opens another, but thats okay. Use vapor barrier or Moisture Barrier. Please try again. If youre putting down a new click laminate floor that does not click together on the ends, then it makes sense to apply a small blob of glue to the tongue on the end of the board after clicking but before bringing the ends together. 6. Youre welcome, Linda! Liquids can damage laminate floors, so its a must to minimize exposure. Follow the manufacturers cleaning instructions, You will inevitably encounter spills from time to time. We moved out of that house a year and a half after I closed the gaps and none had yet re-opened, nor had any new ones appeared. As the weather becomes hot and humid, the laminate planks expand and contract, resulting in gaps. Contact us today and let our team of experts help you with all your flooring needs. Vacaville, CA 95688 STE N111. What caused wood laminate flooring to develope space between boards that was glued down? One usual cause of. Thanks for this post, it came at the perfect time. The laminate flooring planks are joined together on the edges and end with a custom tongue-and-groove system known as click-lock. The shape of these grooves may differ depending on the manufacturers. The doors were closed in the rooms that were not used to minimize what was being heated until I could get this heater fixed. Problem is: dont know where the 2X6 are. Lord knows we have! Using your fingers, apply enough filler to overfill gaps. And then I found a product made specifically for our problem. Just be careful when pulling up the block. The tape was not reusable and I had 5 sections to do, but I barely had enough. Thus, before placing a new laminate floor, you must do a floor prep by letting the floor boards sit in the room to be installed for at least 2 to 3 days. If youve already got an existing laminate floor showing end gaps, the fix involves applying a tiny bit of wood glue in the open tongue and groove gaps as they emerge, before sliding the flooring together with your hand. Sacramento, CA 95834 I looked at all the options online and chuckled at the outrageous contraptions. Learn how to fix floating floor gaps with a simple and inexpensive DIY floor gap fixer! I live on my own and it cost so much to get someone in to fix things. If so, well take it from there. Looking to learn how to work with wood and don't know where to start? Smaller ones available under ten bucks but needs to be at LEAST 1.51.54 inches. When these silicone pads get dirty/dusty, you only need to wipe them off with water to get them sticky again. We love it when you share our posts on Facebook and Pinterest! Six years ago when I bought my place ( very run down) the inspector said I would likely have to replace the floor completely. If your laminate floor is in an area that is prone to spills, such as the, 4. A vapor barrier helps prevent the floor from getting wet. These fillers will fill in the gaps resulting to your floors original smooth finish if done right. Crown molding is a powerful way to improve the look of your home, and here's the place to get tricks and tips for installing crown molding with skill. If youre having repeated issues, your house must undergo extreme seasonal humidity fluctuations, so the floor is just responding to that. At least theres a cheap and easy way to fix them now! It also comes with a cheap rubber mallet. Good good! Its now 2022 and the first winter I have been at the house, I usually only come in late spring/summer. They have been repaired two times and I am able to close the gaps, butI want them closed permanently. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you. Buy a 2x2x12 or similar rubber block for cleaning sandpaper/abrasive belts and disks for under twenty bucks. If you have a pair of shoes that wont scuff the floor that have a real soft sole ie tennis shoe or something with gum sole. Believe me, Ive learned this lesson the hard way. Not that Id be the one doing the fixing, but one never knows. ? If laminate flooring gaps have appeared, chances are excellent that you can push the gap closed by hand without resorting to a tool. I learned almost immediately that we werent alone. Be careful, though! Here are some ways to protect your laminate floor against gaps: Installing new planks without proper acclimatization leads to expansion and contraction, which causes gaps between the boards. . You should talk to the installer to see. But if youd instead leave it to the pros, trust only Zothex Flooring. Harbor Freight suction did not work with my floors because they are too textured, so on to plan B. This made it difficult to remove the block from the floor, it and required me to scrape the tape from the floor with my fingers. I truly enjoyed your video!! Moreover, poor installation of the laminate plank may have also led to glue obstructing the interlock system, consequently causing gaps. How To Properly Maintain Laminate Flooring, 1. If you have laminate or engineered flooring, theres a good chance youve seen gaps develop between some of your planks. I do think the rubber mat will work. We hope youre feeling better and healing up nicely . Lol! Thanks, Beverly! Put that side down on the floor and stand on it. Any thoughts? : A Simple Way to Fix End Gaps. Put your weight of one foot on the plank that is in the correct place and use other foot/shoe sole to flat foot push (with the ball of the foot) the plank that needs to be adjusted. Any ideas on fixing that? Were a family-owned business that provides high-quality flooring products and services in Sacramento. When I didnt clean the floors, my DIY floor gap filler had more than enough grip to get the job done, and removing the block was a breeze. Your email address will not be published. These problems can be solved if one has the time, energy, and proper tools. Thats what Ive been doing all winter, but the gaps come back within a day or two. We have 3 gaps. I assume youre talking about hardwood floors? Even so, it would still be cheaper than buying one, but why waste money? Thoughts? For precise application, scoop the wood glue between the narrow gaps. 916-925-1958 ext 2, Vacaville, CA These will fix the gaps and prevent drafts from through the floor at the same time. As soon as youve glued and closed the board-to-board gap, wipe off any glue that squeezed out onto the surface using a damp rag. Most homeowners are wary of this concern. Want to come help move some boxes??? One usual cause of gaping in laminate flooring is high moisture levels. What is your laminate floor separating? All laminate flooring and some engineered wood flooring (like ours) are floating floors. A floating wood floor is not a floor covering itself but rather installing planks, boards, and sometimes tile flooring. Sounds like trouble, but dont worry. Good luck with it! Costs about $10. It was the first thing I tried, but our boards were a bit stubborn! But if the gap is small, I prefer a low-viscosity glue called Chair Doctor(www.leevalley.com; 800-267-8767). Then do the same to the board behind it. Thoroughly enjoy reading about your adventures, and of course, the beauty you and Handan create. Good luck to you! Sigh. Wish Id seen this hack a few weeks ago when we installed our LVT floating floor, it would have saved us a ton of time and effort from installing then removing planks because they werent quite tight enough after we finished. If not, I can order the product recommended, but Id rather fix the problem not and not have to wait. Aside from laminate flooring, the floating floor method is also applicable to engineered hardwood flooring or engineered wood flooring, luxury vinyl plank or vinyl flooring, and solid wood flooring. We used the installer kit but with this we could tighten up the joins after wed installed more planks in the row or even after wed set the next row. Yeah, next time before you close the gap put some carpenters glue. You then close that gap, and the next, and the next until youve hidden the gap behind the nearest baseboard. We have the same problem but ours opened up along the length. Floor gaps are pain in the ass. I placed my block on the plank with just enough room to insert a wooden hammer handle between the wood trim and the block and pried it back into place. So glad to hear it! If anyone reading has another thought, Im all ears! What do you do with the gaps that are left by the baseboards? Shim, pin, or put wood glue between gaps before closing? Hi David, the product you linked to is perfect! Hi Janine, side gaps are a different beast. I am so happy to find your post! I know it, I have the same situation years. Its much easier and more effective to apply a little glue during assembly than it is afterwards, when furniture and baseboard get in the way. Ty again!! Hi Paul, if the squeak follows the HVAC line, then it may not be your wood floor at all, but instead it may be the sheet metal of the ductwork causing the noise. Hopefully you can help me too. Finish off by gluing back your baseboard. Keeping a pets nails trimmed will prevent damage to your floor as they roam around. That was good news but I always like to know the why so I can decide what to worry about I figured some extreme strength double-sided tape would do the trick. We are experiencing the same thing. I can now move the rug that hid the gap in our floor. Typical baseboard is 3/4 inch thick. My house is in Toronto thus 4 seasons. As you can guess, that idea didnt sit well with either of us, so I took to the internet for a solution. If your floor gets wet, it could cause irreparable damage to your floor. IF you installed the floor, then Id check with the manufacturer or retailer. an aluminum block with a sticky substance on one side, How to Install a Toilet & DIY Wainscoting. Planks with small gaps will need less repair than those with broader or too many voids or soft and bouncy floors. I just bought this suction cup too too. . I have a solution that is FREE! Gently rock the block until the tape loosens. Good luck with your fix! That was the first thing we tried, John! Hi Tracey, its amazing the things we can do ourselves that professionals would charge and arm and a leg to do for us! Still glad its you moving and not us. its not fixed the floor at all! I wanted to try that, but our planks are too narrow! Hit the end with a RUBBER mallet to drive the planks together. statement. If youve got an old wide-planked wood floor, my favorite technique is to fill the gaps with jute. I asked my maintenance man and he shrugged it off as not an issue I should worry about. a couple of weeks and you will get back gaps again. This run of flooring must get even hotter and drier in the winter than anywhere else in the house. Do-it-yourself is discouraged as you can have missteps during the process. Hi Sue, thats a tougher issue to solve, and it generally involves filling the side gap. Ill try to help, but I need to see it first. I had boards that gapped on a regular basis. Instead, use a soft, damp cloth. The previous owners did the same thing(put a rug over it) so on our walk through we didnt catch it before buying the house. This is greatthank you for simply solving a problem that I thought was going to be very complicated and expensive!!! Floating floors are designed to allow for the seasonal expansion and contraction of the flooring planks. Were a family-owned business that provides high-quality flooring products and services in Sacramento. get one surface nice and clean. If this approach works for you, open the gap up again (as wide as it will go), then apply glue. Might it be too sticky? Handan nearly fell in the other day! I sanded one side of my DIY floor gap fixer with 150 grit sandpaper so the tape would get a good grip on it. Even with our really big gaps, no gaps showed under the baseboard. I figure if they can spread with the adhesive they should be able to knock back into place as well. Home Depot does not carry the tape you recommended, but does cary in the store Scotch 1 in. Are the gaps strictly a cosmetic issue or should they be fixed as per your instructions to prevent some future problem? You are so very welcome, Peggy! I have a little bit of a different issue with my floors. A dry piece of cloth or a vacuum cleaner can quickly get the job done. I am so happy you got rid of your gaps! You will inevitably encounter spills from time to time. Will do it myself now. JOIN OUR COMMUNITY AND GET THE LATEST CREATIVE IDEAS AND DIY TUTORIALS RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX! Any ideas on how to deal with his problem???? I put on my Crocs (not the toe string type) or a good pair of jogging shoes and give a good forward kick onto the board and it snaps into place and so on until I finish the row. Attaches to the floor without damage! Oil-based cleaners can leave residue and damage to the protective sealant of the floors. Hi John, I didnt do anything. I tried this today, and it worked great! x 1.66 yds. I noticed a few gaps and now with running the heat regularly more are appearing. Some people also cut thin strips of original flooring and fit them in. The floating floor installation makes the flooring material react to changes in a rooms humidity by either expanding or contracting without buckling. Solid hardwood floor tend to warp, ceramic tile can crack, the engineered floor has a thin veneer layer that can eventually wear down to its plywood base, and even one of todays best economical options, laminate flooring, are prone to developing unsightly gaps. Hi Julie, I would have gone that route, but the width of our floor boards is narrower than any cup available, so it wouldnt have worked! Most have detailed product guides on how to clean floors on their websites. Helpful video also. You can also mix a gallon of hot water with a white cup of vinegar, a natural cleaning agent, and does not damage the laminate surface. Be sure to wipe all spills as soon as possible. And the sticky stuff? And while this is reasonable advice, its not going to stop something that looks like shrinkage but isnt. Good luck! Required fields are marked *. i am glad you added the video, i am a visual person and it did make sense of the post and looked way easier glad yall are back xx, So are we, Chris! For debris, a soft-bristle broom or dust mop works perfectly. 6756 Stanford Ranch, Suite 1 Some use putty, some use glue and sawdust. Its ranch house. exactly right that the floor gaps coincide with the main HVAC duct. Our posts may contain affiliate links, and if you purchase a product through those links, you dont pay a cent more, but we may receive a small commission for referring. Hi Don, the same technique should work if the flooring was installed as floating. This technique should work for many, though! Just start with a few light taps and go from there. You can stain the just to match the floor, then push it into the crack with a putty knife, a scraper or a screwdriver. Follow these steps to restore your separating floorboards to their original positions: Replacing laminate flooring with developed gaps can be costly while fixing the separating floorboards one after the other can be tedious and time-consuming. Your video was very helpfulhopefully I can fix our gaps as easily. Im so happy you found my post before you did something expensive. Hi Mary, the video is right at the end of the post. Im not sure if side gaps in vinyl can be fixed, Sue. The floor gap fixer gives the umph it needs to move our boards. Do you have a suggestion for that. Our boards are wedged too tight for that. If the palm-of-the-hand method doesnt work, you may find it necessary to use a hooked metal tool of the kind used to close end joints during laminate floor installation. We have bamboo floating floors but our issue is the separation is lengthwise with the plank. Observe cracks and spaces and note when they appear and whether they close up when the weather changes. Add more putty if needed and stain to match the floor. Floating floors typically leave 1/4 inch space between the edge of the floor and the wall. I am heading to the store tomorrow to buy the supplies and repair our embarrassing floor gaps. Built in 1959. Not only was that time-consuming, but for a lot of gaps on a big floor, the price would start to creep up. Was your bamboo installed as a floating floor? . I just want to say that I have NEVER commented on anything I have ever watched or purchased. This first step in fixing your floor is to clean out debris from between the floorboard. I live in the city and didnt want to waste wood by buying an 8 floor 24 that I would only use 10 inches of. No clicking, no locking action to resist pulling apart. Really glad this free fix works because they do shift and reappear every month or so. If water vapor enters through a concrete slab sub floor, the vapor diffusion retarder slows the moisture movement, preventing damage to the floor. You can use an improvised tool like a toothpick, cotton swab, or a disposable syringe. I vacuumed out the space then ran a thin line of wood glue before closing the gap. Learn something new every day! Only differance is our floating floor is attached to each other with adhesive. Patricia. We had a good size gap on our floating floor and my husband used his work-boot with Vibram rubber soles, gave it a quick kick with the heel and Walla easy fix! I cant imagine how many people have overpaid a professional to fix this issue, or worse yet, replace the floor! As these gaps grew over the years, we started to think that we may need to replace the whole floor. You can clean two sided tape with isopropyl alcohol and a lint free rag and it will be sticky again. Im not an expert, but Id say that the occasional fix is the way to go. Simply glue and close new gaps the same way. You can make your floor cleaner using readily available household items. Thanks for the video. Understand about rocking the block to get it loose. Thanks for your help! A floating floor is designed to move to float with changes in temperature and humidity. I closed all the gaps using a variety of the above methods and then inserted a small piece of flooring and glued to the last board to reduce the expansion gap to the manufacturers specification. If you dont see it, its possible youre running an ad-blocker that is also blocking the video. Never use wax or polishes on laminate floors. ? Good solution, Alan thank you for sharing! After a couple of wacks on my DIY floor gap fixer, heres how it looked: This process makes more sense when seen in action, so we made a little video for you guys. Now there is separation on 80% of the 1700 sqft that was installed. Youd be eliminating an expansion gap, but it seems like youre have excessive expansion, so I think youll be okay. Once the shims are in place, add glue and finish by sanding them smooth and stan to match the rest of the floor. This is great! Im so happy you found this post useful, Christina! Floating floor problems can occur like chipping, peaking, and molding. If you notice gaps in your floor board, you mustnt delay having them fixed. Ive had side gaps open up on our vinyl click and lock plank flooring, any suggestions how or if they can be fixed? Unfortunately our floor is glued at the joints so I have a feeling this solution might not work in our case, but this is pretty awesome for your floor! To prevent future scratches, add a floor covering such as furniture pads. Apply the glue to the exposed part of the misplaced floorboard, ensuring to aim at the interlocking grooves within the displaced plank and the next. I was able to close several gaps before the stickiness finally gave out and required me to change the tape. Lesson learned?. My sneakers take care of these spots in seconds. Its important that before you get to cleaning, consult the manufacturers instructions and follow them carefully. Yep, that was the first thing I tried, but my boards wouldnt budge! Your cat or dogs nails can scratch up your laminate floor. Remove the baseboard, hook the end of the tool over the end of the floor board at the wall, then use a hammer to drive the other end of the tool before replacing the baseboard. Lock the handles down and tap with a rubber ballot, the board moves and closes the gap. Hence they use the floating floor method for their laminate flooring, which is seldom glued down to the subfloor. Floating floor installation is also ideal when installing new laminate, engineered or luxury vinyl flooring (LVF) over an existing floor, like ours that sits atop an older tile floor. There are tricks you need to know and apply for long lasting results, especially if you choose laminates that click together. If anyone knows, would this product work? Question what direction do you hit the block to close up the gap because isnt there a clicking method to the floor? I have had repaired once. Aside from separation, bubbles and buckling are also likely to occur. Even less waste if a permanent silicone pad could be used. The idea is that you stick the floor gap fixer on the board that has a gap at the end and wack it with the mallet. Thanks for letting us know! . Thank you so much for this easy fix!! April 29 2021, Greg and Handan, thank you for this great, well explained solution. Fixing gaps, cracks, bubbling, and molding are among the few concerns of homeowners with laminate flooring. . Click here to read our story and follow our adventure. I put the tape up the side of the 2x4s & that helped me pull the 24 off at the same time removing tape from the floor when gap was gone!! Hi Selena, you could try adding a shim where the final board meets the wall (this would be hidden under the baseboard). Liquids can damage laminate floors, so its a must to minimize exposure. That leaves 1/2 inch of leeway on either end of a run of floorboards. It also meant that I had to use new tape for each gap. I just put on a clean, sticky soles shoe and kick the joints togetherno money, no tools, takes about 4 seconds per joint. Do the gaps come in the winter due to dry FAG and then disappear with the summer humidity? Really appreciate the article. Click below for a video tour of the process of end-gluing laminate flooring to eliminate gaps. Weve had them for 4 years and this is the first winter it has happened?!? For antique hardwood flooring, I once saw a cool fix involving stuffing oakum (tarred fiber, kinda like rope) and sealing with tar. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved. Hi Greg, Elk Grove CA 95757 Thanks for making this page. Really a useful product. To clean up small spills of liquid on the laminate flooring, use a paper napkin or a piece of cloth to wipe up. More so, use an underlayment with a moisture barrier built built-in for water vapor control. . Our floor is bamboo, so I think I will have to resort to fixing it with an area rug!? But what happens when theres just too much contraction? Natomas, Sacramento We just got a floating floor in the bathroom. Hi Frani, Id be leery of glue also. Another factor to consider is that your laminate boards may also come undone due to an uneven subfloor resulting in open joints. Damp mops are microfiber and are gentle enough to use on laminate floors. Hi Teresa, Im sorry for this late reply I must have missed this comment. I tried nailing the 2X6 and plywood in basement, but no fix. So if the gaps show up again, its a five minute fix! You can use one for your next install! Thats the easiest method, but it didnt work on ours. I used a .253 instead so that I didnt feel bad about waste. Identify which side of the floorboard moved that caused the open joint, then remove the baseboard on this side of the board via hammer and chisel. Hi Joe, that is a great tip thank you! Thank you, Sara, yeah yours is a different solution, and there are many to choose from! A rise in temperature leads to expansion, while a decrease in temperature leads to contraction. Put on a pair of gym shoes and kick the board to close the gap. Can you send a few picture my way, Thomas? I had my furnace go out in January and because it was the coldest part of our winter my house only had heat from an electric fireplace and one of those Amish heaters. I agree to receive your newsletters and accept the data privacy Roseville, CA 95678 All this for $60 on Amazon or $50 from their website. You can use an old piece of baseboard between the jack and drywall to distribute the force against the drywall and keep it from cracking. Regular mops can be used too, as long as you wring it out and its completely dry. If the floor has wide gaps, using strips of wood, wood shims, or pieces of rope is more time-consuming but more beautiful and long-lasting than using wood filler or paste in large voids. The screws will go in enough that the head snaps off below the surface of the floor. Thanks again for this great solution and confirming that others also have this issue! I hope you are able to use this technique on your floors. The Rv dealer wants over $2500 to fix it by replacing everything. Oh, the things I am learning being the first winter at the house I had seen some talk online of cleaning the floors first with a window cleaner or ammonia, so Ill tell you my experience with both cleaning and not cleaning first. Any ideas from your end if theres a better way to fix this? Hi Marisa, unless youve got Grand-Canyon gaps, there shouldnt be any gaps by the baseboards. Hi Karah oh wow, Im honored to be the first!! . Depending on the width of the gaps, you can use an epoxy filler or wood filler. greg@thenavagepatch.com. The suction cups are a good solution if your planks are wide enough.