How to Repair Laminate Flooring

Last Updated: September 27, 2022

Whether your laminate flooring has minor chips and scratches or water-damaged boards, repairing it is a project you can do yourself with the right tools and technique. To fix minor damage, all you need is a laminate floor repair kit with putty to fix big chips or a floor repair marker to hide small scratches.^{[1]
X
Expert Source

Jon Gholian
Cleaning Specialist
Expert Interview. 15 December 2020.} To replace a board, remove the surrounding boards or cut out the damaged board before laying a new one in place.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Repairing Minor Chips and Scratches

1
Clean the damaged area to remove any dirt from the chip or scratch.^{[2]
X
Expert Source

Jon Gholian
Cleaning Specialist
Expert Interview. 15 December 2020.} Wipe the damaged part of the floor with a clean, damp cloth. Let the floor dry completely before you proceed.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- This method works for minor chips and scratches that can be repaired with putty or a marker specifically made to repair laminate flooring.^{[4]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Jon Gholian
  Cleaning Specialist
  Expert Interview. 15 December 2020.} For example, if you drop a knife and it leaves a small cut in the floor, you can easily repair the damage with a laminate floor repair kit.
2
Buy a laminate floor repair kit that closely matches the color of your floor.^{[5]
X
Expert Source

Kevin Schlosser
Home Improvement Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 February 2021.} Get laminate floor repair putty for larger chip repairs or a floor repair marker for smaller scratches. Take an extra piece of flooring with you to the home improvement store, if you have one, to find the closest color.^{[6]
X
Research source}
- You can mix multiple colors of putty together to get a matching color if you can't find one close enough.
Tip: If you don't have a spare board to take shopping to color match, then take a picture on your phone of the damaged area and use it as a reference to find the closest color or colors.

Advertisement
3
Disguise small scratches with a floor repair marker. Take off the cap of the marker and carefully color in the scratches. Let the marker dry for 30 minutes to 1 hour.^{[7]
X
Research source}
- Add more coats of the marker after it dries if the scratch is still visible.
4
Fill in large chips using putty.^{[8]
X
Expert Source

Jon Gholian
Cleaning Specialist
Expert Interview. 15 December 2020.} Scoop out a bit of putty on a putty knife and spread it into the chipped area. Use the putty knife to smooth it out so it's level with the rest of the board, then let it dry for 1 hour.^{[9]
X
Research source}
- If the chip is particularly deep, then apply several thin coats of the putty until it is even with the floor.
5
Wipe around the area with a clean, dry cloth to remove extra marker or putty. Carefully wipe around the repaired area to remove any marker or filler that got on the undamaged flooring. If you used putty, be sure to do this before it dries.^{[10]
X
Research source}
- Use a cleaning solvent designed for laminate flooring if you need something stronger.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Replacing Damaged Boards Near the Edges

1
Remove any baseboards, thresholds, or molding from around the area. Start at the side closest to the damaged board or boards. Carefully pry away baseboards and molding from the wall and pry thresholds up from any doorways with a pry bar.^{[11]
X
Research source}^{[12]
X
Expert Source

Kevin Schlosser
Home Improvement Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 February 2021.}
- This method works when the damaged boards are close enough to the edge of the floor that it is possible to remove a small number of surrounding boards to get to the damaged boards and replace them.
- Try your best not to damage any of the pieces that you pry away so that you can replace them afterward.
Tip: If you don't already have a replacement board, then you can remove the damaged board first and take it with you to a home improvement center or flooring supply store to help you find a matching one.
2
Lift out the boards starting with the ones closest to the edge. Insert a pry bar under the boards at their seams and press down on the end of it like a lever to pop the joints loose. Work from the edge where you removed baseboards and molding in towards the site of the damage until you can remove the damaged boards.^{[13]
X
Research source}
- Set aside the boards that are still good, in the order you removed them, so that you can replace them afterward.
3
Replace the damaged board with a new one. Line up the tongue and groove of the new board the same way as those of the board you removed were lined up. Snap the new piece into position.^{[14]
X
Research source}^{[15]
X
Expert Source

Kevin Schlosser
Home Improvement Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 February 2021.}
- Save the damaged board so that you can use it for future repairs. For example, if you need to match the color to repair scratches and chips, you can take it with you to the home improvement store when you go looking for the repair kit.
4
Return all the boards you removed to their places. Work in reverse order as when you removed them, starting with the boards that surround the replacement board. Line up the tongues and grooves, then slide or gently tap them back into place with a hammer if there is a lot of friction.^{[16]
X
Research source}^{[17]
X
Expert Source

Kevin Schlosser
Home Improvement Specialist
Expert Interview. 19 February 2021.}
- If you use a hammer to tap any boards into place, use the damaged board you removed as a buffer between the hammer and the good boards to prevent damaging them.
5
Tack any baseboards, molding, or thresholds back in place. Line up the baseboards, molding, and thresholds in the same order you removed them to reinstall them around the edges of the floor. Gently tack them back into place with baseboard nails and a hammer using the same nails and holes as before.^{[18]
X
Research source}
- Use new baseboard nails if any of them got damaged when you pried them out earlier on.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Replacing a Board in the Middle of the Flooring

1
Draw a cut line in from each corner of the board and a rectangle in the middle. Mark a 1.5 in (3.8 cm) line along a straight edge with a pen or pencil in from each corner of the board diagonally towards the center. Connect the inner ends of the lines with straight lines to make a rectangle that you can cut out from the center of the board.^{[19]
X
Research source}
- This method works to replace a single damaged board in the middle of your laminate flooring, where it would be too difficult to replace by removing surrounding boards starting from an edge.
2
Drill a relief hole at the ends of each relief cut line. Use a ³⁄₈ in (0.95 cm) drill bit to make a relief hole at the inner ends of the lines you marked for the cut lines. Make another set of holes ¹⁄₄ in (0.64 cm) in from the outer ends of the relief lines.
- Make 8 relief holes in total so that you can cut in 2 phases—1 to remove the center section and 1 to remove the sides.
3
Cut out the center of the board with a circular saw. Set the depth of the saw a bit deeper than the depth of the flooring. Lift the blade guard and plunge the saw into the board, starting at 1 of the inner relief holes. Cut from hole to hole in a rectangular pattern to connect the inner section of relief holes you made and remove the center section.^{[20]
X
Research source}
- You will be left with the edges of the damaged board still connected to the good boards around them.
Tip: If you don't already have a replacement board, then you can take this center cutout with you to a home improvement center or flooring supply store and buy a matching board.
4
Cut from the center to the outside of the relief holes. Cut with your circular saw from the middle diagonally out along the remaining cut lines. Stop when you reach the relief holes.^{[21]
X
Research source}
- This will separate the remaining edges of the board at the corners so you can remove them.
5
Remove the edge pieces from the surrounding boards. Pry up each side where it is connected to a surrounding board with your hands or pliers if they are stuck. Discard these pieces.^{[22]
X
Research source}
- If there is any glue on the tongues of surrounding boards, then scrape it off with a flathead screwdriver before installing the replacement board.
6
Remove the grooves from your replacement board. Your replacement board will have 2 tongues and 2 grooves. Carefully cut off the tongues and bottom lips of the grooves with a utility knife so that you will be able to drop the new board into place.^{[23]
X
Research source}
- To cut off the bottom lips of the grooves, sick the blade of the knife inside the grooves and cut them off from the inside.
- Make several passes with the utility knife to score the parts you are cutting off, then snap them off with pliers.
7
Apply floor glue to the edges of the replacement board. Put a bead of floor glue along the edges where you cut off the tongues and underneath the top half of the grooves where you cut off the bottom lips.^{[24]
X
Research source}
- You can get floor glue at a home improvement center or flooring store if you don't have any.
8
Fit the board into place. Match the top half of the grooves on your new board with the tongues on the surrounding boards. The board will now fall into place because you removed the tongues from the new board.^{[25]
X
Research source}
- If the board is not fitting right, then use your utility knife to shave off any rough parts until it drops nicely into place.
9
Use a damp cloth to remove any excess glue. Wipe away any glue that squeezes out of the seams. Use a damp cloth so that you don't spread it around on the surrounding boards.^{[26]
X
Research source}
- Keep the cloth handy so you can wipe again after you weigh down the board if any more glue squeezes out.
10
Weigh down the repaired area for 24 hours. Stack some heavy books or another heavy object on top of the newly fitted board to help the seams adhere together. Keep the weight on the board for 24 hours to ensure the glue is completely dry.^{[27]
X
Research source}
- Check if any more glue squeezed out of the seams after you placed weight on the board, and wipe it away with a damp cloth.
- If you use something that could scratch the laminate, like a brick, place a towel underneath to protect it.

Expert Q&A

Question

I've heard hardwood flooring is difficult to install sometimes. What makes it hard?

Mitchell Newman
Construction Professional
Mitchell Newman is the Principal at Habitar Design and its sister company Stratagem Construction in Chicago, Illinois. He has 20 years of experience in construction, interior design and real estate development.

Mitchell Newman

Construction Professional

Expert Answer

It isn't always super difficult, but it can be. When you do hardwood flooring, you have to also think about the base around the flooring. So very often you have to take the base up, the shoe needs to come off, when you do hardwood flooring, you have to also think about the base shoe and the base around the flooring. So, very often you have to take the base up, and you have to take the base shoe off. If you're floating a floor like you would with a laminate floor, you wouldn't take it right to the wall, you would take it about a quarter of an inch off of the wall. Then, you would put the base over it. The whole process can just get kind of convoluted depending on how you need to deal with the base.
Question

How much will it cost to have a contractor replace part of my floor?

Mitchell Newman
Construction Professional
Mitchell Newman is the Principal at Habitar Design and its sister company Stratagem Construction in Chicago, Illinois. He has 20 years of experience in construction, interior design and real estate development.

Mitchell Newman

Construction Professional

Expert Answer

It really depends on the material and the contractor. So, some laminate floor is really cheap; it can cost as little as 80 cents a square. The nicer stuff can run you $2.00-3.00 per square foot, but then there's the installation cost. That can run anywhere from $1.75-4.00 a square foot. Then, on top of that, it depends on the shape of the floor and how much space you're covering. Even then, there's still going to be the visit charge for the contractor, so the price can end up varying quite dramatically.
Question

How do I repair bigger gouges?

Kevin Schlosser
Home Improvement Specialist
Kevin Schlosser is a Home Improvement Specialist and the Owner of Home Tech Handyman Ltd. With over 20 years of experience, Kevin specializes in age-in-place installations, flooring, roofing, and general remodeling handyman services. Kevin holds a blend of construction and in-home technology-related certifications including NAHB Certified Age-in-Place Specialist, CEDIA membership and certifications, and a Certification from the Association of Certified Handyman Professionals. Also, he is in training to receive certifications in Construction, Project Management, and other CEDIA qualified system integrator certifications. He is fully-insured in the state of Colorado.

Kevin Schlosser

Home Improvement Specialist

Expert Answer

If it's quite a big gouge, then sometimes replacing the board is required. You'll have to disassemble the floor from one end of the room towards wherever the damaged piece is, replace that piece, then put the floor back together the way it was.