How to remove laminate

Despite the fact that manufacturers give high-strength laminate a long service life, up to 25 years, unforeseen situations can happen at any time. The floor covering can fail for various reasons; over time, chips, swelling and peeling of the laminated layer appear on it.

It is for this reason that some buyers choose laminate not only for its strength and abrasion resistance, but also for its maintainability. This is necessary for re-installation of the coating after a long period of time. Small defects in the floor covering can be easily restored using various repair compounds, sealants and impregnations based on natural wax. But, in life, such a problem with the flooring can happen when dismantling and replacement is the only solution, damaging the laminate to a significant extent..

What you need to prepare before starting work

To replace or repair a laminated coating, you do not need any special tools or special knowledge. Often, when moving to a new apartment, they take the laminate with them, since it was recently installed and has a completely presentable appearance - there are no visible defects.

The dismantling process in the case of complete or partial replacement is identical, with only one difference: in the first case there is no question of preserving the lamellas, and in the second it is necessary to act very carefully.

Before you begin disassembly, you should prepare the following:

• measuring instruments and pencil;
• screwdriver or set of screwdrivers;
• small circular saw;
• mounting suction cup;
• if partial replacement of the lamellas is planned, then it is necessary to prepare the required amount of material.

Important! You should not frequently shift material from place to place. Despite the fact that high-quality coating easily tolerates this process, the locks begin to wear out. Therefore, disassembly and installation of used laminate should be carried out only when absolutely necessary.

Once all the tools have been collected and the required quantity of material has been purchased, you can begin the dismantling process.

Dismantling the baseboard

If you plan to completely disassemble the floor covering, then begin the process by removing the baseboard. Firstly, it will be easier to disassemble the first row, since it opens up access to the technological gap between the wall and the coating. Secondly, it will be possible to carefully disassemble the flooring while preserving a large number of lamellas, which can later be used elsewhere.

If a modern plastic skirting board is installed on the floor, which was laid together with the laminate, then there should be no problems with dismantling work:

• The first to remove are the outer corners, which cover and firmly fasten the joint of the individual parts of the plinth profile. This is not difficult to do - take a minus screwdriver, pry the corner from below and remove it:
• remove the bar that covers the cable channel;
• take a plus screwdriver or a screwdriver and unscrew all the fasteners;
• remove the inner corner.

Advice! If you plan to reinstall the plinth, it is better to sign or number all the individual components, so you will not get confused, and assembly of the plinth will go quickly.

Instructions on how to disassemble the board

You need to start disassembling the lamellas from the side where the installation ended during installation. The algorithm of actions is as follows:

• Carefully lift 1 lamella using a crowbar or chisel. Set it to a position of 45 degrees from the floor. It is in this position that the lock may click;
• on the side of the end connections we act in exactly the same way, opening the locks;
• The lamellas are numbered or signed before stacking.

If, when removing the covering, you scratched the slats, then it is not advisable to run to the store for several elements; simply replace the slats that are under the cabinet or bed with the scratched ones. IN

In this case. and the laminate with scratches will hide from prying eyes, and the new one, practically untouched, will be moved to the most visible place in the apartment.

When working on installing flooring, you should always remember that despite its wear resistance and durability, the material is very fragile in bending, so you need to act with extreme care and caution. Only the consistency of the process can keep the lamellas in good condition during dismantling.

If only a few panels on the floor covering are damaged, then before you start dismantling the covering you need to remember how the floor was installed and whether it is even possible to change only individual elements. There are three types of laminate installation:

1. Adhesive - this method makes it impossible to dismantle the coating while preserving the lamellas. When laying, the board is glued along the seam.
2. Lock – the lock snaps into place when the lamellas are straight relative to each other. In this case, the coating can be very easily disassembled, preserving most of the elements.
3. Click – the lock closes after the panel being connected is placed at an angle of 45 degrees.This is the most common and easily repaired method of laying laminate flooring.

If several boards in the floor covering are damaged, then you can not disassemble the entire flooring, but slightly disrupt the technological process and disassemble only the area that needs to be replaced. In this case, the coating repair occurs in the shortest possible time.

Such repairs will only require 2–3 hours of your time. The algorithm is as follows:

• a marker will indicate the boundaries of the area that is planned to be replaced;
• then this fragment is cut out with a circular saw. In this case, you need to correctly set the cutting depth so as not to damage the lock that connects the slats;
• elements are carefully removed from the area. To do this, you can use a chisel or crowbar, picking up 1 part;
• The blanks are cut out in advance strictly to size. All saw cuts should be treated with sealant so that they do not swell when exposed to moisture;
• install the element on the damaged area;
• If the sealant gets into the lamella, it must be removed immediately with a damp cloth.

This completes the replacement of the deformed area.

Despite the fact that repairing a floor covering seems like a difficult task, any owner can do it without resorting to the help of specialists. Proceed carefully and very carefully according to the instructions, and then all lamellas will be suitable for further use.