Scratch on a laminate: how to fix it at home

From furniture, the fall of something heavy or sharp, or for some other reason, the laminate was left with sloppy scratches? No problem! As a rule, at home they can easily be eliminated or at least made much less noticeable.

Prevention

The best way to deal with damage to the laminate is to prevent them from appearing. Scratches on the laminate flooring appear from the mechanical impact of sharp objects, whether it is hard shoes, furniture legs, a knife that fell from the table or something similar. Accordingly, it is important not to allow or at least minimize this impact.

1. It is recommended not to walk on the laminate in dirty shoes and regularly vacuum and wash floors( as it is scratched not only with sharp objects, but even with fine sandy mud).
2. Ladies should refuse to walk on the floor on sharp thin heels. If it is so necessary to be in elegant shoes, you can always pick up something less harmful to the floor covering and, moreover, more stable.
3. On the legs of furniture( especially massive) it is better to make soft pads of felt, felt or similar material. In undistinguished places, you can and do confine yourself to the lining of pieces of linoleum or, for example, an old rug.
4. With a large patency of the premises( frequent walking of a large number of people), it is worth choosing a laminate that is resistant to such intensive effects and, if possible, additionally protect it by carpet laying.
5. Do not use abrasive detergents or excessively rigid brushes during cleaning.
6. Under often moved furniture( light pedestals, office chairs, etc.), it is worth putting almost imperceptible transparent plastic mats or using soft rubber rollers.
7. Wax pencil should always be kept at hand to remove scratches immediately and prevent their increase.

Remember that it is easier to prevent laminate damage than to think about how to restore it later.

Scratches on the laminate: how to remove?

The technologies for manufacturing a laminate coating and applying a color pattern to it can be different. But in the matter of repair work, this almost never plays a role: how and what to cover the scratches on the laminate depends mainly only on the size of the damage.

Tip

Tiny abrasions, which have not yet turned into full-fledged scratches and are barely noticeable to the eye, but feel to the touch, can be colored with a colored marker, as well as varnish or wood enamel of the appropriate shade. Lacquer is also useful as a finishing coat for more serious repairs.

Wax pencil

This method is well suited for small both in depth and in the length of damage to the floor covering. Usual wax pencils( or crayons) can be found in almost any store of the office and goods for creativity, specialized compositions for woodworking - in profile stores. The color scale of such facilities is quite extensive, so even an exotic version of the laminate to choose something suitable will certainly succeed.

All that needs to be done before removing the scratch in this way is to wipe off dust and degrease the repaired floor area( for example, alcohol).Next, you need to rub the scratch itself with a wax pencil and polish it with a soft, dense cloth.

Advice for

Have not found a suitable wax crayon and still decide what to cover with scratches on the laminate? Not a problem, as an alternative method, a normal shoe cream with a high content of wax in the composition is suitable. They can both completely replace the pencil, and mix with it to get the optimal color.

Putty on wood

This option will have to be used if the damage to the flooring is large enough and deep.

Release putty in three forms:

• solid( in the form of a bar);
• pasty;
• powder.

Which option of these to choose to restore the laminate, does not matter. It is important only that the putty was designed specifically for woodwork and approached the floor covering in color. By the way, mixing different shades of the same filler mixture to obtain the optimal tone is entirely acceptable. But it is desirable to do this immediately before removing the scratches on the laminate. Then the mixture will not have time to solidify or exfoliate, will have a uniform color and optimal consistency.

Scratches on the laminate - how to remove the putty correctly:

1. The area near the scratch is cleaned of dust, debris and dirt, degrease( alcohol, acetone or something similar).
2. Putty spread in the proportions indicated on the package( if it is not already purchased in ready-made form).
3. Glue the area around the scratch with a paint tape or tape to protect the floor from getting into the mixture.
4. Scratch fill with putty using a flexible plastic spatula( do not do it with a hard plastic or metal tool, it will scratch the floor even more).If there is not one, a piece of thick rubber or even a finger will do.
5. The floor around is cleaned of surplus putty.
6. Wait until the aggregate dries completely and polish this area with a dry soft cloth. If necessary, you can additionally apply a thin layer of matte varnish or clear wax.

Repair Kits These kits are a convenient complete solution to restore the laminate, but not all manufacturers of this flooring produce them. Typical composition of the kit: one or more wax crayons, packing putty and rubber spatula for its application. Perhaps, for the price of such a kit will cost slightly more than buying all its components separately, but it is guaranteed to match the color and texture of a certain type of laminate.

Advice

Wax crayons and putty should be chosen a slightly darker shade than the floor itself. Lined on a laminate in a small amount of a thin layer, they just equal to it in color.

Replacing the top layer of

This option is suitable only for flooring made by caching - in other words, by sticking to the substrate of chipboard tarred paper. Such material is not very durable, but it is easier to repair it.

In order not to make a mistake and not spoil the floor even more, it is necessary to make sure that the floor covering is really cached. For this, before removing the scratches from the laminate, it should be carefully inspected. Well, if somewhere in the closet was left to lay a small edge of the cover, on which you can first experiment.

Repair procedure:

1. The old layer of paper is carefully removed( from the whole board or only from a small area - depends on the size of the damage).
2. If the scratch is deep and touched by the chipboard - fill it with filler( not necessarily the right color).
3. On top of the glue on wood( PVA or analogues) paste a suitable for the color and thickness of a piece of wallpaper or decorative film.
4. After the adhesive has dried, it is desirable to apply a layer of clear lacquer, this will significantly extend the life of the homemade coating and strengthen it.

Replacement of individual planks

In especially neglected cases, when it is not possible to remove scratches, the damaged strip of laminate remains only to be replaced. If it has been a long time since it was laid, then there is a great chance that you will not be able to find the right kind of cover on sale. Therefore, in order not to suffer and not try to pick up something similar, the floor covering should initially be purchased with a small margin and do not discard the surplus immediately after installation.

But if there are no spare boards, and you can not find the laminate that you need in color on sale, then you can resort to trickery. The scratched plank or its replacement, which is not quite identical in color, can be shifted, for example, under a massive wardrobe or bed where it can not be seen at all, and in its place place an intact strip, previously lying under the furniture.

The laminate is replaced by the following algorithm:

1. dismantling of plinth;
2. parse flooring to the desired location;
3. reverse assembly and installation of plinth.

If you disassemble the whole floor covering for some reason, it is impossible, that is, a way to make a replacement locally - cut out the damaged area and put a new board in its place. This is done as follows:

• At a distance of 1-2 cm from the edge of the dismantled board are marked and drilled at intervals of 20-25 cm holes.
• Draw lines along the holes.
• On marking, the old board is cut with a circular saw.
• All sawdust and other debris is carefully cleaned.
• The new board cuts the bottom of the lock.
• Joiner glue is applied along the perimeter of this new strip of laminate.
• The board is fixed, pressed down by weight, the excess glue over the floor surface is removed.
• For at least a day try not to step on the board and do not move it.

Summing up

Scratch on a laminate is not a reason to hide the floor under a large carpet, put furniture on it or plan the change of the entire floor covering. Typically, such damage can be repaired with the help of wax crayons or specialized putty for woodworking. And that the need for repair appeared as rarely as possible, it is worth to be careful and minimize the mechanical effects on the laminate.