Gaps opening between laminate boards in your Willenhall home? What causes them, what you can do, and when a floor needs relaying rather than patching.
Gaps that open up between laminate boards, especially at the short ends, usually mean the boards are no longer locked together properly. Laminate clicks together along every edge, and when those joints let go, the boards drift apart and a dark line appears. It catches dirt, looks untidy and, left alone, tends to get wider.
The most common causes are a floor that was laid over an uneven subfloor, so the joints flex every time someone walks over them, and dry heat. In winter, with the heating on, laminate shrinks slightly, and a floor with weak joints shows it first. In Willenhall we see it a lot in homes around Short Heath and New Invention where laminate was laid straight onto old floorboards without levelling them first, and in rooms with underfloor heating set too high.
Small gaps can sometimes be closed by tapping the boards back together. If the joints are damaged, or the floor underneath is uneven, the lasting fix is to lift and relay it on a level base, reusing the boards where they are still in good condition.
Gaps at the short ends are often joints that have let go. Gaps along the long edges can mean the subfloor is moving or uneven.
Gaps that appear in winter and close in summer are mostly the floor shrinking in dry heat. A little is normal; wide gaps are not.
If the board dips or clicks when you press near the gap, the floor underneath is not level, and the joint will keep working loose.
Filling laminate gaps with sealant or filler usually looks worse over time and stops the floor being relaid properly later.
A close-up of the gap and a wider shot of the room helps us tell you what is going on.
Small ones sometimes can, by tapping the boards back together with the right tool. If the joints are broken or the base is uneven, the gaps will come back until it is relaid.
Central heating dries the air, and laminate shrinks slightly. A floor with weak joints shows that shrinkage as gaps.
Not always. If the boards are undamaged, a floor can often be lifted, levelled underneath and relaid using the same boards.
Yes, but the floorboards need to be level and firm first. Skipping that step is one of the most common reasons laminate gaps appear.
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