Pergo floors make it easy, because: Pergo can be installed directly over most hard surface flooring; Pergo laminate and locking engineered planks simply click together… in … Often times on thinner laminate, there is a slight warp or bow to the board which needs to be noted when lining up the tongue and groove. The tongue and groove click together for easy installation. This is supposed to be an easy install and I’m frustrated. If you have gaps everywhere then you need to start over. Replace 'snap-together' planks: Remove the center section. 1995-2018 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. You can use a mop or a rag as your brush and spread the sealant on the laminate flooring. Periodically clean the floor with cleaning products made specifically for laminate floor care. I just figured out how to make it happen without the tool. Pros. So I'm trying to install laminate flooring in a bedroom. Start by drawing a cutting line 1-1/2 in. Installing used laminate with broken tongues, pergo presto laminate flooring broken on tounge edges, Magnetic to Electronic Ballast Conversion, Ecobee humidifier wiring with transformer, Can I change single outlet to duplex outlet dedicated for sump pump. We welcome your comments and Start by removing the baseboard or molding. Some click lock models have a tighter fit, but remember that a certain amount of flexibility is required to ensure the floor won’t buckle or warp with natural movement. Place the block on the left side of the outer piece of laminate. If you need a tapping tool, you are doing it wrong. I bought a whole lot of this snap together wood flooring, thinking I would just snap it together and be done. Consider Lowe’s your flooring store when you’re looking to replace your floor with beautiful laminate. In this video I will show you my best method on how to keep your floor from moving during laminate and vinyl plank installation. As you are moving the piece into the grooves on the flat piece, lower the piece in your hand as you are pushing it together with the flat piece. My repair was fine until this. For this, you will need additional laminate flooring. By creating an account you agree to the Hunker, Find Any Floor: Installing Laminate Flooring page 30, Family Handyman: Guide to Installing Laminate Flooring, A piece of debris trapped under the flooring or underlayment, or in the flooring's grooves. to this site, and use it for non-commercial use subject to our terms of use. Being functional in finances, home projects and computers has allowed Gardapee to give her readers valuable information. Some common reasons why laminate pieces won't snap into each other include: To troubleshoot, start by holding the plank up at eye level to see if it is warped. She studied accounting, computers and writing before offering her tax, computer and writing services to others. Check the grooves for debris and other specs of junk, a major cause of planks not interlocking. Use the soft rubber mallet and the block of wood to secure the connection. Snap together the sides of the laminate pieces together by holding the piece you need to install upwards. I've watched videos and I'm doing it the way they say to do it which is to angle one piece to another and snap it down. Never use a tapping tool with laminate, it simply is not needed. The last one here in this house was a snap fit and I struggled with it the entire project, never again! If you lay a laminate floor on a concrete or plywood subfloor that hasn't been leveled, you might even find it hard to snap the boards together. I was doing well with the project until I tried to get the tongue and groove to snap together. home improvement and repair website. In order to fix the laminate flooring gaps, you could bond the laminate planks together, by applying glue in their grooves. As you are moving the piece into the grooves on the flat piece, lower the piece in your hand as you are pushing it together with the flat piece. Place the block of wood on the end of the second piece of laminate. Thousands of DIYers have had great success installing it because it is lightweight, simple to snap together and can be installed over many different subfloors. If I tap (with rubber hammer and tap plate) too hard (and I have) it damages the end. Why won't my laminate floor stay together? It can be done, just a little technique that needs to be learned. If that is the case, and the missing parts aren't lodged someplace that forces the mating parts apart again, and there is not a place where the flooring drops excessively when it is stepped on, then by all means glue it and forget it. Pamela Gardapee is a writer with more than seven years experience writing Web content. This is the kind of elegance that the Achim Home Furnishings aim to provide. Copyright© Plus we carry floor moulding and trim to perfectly tie your flooring together and finish off your room. You may freely link I have installed every laminate floor with nothing but my bare hands. Laminate flooring is far easier to install than hardwood. When it comes to the best flooring for RV, you should get the one that looks and feels like a real wood. I have been able to get the planks connected but I do not feel or hear the snap that should occur when the tongue and groove come together correctly. Click lock flooring problems usually boil down to just a few recurring causes, which are usually easy enough to troubleshoot. Filling Gaps with Wood Glue Scoop up a glob of wood glue using a small utensil. Insert the end joint rotating it in, down as close to the long joint as you can. Possible reasons why laminate pieces won't snap into each other may be that you have a warped piece of laminate or the subfloor is uneven or has something sticking up that is preventing the board from laying as flat as the first piece. I have quick step laminate flooring and no matter how I try it wont snap together. suggestions. Keep the room at a normal temperature for at least 48 hours before installation is set to begin and let the vinyl acclimate in this temperature. Slide the tongue of laminate being inserted into the laminate already on the floor. Do not wash or wet mop the floor with soap, water, oil-soap detergent or any other liquid cleaning product. Water damage won’t be an issue either, since these waterproof laminate planks are designed to repel water and prevent swelling from moisture. I have laminate flooring with the foam underlayment already on the back, and it ... help i just bought new pergo presto laminate flooring. If bumps occur under a joint, they push of on the edges of the board and angle them away from each other, opening a gap and making it harder to mate them. Remember that if you follow this approach, you won’t be able to remove the laminate floor without damaging it. I keep seeing stuff about dado sets but couldn't I just go out and bit a single 1/4" thick blade and then make these on my table saw adjusting the depth of the blade to do the 2 sides to form the tongue? Active 4 years, 10 months ago. To top it all off, installation is made easy with a click-lock system. Nevertheless, make sure you don’t glue the laminate boards to the sub-floor. Questions of a Do It Yourself nature should be There is no need– unless directed in installation instruction to use a tapping block. Even if you've never installed a floor before, it's easy to put new floors in your home in less time with just a few simple tools. Tap laminate only if manufacturers allows to do it New generation laminates are constructed to “click” together. Plus, most laminate flooring comes in planks that simply snap together with a tongue-and-groove system, making installation a quick and relatively trouble-free process. I have some 1" thick floorboards that I am restoring. Grooves and ridges on glueless laminate flooring are designed to lock together and keep the seams tight. If you’re having problems, snap the butt ends of a whole row together, then snap it in as if it were one long piece. As you push the piece you are holding towards the laid piece of laminate, start moving the piece downwards so that the grooves meet each other. Hold the plank up at eye level to see if it is warped. The third of our floating floor problems, peaking occurs when two laminate floor boards are forced together by pressure, which causes them to peak at the seam or joint, resulting in a high spot in the flooring. This laminate gap is between the short ends of two boards, and measures approximately 1/8”. Buckling laminate flooring is easy to fix if you know how to do it. Check your stagger, boards should be staggered by 1/3rd of a board minimum. You may be OK with bamboo as it has some rigidity, but normal laminate will chip along the edge if hit wrong with a tapping tool. If you wish to replace the flooring in your RV, this product should be included in your shopping list. Move to the right side and do the same. Why won't my laminate floor stay together? If the joint has trash hidden under or in it, the glue will be hard pressed to hold it … Ask Question Asked 4 years, 10 months ago. It's a plastic block that gets placed against the plank and you tap it with a mallet to force the tongue into the groove. That should be removed and you should reapply sealant to that spot. Flooring manufacturers always recommend putting down underlayment before laying the laminate. It is a floating floor so you don’t need a flooring nailer to install it. You should here a click. The introduction of glueless laminate flooring has resulted in a floor that is both easy to install and repair. Use a vapor barrier over concrete when installing a click and lock vinyl. Then it took about four hours to complete installing laminate flooring. You shouldn't have gaps anywhere... so your very first row must not be straight or locked together. Installing laminate flooring is not as hard as it looks, so if you plan on installing yourself, make sure you pick up a laminate cutter. I have quick step laminate flooring and no matter how I try it wont snap together. Have installed high end laminate and bargain basement, all went together without any sort of tapping tool. I've watched videos and I'm doing it the way they say to do it which is to angle one piece to another and snap it down. Laminate Flooring Tongue and Groove Issues. This flooring option involve boards that snap together and lock across a floor without needing nails or glue to secure them. Try to be as even as you can with the distribution. If there's debris beneath the underlayment, pick it up manually or sweep it up before replacing the underlayment. Laminate planks snap together and “float” above a subfloor, which means tiny subfloor imperfections are okay although again, a level subfloor will help prevent damage. A toothpick, cotton … Hold the plank up at eye level to see if it is warped. DoItYourself.com®, founded in 1995, is the leading independent If nails or screw heads prove to be the culprit, lift the underlay and drive them all so they're flush or countersunk. Gently tap the block of wood with the mallet until the pieces are flush and form a tight seam. If the layer has thick spots you should notice a milky film forming. 2. This is generally caused by a lack of expansion space between the flooring and the surrounding walls and moldings. How to fix a pergo floor where the seams are separating. Ive only done a couple of small areas in the basement with laminate, one 15 years ago was tongue and groove glue down and a piece of cake to install. In high-traffic areas, it might physically wear down in some places, creating a surface that is just uneven enough that any new flooring installed on top of it won’t be able to lie completely flat.