repairing a section of engineered floor

[shrike]

Hi there, I had some water damage on my flooring which is a 3 strip engineered floor. This was caused by a leak in the en-suite shower and the wood floor near the ensuite got wet, it has now dried out but the top veneer has buckled at the edges, 1 strip was quite bad and I pulled it completedly off.

Unfortunately I did not see this as this part of the floor under a desk and also covered by a rug. The plywood base seems to be dry and fine now. The area of damage is less than a meter square so I dont want to replace the whole room.





Any ideas in the best way to fix this? Is it possible to buy just the veneer strips to replace? I don't want to replace a whole plank where only a section is damaged as these are 2m planks. The problem then being how to cleanly remove some strips which are still partly glued but buckled at the edges. I could try to wet the floor to the loosen the most of the glue on the strips I want to remove.

I have found a maple 3 strip flooring which seems to be a close match in terms of grain and colour. Is there a way to remove the veneer strip off new board to stick down onto the old plywood base?

The subfloor I think is suspended concrete as its a new build house. So if I needed to remove the plywood base as well would I use a circular saw set to the correct depth?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers[/img]

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Another idea, could I soften the veneer strips in water and then clamp them in a vice/workbentch to dry out flat to stick them down again? They are 3mm veneers. Or would this cause them to expand slightly?

I suspect if I try to remove any other strips the laquer at the edges would chip off, what would be the best way to reapply laquer for an even finish? thanks

[WoodYouLike]

Your trying to find a solution that is
A) cheap and so not durable
B) not possible anyway

Remove all effected boards carefully, the whole board, not just the damage bit, the whole board will be effected by the water. Find new planks maple or Ash (which I believe you have now) in same sizes and replace the boards.

Before you do anything, check if the water hasn't gone underneath more planks and might cause problems later.

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[mattysupra]

As wood you like said~

Quote:

check if the water hasn't gone underneath more planks

I would be guessing if you say 1 sq meter damaged by looking with your eyes only, your be looking at more on 3-4 meters when try and start to repair. You say new build? Is the leak not covered in the builders guarantee? And you could claim on your insurance. They would not repair floor but replace the whole lot up to a door finish. So if it runs through door ways in one they will replace the lot.

[shrike]

thanks for your comments, what would be the best way to remove the damaged planks? They are glued together.

A Circular saw or some other tool?

The house is about 17 years old so the builders guarantee has expired I think.

Also how would I secure the new boards if the tongues and grooves don't exactly match the existing ones?