Laminate Chips and Other Types of Damage
Laminate chips, dents, scratches are all very common concerns when it comes to flooring products. A good laminate floor is resistant to these problems but resistance is not the same as proof. Below we discuss a number of these concern.
Laminate Chips at Corners
It is the responsibility of the installer to check all planks prior to installing.
Most all laminate manufacturers take the view that when you install a damaged plank such as one with a chip in it, this becomes your responsibility and not theirs.
Laminate chips at corners, especially those that cross over between planks are caused either during the installation process or by a dropped object.
When a laminate chip is located at a single plank corner, this is usually a plank that was installed damaged or became damaged during installation.
An installer must be careful not to install a plank with a chipped corner and if it chips during installation it should be pulled at that time and replaced with a different plank.
Dents, Gouges, Indentations in Laminate Floor
Dents: Like floors of wood and bamboo, laminate floors are subject to denting when a heavy object is dropped on it. Dents from dropped objects will have stress cracks around the edge of the dent.
Indentations or Gouges: Heavy objects being rolled across a laminate floor can cause indentations or deep gouges.
Laminate Scratching and Scuffing
While some over zealous sales people tend to sell laminate floor as being indestructible most laminate flooring manufacturers state that their floor is scratch resistant. Do not confuse scratch resistant with scratch proof as this is not the same. Usually scratches are not covered by a manufacturers warranty.
Scratch Prevention: Use felt protector on all furniture legs. Keep animal nails trimmed. Place an area rug at all entrances to catch gritty soil and debris. Shoes can trap debris in the soles and scratch a floor. Avoid using hard plastic toys on a laminate floor as hard plastics can abrade a laminate finish.
Caster Damage to Laminate Floor
- The proper caster must be used on office and other rolling chairs.
- Some manufacturers state that an office chair must have at least 5 casters.
Most laminate flooring manufactures state that rubber casters need to be used as both metal and plastic casters will cause, indentations, abrasions, scratching or scuffing to the surface of the laminate floor.
Improper casters such as metal and hard plastics can also cause chipping along the edge of the planks.
Tapping Block Damage
A tapping block is sometimes used by the installer to join the short ends of the planks.
When a tapping block is used improperly or an objects such as a hammer is used, or planks are kicked together this can damage plank edges resulting in crush or laminate chips.
Plastic casters on chairs etc, which can scratch laminate floors, can be coated with silicone sealant such as used around window frames or kitchen sinks. Clean the caster thoroughly and remove stuck on dirt/debris. I found turning the caster against a blade cleaned it. Paint silicone sealant thinly with a small paint brush on rolling face of caster and allow to dry. This will give it a ‘rubberized’ type coating and stop the caster skidding and scraping or scratching the laminate floor, it will allow it to rotate freely and gives the caster a slight grip on the laminate surface.
Richard, there is certainly no doubt that scratching can be reduced and often eliminated by proper maintenance. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Installed a Maple Wood Laminate floor over a wood sub floor with a separate underlayment. Several of the wood planks are separating and rising up, this appears to br Delamination, what are some repair solutions, glue, fasteners.
Before you correct you need to determined why the planks are delaminating. If you have a site related condition and you do not correct the problem first you can expect continued delamination. As far as repairing, you do not say if this is a floating floor or attached with fasteners. Keep in mind that you do not want to repair a floating floor by using fasteners or your floor may become locked in.
Can a area rug be painted with a silicone sealant?
You ask if an area rug can be pained with a silicone sealant. I would certainly doubt that you are speaking of a rug made of laminate. You would have to give more information for area rugs can be made of just about anything now days and without knowing what you are speaking of it would be difficult to reply. I would suggest you re-ask this question at http://floorcentral.com and give more information as to what the rug is made of, the type of sealant that you are speaking of.
Will my furniture legs make indentations just by sitting on the floor in one place for a long time? We do not move our furniture around so we are not concerned with scratching.
I think casters are ugly.
Thanks
Sue
We floored 3 bedrooms with laminate this week with Oak colored laminate. So beautiful.
Bought house laminate floors throughout. Previous owner used Rejuvenate Professional that clearly states not for laminate floors. Company makes it says it is urethane base product and can’t be removed. w/o damage to floors. Scuffs and marks everywhere. What can we do–can’t
I can’t afford to replace. Any suggestions
Sue
I am pleased as other will be to hear that you are pleased with your new laminate floor. Some furniture legs sitting on laminate can dent the floor of some laminates even if the furniture is not moved. Instead of using casters you should be able to attach felt pads to the base of the legs. These pads are available at most hardware stores, big box stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot and most flooring retailers. The felt pads will not be seen and will help to protect the floor.
Terry
Lamonte,
I am not familiar with the content of the Rejuvenate product. You can find contact information for them on the internet. My suggestion would be to call them and ask what they would suggest.
Terry
I had the same problem with Rejuvenate. My problem was starting out with the Rejuvenate spray bottle restorer which was for all floors. I had problems with my chairs leaving scratches from being moved from the table. Pretty soon I had new scratches over the old. I picked up the Rejuvenate “Professional” bottle which I thought was basically the same thing. NOT. It is urethane based. I did call their question line and they said to get an Alkaline floor scrubber (stripper?) and use that. That was the only thing they were able to tell me. I have not done this yet but will be in the near future. My floor looks terrible the way it is.
Nancy
Thank you for sharing. By you and others sharing their experiences it often solves or saves a problem for others. When trying a new maintenance product on a floor or even trying to remove something from the floor it is best to try the product on an inconspicuous area first to see out it works out.
Terry
Hi, I have a lovely laminate floor. unfortunately I had a person working in my home and he scraped the floor, now you can see a lovely floor shine and in four different places you can see dull patches, he says he can put some vanish on it but I dont trust that would work if anything I think it could damage it further.Is there a product I can apply so that the dull patches can gain its shine again?
I have a piano finish dark colored laminate floor. In the high traffic areas I had placed area rugs with protective padding underneath, and when I removed the area rugs the floor now has this dull area from where the rugs were placed. Is this normal? Is there any way of getting rid of the dull, faded looking areas? If not, is this something that may be still under warranty as the floors are just 3 yrs old?
Lisa
The dull appearance is under the rugs it sounds as if you either have a residue on the floor from the rubber padding or the rubber padding has changed the floors appearance such as by chemically fading it. It is highly unlikely that the laminate floor manufacturer will protect you with a warranty. The manufacturer of the padding you used below the rugs may have a warranty so your best bet is to contact the padding manufacturer directly or the store you purchased it from and tell them what has occurred.
Terry
Please what can I apply to my floor ,so I can see an even shine and not the dull patches on certain places.
I had 1200 sq. ft. of Pergo handscrapped hickory installed last April. Several months later the short ends started to curl up. The contractor left a 1/4 inch expansion at all wall surfaces. The product was properly aclimated and humidity levels and moisture content of subfloor was within Pergo’s specs. No water has spilled on the floor and the long edges are AOK.
Terry
Obviously without visiting your installation I cannot positively tell you why the short ends are curling if everything is as you say it is. When the floor has been properly acclimated and proper expansion space has been left all around, one of the major causes of the short ends curling is expansion as a result of the proper transition not being placed in doorways between rooms. Do you have transition at all doorways and openings under 4 feet in width? What is the longest distance in length where the floor is installed as a continuous run without a transition? Were any cabinets build over the laminate flooring installation?
Terry W.
Hi Terry
I just finished putting in 1000 square feet of laminate by myself and found one board that was damaged due to tapping. It was a really tight fit next to door dam. Can I fix the edge without taking the floor apart and replacing the piece?
Thanks
Michelle
Michelle
Naturally the best repair of your laminate floor would be to replace the damaged plank. If you are sure you do not want to replace the plank you might consider going to a wood flooring supply store, hardware store or big box store such as Lowes or Home Depot and select a wood putty that is close to the shade of the plank. You can also find some of these wood fillers at these stores that look similar to a large crayola and rub them into the spot. If you don’t like the look after filling you can still replace the plank.
Terry
Two years ago I had laminate flooring installed in my home. Since I do not have a humidifier on my furnace I use a stand alone humidifier. Since I have started using this humidifier a film is appearing on the floor. It is not wet but it does show footprints etc. Any ideas on what the film is and how I can fix it?
Mike
I can offer no more than a guess. The way you describe it it sounds like residue from your cleaning product is being moistened. What is the temperature and relative humidity and what product are you using to clean the floor?
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also pay a visit this blog on regular basis to get updated from latest news.
I have scrape on my laminate floor do I have to replace the plank or is their something out there that I can do.
If you have left over planks a plank replacement will give the best appearance. Short of a replacement you can use a wood filler and try to blend it in but do not expect it to be invisible. Also you can perform a quick google and find yourself a laminate filler.
Thank you, and wish you well with your rug pads.
I have a new laminate floor installed (approx 1800 sf) and there are many chips at corners and sides of board (approx 50 areas). Is this normal for installation? My installer says yes and wants to use epoxy type material to seal chips. He says it won’t show and will protect. Is this a common practice?
Lori, about 50 chips in 1800 sf is not normal. It sounds like there was an installation problem, manufacturing problem or both. If the installer was supplied by the dealer you need to contact them and file a complaint.
Terry
Thanks Terry, I did contact the dealer and they are the ones recommending the epoxy repair. I don’t think they would be willing to replace the floor at this point without a fight. They want us to try their fix first and if that doesn’t work then we would talk about other options. They are also saying its not an installation problem and not a manufacturer defect that it is just common for laminate floors to chip during installation. My main concern is that if we do their fix and then 2 years down the road I have a problem and they go out of business then I am out of luck. To replace all the chips would require pulling up just about all of the floor since it is throughout the house. What would you recommend I do?
I don’t know how bad these chips are but there are only a few reasons a laminate floor is going to chip during installation. The most common are it was not acclimated properly on-site prior to installation, the floor was joined together over aggressively such as with a hammer, kicking, improper use of tapping block. cutting can also chip but these chips would be at ends where they would be covered. Myself, I would not accept a floor just installed that is loaded with chips anymore than I would accept a new appliance delivered with dents in it. They do make expoxy for repairs, some manufacturers will approve of them and others may not. Since the dealer doesn’t want to do anything other than a repair, call the technical department at the manufacturer for the product you purchase and see if this is acceptable and if your warranty is still going to be good. If the manufacturer says you have a problem you may need to contact the contractors board in your state, talk with an attorney or file in small claims.
Terry
Thanks for the advice. I will give them a call.
I am considering buying my first laminate floor. It will be in the living room and dining room, along with the kitchen and hallway. I am concerned by warnings I have received that my couch (with a heavy bar supporting the length of it), recliner (with a big round metal bar at its base), bookcases and computer desk/filing cabinet, dining room table, etc will all leave dents. I understand that putting felt pieces under the feet of chairs can help with scratching, but the dents are my real concern. Is this a big problem with laminate? What about with a 7mm vs. a 10 or 12 mm laminate? Thank you for any feedback.
We installed Dupont RealTouch Elite Premium Laminate Flooring in 2003. Whenever we drop something like silverware and other items, the item leaves a dented black mark on the floor. We’ve been told that the only way to fix it is to cut out the bad board and replace it, gluing the new board into place. We had one really bad spot replaced, but over the years we’ve accummulated many of these marks. I’ve tried to putty them with wood filler, but anything I put on there turns almost as dark as the original mark. I read the warranty and it doesn’t appear to address this problem. We have about 900 sq. ft. of this garbage. Does anyone have the same issue? We also have several areas of warping.
Perhaps one of our other readers has a suggestion for you. As far as the warping is sounds like you may be experiencing higher than normal relative humidity or moisture.
Terry
Had Pergo laminate installed in my kitchen last august and right away i saw some chips on several boards. It was at night so I just saw a few as the lighting was not that great, but the next day I inspected the floor closer and found at least 15 chips –some on the side and some at the end of the boards. I called Lowes where I got the Pergo from –was told the installer should have stopped the installation if the happened. Installer says the laminate backing was changed several years ago to some kind of compressed substances making the boards to be fragile and more subject to chipping,etc. What could have caused this problem. The installed has installed two other Pergo laminate floors for me, the last one being two years before this one, and of course, Pergo had discontinued that pattern, so I had to choose something as close to that pattern as possible. The floor he installed the time before was perfect in every way, had no problems whatsoever, so that being said why did this happen to floor installed last time if not manufacturing defect in either the skin of top layer or way the backing is being manufactured now. I Appreciate any feedback you can give so I can get the root of the problem and get it resolved.
Marion
This sounds like an installation problem. If the boards were damaged when they came out of the carton and the installer went ahead and installed them it is still and installation problem. The person at Lowes that told you the installer should have stopped the installation is correct. If you hired the installer through Lowes they need to have the problem checked out and work with you on a replacement or resolution. If you hired the installer on your own. you will need to work it out directly with the installer.
Good luck, Terry