Oh no, leak onto laminate floor!

[d000hg]

Our utility room and downstairs loo have fairly cheap wooden laminate on foam underlay on a concrete floor.

The bathroom hot tap has a issue where sometimes it just 'turns off' mid-flow and you have to turn it on more. It appears yesterday it did this and wasn't turned off... properly. When I went to run a bath the tap seemed to spring to life and since the plug-hole also doesn't drain well, my wife came home an hour later to find the entire floor deluged in boiling hot water!

She mopped it up but obviously water has got underneath and is trapped by the waterproof layer with nowhere to go - it's not squelching as much now but it was, and the edges of the laminate have distorted although not enough to matter so far.

It's f***ed, right? I wondered if I can pull the floor up to dry but I can't easily find the correct place to do this, and it's not really designed to be pulled up once in place so is that even an option? It goes under some units and pipe-boxes so it'd be a pain to do if it won't help... but if I may be able to save the floor would be worth it.

Ideally, laminate wouldn't be here at all but it's low on our priority list so a real PITA. Not that it would be expensive to sort out, a few £hundred I guess, but just the hassle and the fact our funds are low right now.

Any suggestions - do I just accept it's ruined and book someone to sort it? Or try to salvage it?

 

[EFLImpudence]

Is there beading around the edge?

 

[d000hg]

Ina few places only, more of it is going under skirting boards and the like though it's not clear which was laid first. I can get to an edge in a few places but can't get the stuff up without breaking it... either I'm coming from the wrong side or they're just too tightly bound together, or there is a technique I'm not aware of. I have some tools for laying laminate, should I be able to use them to get it up un-destroyed?

 

[EFLImpudence]

If you think the skirting was fitted after the flooring then the only way would be to remove that.

If not, remove the beading which should reveal some edges.

 

[d000hg]

Does it matter which edge i.e. to I need to find which side it was laid from?

Do you reckon pulling the wood up so it can dry might save it? If not I can get it up much more quickly if I don't care about breaking it

 

[EFLImpudence]

Does it matter which edge i.e. to I need to find which side it was laid from?

The last side fitted would be better (unless they laid it the wrong way round).

Do you reckon pulling the wood up so it can dry might save it?

You'll have to be quick.

If not I can get it up much more quickly if I don't care about breaking it

Well, yes, but it doesn't matter either way, then.

You'll only have to smash a few to get to the rest.

Take off the beading, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[chris1982]

How you can lift the laminate depends on the type, I think.
If it's V-Groove, you need to start with the board that went down last and from there you can go left and forward.
Some types of laminate can be laid in all four directions, and I would imagine you could lift those from any side.

 

[d000hg]

Looking at it it feels like they might have laid it in the wrong direction - it's a V groove. Based on the room they would have to have worked from the far wall inwards but it seems the laminate is the opposite way round to what seems intuitive, though I haven't laid such a floor for quite a few years.

It is proving very hard to get the boards out though - I have a free edge but the board really doesn't want to come out. There's no way to get a tool into the crack I can think of so it just comes down to firm but careful force?

 

[foxhole]

Laminate is totally unsuitable in wet areas as you have found.Its usually on mdf base which is ruined by water ingress.

 

[d000hg]

The other thing I was thinking is, since the issue is trapped water getting absorbed into the boards due to the waterproof plastic layer underneath, what if I can lift the floor just a bit to create an airgap so it can dry out? I managed to get a thin bit of wood under a few boards to lift them off the plastic underlay and reckon I could extend this.

 

[d000hg]

Laminate is totally unsuitable in wet areas as you have found.Its usually on mdf base which is ruined by water ingress.

I don't plan any parts of my house to be wet areas to be honest, except when you step out of the shower

 

[foxhole]

Wet areas are rooms which are at risk of flooding due to appliances or sinks etc. I.E kitchen, utility, bathroom, toilet.

 

[d000hg]

Yeah, I know

It's the one reason I'm only irritated rather than properly peed off - ideally this room would be tiled anyway and it was a bit grotty. But, as a utility room I was quite happy with it being scratty and had no desire to spend money when I've other rooms which have greater urgency to improve!
Realistically it's a tiny room and probably just a 1-day job to rip up and tile, so even with materials I dunno, a couple of hundred quid if I don't want fancy stuff?

 

[conny]

If you intend to tile it eventually just rip the laminate up and in the meantime throw down a bathroom mat for when you get out the bath/shower.
The laminate is beyond repair once it starts lifting so ripping it out will also allow any damp concrete to dry out properly before tiling.

 

[IWalkLikeHimaMartian]

If you intend to tile it eventually just rip the laminate up and in the meantime throw down a bathroom mat for when you get out the bath/shower.
The laminate is beyond repair once it starts lifting so ripping it out will also allow any damp concrete to dry out properly before tiling.

Or just throw the mat over the f***ed up laminate until you are ready to redo the floor.
Bearing in mind it might need some time for the floor to dry out.