How to repair damaged laminate floor

In this guide, we look at the different ways to repair damaged laminate floors, depending on the type of damage you’re dealing with.

Common ways to repair damaged laminate floor

The type and location of the damage will affect how you go about repairing laminate flooring. You should either be able to repair surface issues or replace an individual plank of laminate to fix the damage.

1. Using a repair kit to repair damaged laminate floor

For many small scratches, cracks and other minor damage, you can often use a floor repair kit to get your laminate floor looking as good as new.

Laminate floor repair kits are usually available in a variety of colours, so you can choose the right match for your laminate flooring.

Here’s a quick guide to repairing laminate flooring with a floor repair kit:

1. Clean the surface of your laminate floor and leave it to dry – you want to remove any excess dirt to get the best results from your floor repair kit
2. Round off the edges of any scratches or dents in your laminate floor using a chisel – this helps create a smoother finish
3. Melt wax drops into the scratch or dent – your floor repair kit should have a heating tool and coloured wax included. For the best results, use 2-3 colours of wax to provide a consistent wood-like result when it dries – and always add more wax than needed to fill the scratch/dent
4. Remove excess wax from the floor using a scraper, once the wax has hardened. Alternatively, some heating tools will have a rasp on the side that is designed specifically to remove the excess wax

2. Replace a damaged laminate floor plank

In some cases, the damage to your laminate floor might be too severe to mend with a floor repair kit, so you’ll need to replace any damaged laminate planks.

For best results, we always recommend hiring a professional local flooring fitter to carry out the work for you.

Here’s a quick guide to replacing a damaged laminate floor plank:

1. Mark the edges of the damaged laminate plank using tape
2. Cut out a hole in the middle of the plank (you can make this easier by drilling holes along the edges of the area you want to remove)
3. Once you’ve removed the central part of the plank, remove any remaining parts
4. Cut the tongue off the replacement laminate plank that you want to install
5. Apply wood glue around the edges of the underside of the new laminate plank
6. Position the board and gently hammer it into place until it fits neatly into the gap in the floor
7. Wipe away any excess wood glue
8. Using heavy objects, weigh down the new laminate plank for at least 2-4 hours. Then you can clean the floor and your job’s done

How to repair swollen laminate flooring without replacing

Swelling is a common problem for laminate flooring and one that can become quickly noticeable. Swelling is often caused by spilt water, high levels of moisture in the air or too much tension between planks, amongst other causes.

Thankfully, just because you spot signs of your floor swelling you don’t necessarily need to replace the whole floor.

If you’ve noticed swelling on your floor, here’s our quick guide on how to repair swollen laminate flooring without replacing it – using a laminate floor repair kit:

1. Make sure the swollen laminate is completely dry (use a dehumidifier if needed)
2. Cover any minor laminate bubbles with a damp cloth and use a knife to cut a slit in the area
3. Apply wood glue into the slit and press the veneer down – use a heavy object to weigh it down and leave it for 8-12 hours to dry

If the swelling is severe then you may need to replace the laminate plank.

4 top tips for laminate floor scratch repair

Whether you’ve scratched your laminate floor by moving heavy furniture, or your pet’s claws have been marking up the flooring, here are some of the best methods of laminate floor scratch repair:

1. Use a touch-up marker pen

If you need to repair minor scratches, you might find that a simple scratch repair marker pen will do the trick. As you might guess, it’s similar to a standard marker pen but is designed specifically for use on laminate floors.

Just make sure that you choose the right colour match for your laminate flooring. And prepare the scratched floor area first, by wiping it with a damp cloth and leaving it to dry.

2. Fill the scratches with wax filler sticks

For deeper scratches in your laminate floor, you’ll want to reach for the wax filler sticks. By warming the wax sticks you can then apply the wax to the damaged floor area and remove any excess with a knife or scraper (being careful not to scrape too hard).

3. Melt in hard resin with burn-in sticks

Some laminate floor repair kits will have burn-in sticks made from hard resin that act in a similar way as wax to repair your damaged laminate floor.

The repair kit will include an electric hot knife that you use to melt the resin and apply it to the scratched laminate flooring. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using a laminate floor repair kit.

4. Replace individual laminate planks

Sometimes the best way to deal with extensive scratches on laminate flooring is to replace whole planks. For serious damage, take up the old damaged planks and replace them with fresh new laminate planks.

How to remove scuff marks from laminate flooring

Here are a couple of home remedies to remove scuff marks from laminate flooring:

1. Use baking soda

Mix two tablespoons of baking soda with warm water to create a paste. Using a microfibre cloth, rub this paste over the scuff marks on your laminate flooring until they disappear. Then use a clean, damp cloth to remove any residue.

2. Apply nail varnish remover

An acetone-based nail varnish remover can be very effective at removing scuffs from some laminate floors. Simply use a microfibre cloth to apply the nail varnish remover to the scuff marks and rub until they’re gone.

Just make sure that you check your laminate floor warranty before trying a home remedy solution, in case it invalidates any warranty cover.

How to fix laminate floor water damage

Water damage is one of the most popular culprits for damage to laminate flooring. So, how do you fix laminate floor water damage? By acting quickly.

The sooner you respond to water spills, leaks or other damage, the more likely you are to be able to fix your laminate flooring without having to replace the whole floor.

Follow these steps:

1. Remove any sources of water and dry out your laminate floor completely – using a dehumidifier, if needed
2. Remove any water-damaged planks using a putty knife
3. Clean the space and if necessary, trim and replace the underlay
4. Install each new plank using the appropriate floor adhesive
5. Weigh down the new planks to allow the adhesive to dry and fix them securely into place

To find out more, check out our guide to repairing water damaged floors.

Professional services for repairing laminate flooring

One of the quickest and most effective ways to repair laminate flooring is to hire a local flooring specialist to carry out the work.

An experienced flooring fitter will be able to quickly repair or remove and replace any damaged laminate quickly and to a professional standard – saving you the hassle of doing it yourself.

Get a quote to repair damaged laminate floor

Use our handy request a quote feature and we’ll find the best local flooring fitters for you. Just tell us what you need doing, and we’ll reach out to recommended tradespeople in your area and they’ll contact you directly. Try it out today!