I've inherited a laminate floor in my new flat but it's badly scratched in places and with lots of marks.

Question

Firstly, what's the best way of getting rid of the marks? And secondly, can laminate flooring be treated or varnished at all to disguise scratches? Thanks

I've bought the flat and there's no landlord.

Answer 1

With laminate floor as some of the others have mentioned there's not much can be done as it is more or less a photo of wood stuck to MDF or the like. However you may be able to disguise the deep scrathes with wax sticks which can be bought at most DIY stores or ironmongers or even Screwfix. for the lighter scratches try a felt tip pen which is close in colour to the floor and seal over with clear nail varnish. This is only a disguise job not a proper solution.

Answer 2

I have had both and I used to have a 115lb black lab that would tear through the house and slide across the flooring whenever someone was at the door. I must admit that laminate is much more durable than hardwood when it comes to this. I was so impressed that I used laminate in many rooms of my house. I now have 3 kids and am extremely satisfied I used laminate vs. hardwood. The nice thing about laminate is if you do happen for any reason to ruin a piece, it's so easy to get to the bad piece and replace it. If you have a hardwood floor, you are looking at sanding and resurfacing a whole room at a time. For good quality laminate, the cost is still less than an average quality hardwood floor. My favorite name brand of laminate is DuPont RealTouch. It comes with a 30 or 35 year warranty and can be purchased at Home Depot. The nice thing about this product is there is no need to purchase rolled matting separate. It's already attached to the back of each piece which makes installation much easier. The overall quality such as look look, feel, and durability is far superior to other brands. I tried a room with Pergo and was so dissatisfied I took it out and put DuPont in. The Pergo is now in my basement. Anyway, with all said, I think if this flooring withstood a 115lb dog sliding across it, then I'm positive it will do well with a cat. Good luck!

Answer 3

A liminated Floor ??
Ok to get rid of scratches,,,If they're deep, take a wet (soaked) rag and put it over the scratch,,get that wood wet. Now take that rag and get it wet again but not soaked, put it over the scratch and take a hot cloths iron and put it on the damp rag. Your going to raise the wood with steam. As long as it's just a scratch (and the original wood wasn't gouged out ) the scratch will disapear.
If it's a laminated floor (which seems strange for a floor) Fine sand the floor using 180 - 220 grit sand paper. I'll bet it's the finish that's scratched and by fine sanding it you'll remove those surface scratches. Tack the floor at least 3 times and put a urathane on it. Because it's a flat surface, keep your movment down to a minimum. If possible close off the room untill dry.Use a Good 6" Ox hair brush to put the urathane on. The brush will be ex$pe$ive, U can use a foam brush too, but watch out not to create bubbles and you may have to change brushes more often. Oh ya, 4 coats min. with a lite sanding between coats And tacking after sanding of course.

Answer 4

If it's laminate and not engineered wood flooring, there's not really much you can do. Laminate is not real wood and unfortunately doesn't have the benefits of real wood - you can't refinish it.

I'd suggest you start from scratch, so to speak, and fit engineered wood flooring. It's similar to laminate but the top layer is real wood, and therefore can be sanded, varnished and refinished as you need.

This is the main reason why laminate is becoming more and more unpopular - it simply does not wear well.

Answer 5

Laminate flooring is a plastic product with a "picture" of wood embossed underneath the finish. As such, there really isn't anything you can do to fix the scratches. There might be some commercial floor shine products, made with acrylics, that can temporarily reduce the appearance of these scratches, but you'll have to reapply them often.

Answer 6

You can buy stuff which will help reduce the scratches but if they are really bad then it may be easier and it is not that expensive nowadays just to re laminate over the top of what you already have, it is easy to do it yourself to most just click together without glue.

Answer 7

I dont know how to fix it. If they wont replace it,laminate flooring is very cheap,especially if were just talking a kitchen and bathroom. They even sell it at the dollar store. It may be worth replacing yourself to have a nice place.

Answer 8

I recently installed laminate flooring and managed to scratch it in the process. They sell finishing putty/fillers in various colors to match your floor for touch-ups. It worked great!! Hardest part is finding the right color to match your flooring. The link below is an example of the filler/putty that I'm referring to - hope this helps! Good luck! :)

http://www.diyflooring.com/group_3888/laminate-flooring/pergo-flooring/finishing-putty.html

Answer 9

The best product to use is called carpet you spread it equally over the laminate floor and leave it there all the marks will have vanished.
Carpet is available in a vast range of colours so you can find one suitable to match your furnishings.

best thing about it is it wont chip or crack and it feels great when you dont have any shoes on

Answer 10

well if the joint are glued to gether it going to be a bit off a pain that would make them about 5 to 10 year old but if they are only a few years old they just snap to gether and they very easy to replace because you cant repair them as it not real wood