How to Repair Scratched Laminate Floors

Your laminate floors looked great until your cat, dog or kids scratched them. Will they ever look great again? Here are a few easy steps that can help you "repair" some of the most visible damage.

Things You'll Need

• laminate floor repair kit
• some extra floor boards (if the damage is really bad)
• wax crayons

Instructions

1. Clean the entire floor thoroughly. Purchase a laminate repair kit for the scratched areas. You may want to take a piece of the extra floor board with you to match up color. The repair kit will include acrylic or latex putty, wax pencils and crayons and are color coded to match the most popular floor stains (this is why you need the extra board). Choose a kit that most closely resembles the color of your floors.

2. Each scratched area will need to be filled in or colored in depending on its depth. The putty will help with large gouges and deep scratches. The wax pencil and crayons help with the lighter scratches and in making the areas begin to blend together again. Directions are a little different for each manufacturer, but are easy to follow and can be as simple as coloring. If you can color within the lines, you will be a star!

3. For areas that are extremely damaged, it may be easier to replace the damaged board. With the snap down laminate this job is much easier than in the past. If the damaged area is close to the wall or mouldings, start by removing the moulding. Then unsnap each board until you get to the damaged one. Use the damaged one as a template and cut a new one to size. Snap it in place and replace the rest in order.

4. If the damaged area is in the middle of the room, then the process is a bit harder, but still doable. With a circular saw set to the depth of the laminate floring, cut just inside of the damaged boards edges. Pry up that piece and remove the tongue section still inside the groove of the neighboring board. Measure the space and cut a new board to fit. Before installing, remove the tongue of the new board with a circular saw or jigsaw - the tongue and groove system does not work from the middle of the floor thus the need to remove one part of the equation. Now, just slide the groove of the new board into the tongue on the board behind it and snap it down.

5. If cutting the floor in the middle of the room seems daunting or downright dangerous, then you can use the same process as removing a board close to the wall...it will just take a bit longer. Reminder: if taking up a lot of boards, number them so that relaying them is not a problem.

Tips & Warnings

• laminate floor repair kits save your floors

• snap and lock flooring is just that...it's not snap and slam! Be careful not to break off any parts of the board.

• when purchasing new flooring of any type, buy the replacement or repair kits at the same time so matching up stains and colors is not an issue.

• using power saws to cut through flooring can be dangerous, even deadly. Know how to properly use the saw, set its depth and remove the boards.

• always wear safety glasses when doing any kind of construction repairs