laminate flooring and removing visible damp patches

[Gav]

hello all,

I have laminate flooring in my bathroom and have noticed some damp patches showing round the base of the toilet. Obviously this should be fixed properly but for now I simply need to "hide" the problem! The laminate is quite light in colour and the patches relatively dark

- can anyone suggest a purely cosmetic quick fix for this other than just stretegically placing some plant pots over the patches? I thought about sanding the floor a bit and varnishing but I dont know much about DIY and I suspect that the laminate surface cant be sanded...

Cheers!

Gav

[Angela]

should

than

know

Having thought about it the only causes of damp patches around the base of a toilet are not very nice, and if I am correct they will not only be smelly but also pretty unhygienic. Why are you wanting to cover this up rather than fixing it properly?

Angela

[BigWallop]

A towel and a hot iron. Place the towel, single layer, over the damp marks and run the iron over it, keep it on the move but not to quickly, until you see the brown marks appearing in the towel. The brown marks are not the towel burning, they're actually the pissy marks coming up from the flooring. The combination of heat and absorbent material will take most of the marks and damp away.

Laminate flooring in a bathroom is not a great idea, even if it says "suitable for bathrooms" on the packet. The flooring needs to be coated with a clear polyurethane varnish, yacht varnish, to stop moisture getting into the gaps in the boards.

[BillR]

You cant sand laminate. The only hope is to dry it out somehow. I hoped you used laminate that was specified for bathroom use such as the B&Q AquaLoc 1600. Otherwise expect further problems with the laminate around the toilet, possibly even lifting of the top layers which happened to me. This is one area where a good seal is important. Even with waterproof stuff use the clear non-setting sealant they sell to seal critical joint areas e.g. in front of bog. Naturally its better to have continuous laminate under the toilet pan rather than cutting around it...

[Gav]

thanks for the reply,

The thing is it aint piss! I think there may be something leaking under the floor someplace... I can almost accept that if someone was a REAL bad aim they might have missed the toilet and pished round the base but there are patches quite a way from the bowel!

I think your idea may work never-the-less I shall try it tomorrow and report back :-)

[BigWallop]

I know some men are told that they are bad lovers, because if they miss a hole that size, then what real chance do they have with anything smaller. :-))

[Rowdy]

[ Snip]

^^^^^^^ Heh, nice typo.

rowdy