When I first installed my laminate flooring, I was thrilled with the result. It looked fantastic, adding a warm and stylish touch to my home. But a few years later, I noticed two of the floorboards were swelling up (buckling/warping), causing annoying squeaks every time I stepped on them, and even preventing the two doors in my hallway from opening fully.
This got me thinking about how the woodworking industry uses soaking to make wood more pliable, allowing it to be shaped into things like boat hulls or curved furniture. If soaking can reshape wood like that, surely it could fix my warped floorboards too.
That’s when the idea hit me: if soaking worked for reshaping wood in those ways, it could work for my floorboards. And just like that, I thought of a simple, effective solution.
However, I (or you) could have gone down one of four different paths— 1; Like putting up with it. 2; Removing the doors and trimming a centimetre off the bottom. 3; Replace the boards (costly and time consuming). 4; Drill holes and securing the boards for down with screws (which could risk damaging the boards or pipes underneath) and ruining the look, or simply continuing to search for a better solution. But I knew there had to be a simpler fix.
A solution that doesn't require screws, glue, replacing boards, cost, or manual labour, which will work. like a charm.
Step 1: Thoroughly Soak the Affected Area
I began by soaking the swollen board, while avoiding water to flow on unaffected boards.
To stop this from happening, especially in buildings naturally with uneven flooring, I improvised with foam draft excluder strips to create a makeshift dam to keep the water contained in the intended area. (As shown in the image below).
Or use Blu Tack—aka, white tack, sticky tack, or poster putty—or clay, by rolling it into thin strips, and placing them along the edges of the area to create a simple barrier before applying water to create a tight seal, keeping water from spreading beyond the desired spot..
If you don’t have Blu-Tack or draft excluder strips, and you’re lucky enough to have modeling clay, that can work as a barrier. If not, you can also use playdough. The goal is to stop the water from spreading, so anything that can form a seal along the edges should help. Just make sure whatever you use can be easily removed and won’t leave a lasting impact on your flooring.
As an extra precaution, place thin strips of tissue or paper towels along the edges behind the dam. This will help absorb any leaks if the dam starts to give way. Regularly check the area and adjust the dam as needed to ensure it remains secure.
If certain boards are severely sloped or uneven, the water will naturally run off and not stay in place. In these cases, place tissues or absorbent cloths over the affected areas to hold the moisture in position. Keep checking and reapplying water as needed to ensure those spots stay damp during the process.
The Science Behind the Fix
When wood absorbs moisture, its fibres expand, causing the wood to swell. By soaking the affected boards, you allow water to penetrate and soften the wood, making it more pliable.
Placing heavy weights on the damp area applies consistent pressure, encouraging the swollen boards to flatten and return to their original shape as they dry.
Step 2: Apply Heavy Weights to the Soaked Area
After soaking the affected boards, place heavy weights on a flat, hard surface to ensure the pressure is evenly distributed across all the affected areas. Use bricks, large containers of water, weightlifting plates, or dumbbells directly on the damp boards. I used 40 kg weights, but 30 kg may have been sufficient. However, if your buckling boards are extremally out of shape, you might need to add more weight.
The heavier, the wetter, the better – and left for longer, especially for severely swollen or buckled laminated flooring.
Keep in mind that in a warm environment, the water may dry quickly, especially overnight, so to maintain moisture; Keep adding water to help the wood soak up and absorb fully, ensuring it seeps into all the layers and gradually penetrates the material, allowing it to slowly restore its shape.
Leave the weights in place for at least three days (which I did) to allow the boards to settle back into shape. This steady pressure helps slowly flatten the flooring without causing damage.
If Your floorings extremely swollen and warped, it may take four or five days.
Step 3: Remove the Weights
Remove the weights and fully dry the floorboards. At this stage, they should be flat and fixed.
However, it's better to leave the weights in place for at least 12 hours to ensure the underside, interior, and core of the floorboards are completely dry. In colder homes or moisture-prone areas like kitchens, showers, and bathrooms, leave them for 24 hours.
For extremely warped or swollen flooring that hasn’t flattened fully, keep the area wet and consider increasing the weight until the boards straighten.
Once flat, use fans, dehumidifiers, or heaters to dry the floorboards thoroughly.
Your floor will look and feel as good as new—no more swelling or squeak.
When it came to removiing the draft excluder, I found sticky, dried residue left behind. You’ll likely find the same with Blu Tack, and it’ll need to be gently scraped off with a scraper and some white spirits or rubbing alcohol to clean it thoroughly.
© 2024 Tony Sky
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