Laminate Wood Floor Buckling
If spacers were used between the wall and the board closest to it replace them with smaller spacers.
Laminate wood floor buckling. Laminate is held in place by contact cement a type of glue designed to stay pliable for the lifetime of the laminate. The repair process is basically the same. This problem is more likely to come about if the flooring was installed when the room temperature was abnormally low or high. Laminate flooring tends to inflate when it s warm and contract when it s cool.
Laminate floor buckling like lifting can be caused by changes in temperature and humidity levels. Buckling for both laminate and solid hardwood floors can also occur if your floor has been improperly installed. Buckling often happens if there s no expansion gap to accommodate these changes. If you catch this problem quickly you might dodge a bullet and get away without the need for extensive repairs but that s rare.
Laminate floors buckle because they get wet. Use a hammer and chisel or putty knife to remove baseboards or molding near the damaged boards. Buckling occurs when laminate flooring does not have enough space to contract and expand with temperature changes. Buckling laminate flooring is easy to fix if you know how to do it.
There are environmental factors that can cause buckling or it may be because of faulty installation. Inadequate or insufficient glue incorrect nailing or inferior subfloor construction can all result in buckling which can start as quickly as a few days after installation. The planks may show separation at the joints and the floor become uneven because of buckling. Typically buckling or peaking in a laminate floor is caused when there is an increased tension between the boards in the flooring.
Avoid placing heavy objects on the laminate floor. Therefore it is crucial to take precautions to prevent buckling. Buckling is when the hardwood boards expand across their width causing them to lift upward and separate from the subfloor. Moisture seeps into the fiberboard core of a board and swells it causing the board to push against the one next to it and curl upward.
This can be caused by temperature and humidity differences which cause the flooring to expand and press against its edges. Extremely heavy items such as a piano or large bookcase prevent the floating floor from moving and may cause buckling in the middle of the room. Buckling laminate floors are most commonly created when either an expansion gap is not left or moisture has created swelling between boards. Since it is a floating floor the planks tend to contract when it is cool and expand when it is warm.