How to fix lengthwise gaps in laminate floor?

[pratapc]

Flooring is 2 years old. Start seeing floor boards are unlocked lengthwise and gap is around 2mm. Please recommend best solution to lock them back?
Thanks
Pratap

[pratapc]

@MitchellMc - these are hybrid vinyl planks.

Thanks

Pratap

[MitchellMc]

The distortion is a bit of a worry, @pratapc. Did you leave or have a 10mm gap between the flooring and the wall around the entire perimeter of the room? If a sufficient gap isn't left when the boards expand, it can cause bulging similar to what you're experiencing, as the boards have nowhere to go other than upwards.

Mitchell

[pratapc]

Hi @MitchellMc 

what I heard from building supervisor, at the time of floor installation they did so much grinding of the concrete as the concrete was not flat at some places. Do you think uneven surface causing this issue? 

gap between flooring and wall - We have windows all the way to floor, I am not sure if they left 10mm next to window. (please see attached image)

Thanks
Pratap

[MitchellMc · Accepted solution]

An uneven surface could have caused this issue @pratapc if the distortion was so bad that the click-lock edge has disengaged and popped up.

From your image, it appears the board's butt up against the window frame, and an appropriate gap has not been left there. We could presume a gap was left under the moulding on the right of your image and wall. But it's not really possible to determine that without removing the moulding.

Mitchell

[Nailbag]

Hi @pratapc 

Most floating floor systems have about 1.5mm tolerance on floor level. The thinner and cheaper the product the more susceptible to issues with uneven floors. Once a board has lifted, there is no way to rectify this without either replacing the board by back-tracking the installation or removing the board, fixing the issue with the level and re-gluing a new board less 2 of the 4 edge clips. This is the easier solution.

Nailbag