How to Fix Lifting on Laminate Flooring

If you have an old laminate floor, and the boards in the middle are starting to come up, this is an easier problem to fix that if it were a hardwood floor. Laminate floors are generally “floating” floors, meaning they aren't glued or nailed down, but rather the boards simply attach to one another at the edges. This means that you can take the floor apart as if it were a big jigsaw puzzle, to get to the damaged boards out and replace them. See your floor supplier for the right match of boards to replace the damaged ones.

Hammer
Prybar
Replacement laminate floorboards
Finish nailer

Instructions

- 1
  Use your hammer and prybar to take off all the floor trim from around the edges of the room. The removal will reveal a thin space between the floorboards and the wall. Keep the trim intact as you remove it. Set it aside.
- 2
  Push on the floorboards along the wall that’s closest to the damaged area, wiggling the boards until they come loose from each other so you can push them into the space between the boards and the wall. Loosen the boards all along the wall. As you loosen them, leave them lying in the same configuration they were in.
- 3
  Repeat for the next course of flooring, pushing the boards off the adjacent boards and into the space. Again, keep the boards in the same configuration as you loosen them.
- 4
  Work your way out from the wall, loosening each course of planks and leaving them sitting in the same order they were in. Continue until you get to the damaged boards.
- 5
  Remove the damaged boards. Snap the new ones in their place.
- 6
  Reassemble the floor, snapping the laminate boards back together in the same order they were in before.
- 7
  Put the floor trim back in place, using your finish nailer to secure it. The trim will hide the spaces as they were hidden before and hold down the edges of the floor.

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