Laminate Floor Filler

[The Medway Handyman]

Hi

I have a client who has several 'dents' in her beech effect laminate flooring. I believe a heavy brass ornament was dropped, leaving a dent the size of a 2P piece in the worst instance.

Replacing the dented boards is a complex job. She has no idea where they came from, so matching colour and T&G profile could be difficult. Replacing them, assuming she could get a match, would involve lifting most of the floor.

Has anyone got any experience of laminate floor filler

maybe not ideal, this would give her a solution she could afford.

TIA

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Problem with the filler,it sticks out like a sore thumb even if you do a

100% job. :-(

Are they all in the same vicinity and close to each other?

A rug over the area. :-)

[Guy King]

The message from "The Medway Handyman" contains these words:

I accuse Mrs Beech, in the kitchen with the candlestick.

[Owain]

If it's real wood, a steam iron might expand the wood sufficient to relieve the difference in level somewhat.

If it's "photographic wood" then tell her to stick to cheap china ornaments from now on.

Owain

[The Medway Handyman]

Alas it is "photographic wood" and its chipped beyong the first layer.

[Owain]

About the only thing I can suggest is using one of those hole+plug cutter sets to acquire a replacement bit from elsewhere in the room and inset it. With luck, it'll look like a knot.

Owain

[The Medway Handyman]

Hmmm! Good idea. I have plug cutters to coceal screws, but they wouldn't be big enough, the worst dent is the size of a 2p. Do they make bigger ones do you know?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

What do you do about the other hole?

Certainly wouldn't want that sort of behaviour in my living room.

[Owain]

That has to be chosen from somewhere inconspicuous, like behind the settee.

No, well you're probably not of the photographic-wood floors class of households.

Owain

[Richard Downing]

Cut out with a forstner bit - don't go right through to maintain the integrity of the laminate. Take a 2 inch square section from under a cupboard fix it between two lengths of 2 inch dowel with some water soluble glue (maybe hot melt would work) and then either turn or file to shape - delaminate, thin down and fix. Charge about £200 :-)

Of course I've never tried this myself... One of the reasons Wood is so much better than photographs is the damage makes it better!

R.

[The Medway Handyman]

Just found this

a timber repair kit template. Wonder how well they work?

[Andy Hall]

Ah. The famous duthchman.

This technique works quite well with real wood when there is a defect that is beyond the scope of the warm iron and damp cloth technique.

It's not an invisible repair and not intended to be - but for real wood, a centuries old technique that if done is considered a legitimate repair and part of the patina and ambience of the piece.

If the punter is expecting a completely invisible repair, she is going to be disappointed anyway. Plastic laminate floors are laid as a cost saving measure and the possibility to achieve a perfect repair is lost with that.

Perhaps the thing to do would be to explain the technique and then demonstrate it on a piece of scrap material and see what the punter thinks. Expectation setting is important here, I feel, otherwise you could be seting yourself up for problems.

I suppose that it's not realistic to tell the punter that she has wasted her money on cheap plastic flooring and it would be a far better investment to rip it out and do the job properly with real wood. Overall, she would have saved money. If she didn't then you aren't charging enough.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Forget the whole process of filling it,even if you done a cutout repair how you going to manage to fix it in place? glueing it will eventually become weak with traffic walking on it.

[Andy Hall]

So are we coming to the conclusion that this exercise is throwing good money after bad?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Yes,but there is a way round it. :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Oh is that what its called. Thanks!

Indeed. You mentioned this concept in the early days of my handyman business and you were right. Finding out exactly what the customer expects is crucial.

I hung a couple of cheap £20 doors for a lady the other week. As the screws supplied with the 'door pack' were crap and not as big as the old ones I removed, I used twinfast screw to secure the hinges to the door frame. Just trying to do a better job.

She complained that the silver screws didn't match the brass hinges. I explained why I'd used them - and that hinges are normally painted over anyway. She wasn't happy, so I said I'd change them. All I had in the car were Turbo Gold's. She complained that although they were similar in colour, they were a bit 'coppery' and didn't match perfectly.

The mind boggles!

Judging others by your standards Andy. Most punters think laminate flooring is the bees knees and that £15 a pack is top quality, because you can buy it for £8 a pack. That may not be your opinion, and you are probably right, but thats not what the average punter thinks.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

And rightly so she should complain, I mean was her hinges painted? and silver screws in brass hinges doesn't work.

[Andy Hall]

Illustration is that for a lot of people expectation is not in line with price paid. I m sure you end up with a situation where some customers effectively subsidise others because of this. Up to a point it's reasonable and then beyond that I suppose that you have to step in and draw a line.

I know. I was overstating the point in the same spirit that I made the original one about expectations.

The punter could have had hardwood flooring for about £30/m^2. Let's say the room is 20m^2. It means that we are talking about a difference of £15 x 20 (= £300). It doesn't require a lot of work from you to get to that point....

I'm sure that you appreciate the point, but I could see a danger here that the expectation is of perfection, which realistically you can't deliver.

The Turbogold lady is a lesson in this. That's why I suggested mocking up something beforehand and getting agreement for it before attacking the actual floor.

Otherwise, I sense that you might be setting yourself up for tears.

[The Medway Handyman]

Indeed. I've already told the lady that (a) she may not match the colour, (b) that the tongue & grooves vary between makers, so they may not match and (c) that I would have to take up half the floor to change the board.

Don't really want the job to be honest, just interested in the idea of being able to repair laminate. I reckon there would be a good margin in that.

Might just buy the template & try it out.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Matching the laminates click system is an 95% chance of aquiring the same.

If she was desperate to have something done about it,what I would do is have it uniformed zigzag pattern in the laminate using another box of slightly darker/darker laminate shade ie

light,darkish,light,darkish,light light,light,light,light,light light,darkish,light,darkish,light and so down the lenght of the room.

I've actually done it for someone this way and it looked good,needless to say the person was very happy.