Sagging laminate

[Sickboy]

I have a room where the floor has sunk slightly over time and there is now a gap between the laminate floor and skirting board. The floor was made cheaply by Wilcon Homes and the previous owners had a heavy cupboard where the floor has sagged. I am confident that the floor is now stable and I just want to repair the cosmetic damage by filling the gap. The gap is about 1cm in the middle of the wall and there is no gap at either end. I don't want to rip the floor up and start again and normally I would just fill the gap and repaint but the floor must be free to move to allow the laminate to expand. I had thought about laying newspaper between the skirting and floor, and then filling the gap, removing the newspaper when the filler has dried but I am worried the paper might get stuck to the filler.

Does anyone have any suggestions how to fill this gap while still allowing the laminate floor to expand? I am happy to replace the skirting but if I trim the skirting to match the curve of the floor, the ends will be narrower than the skirting on the neighbouring walls and won't meet properly.

 

[knowsabit]

The cheapest and easiest solution would be to put beading aorund the bottom of the skirting fixing with pins or gripfill. Instead you could replace the skirting but a lot moer work is involved.

 

[murraysnudge]

see my post under 'decorating'

 

[Sickboy]

I don't really want to put beading round since it doesn't look as good as just skirting. I may have to end up replacing the skirting on the bowed section and plane it to shape. Unfortunately I would have to replace the rest of the skirting in the room so it all lines up.

One final thought. Could I get away with using something like white Polycell Flexible filler to fill the gap and then paint it? This would still allow the floor to move although I suppose the movement may cause the gloss paint to crack.

 

[masona]

Best to use flexible sealant and you can get one that paint over.

 

[murraysnudge]

sickboy said:

Unfortunately I would have to replace the rest of the skirting in the room so it all lines up.

No you wouldn't, and I've explained how to do it in your other post on this same subject in 'decorating - gap under skirting board'

 

[ljdottir]

I had the same problem in my mother's house...

I used the flexible coloured filler for the laminating flooring range (can't remember the range name, you can get it from B&Q?) which doesn't exactly ever match the flooring but for thin gaps it looks OK, and cos it's flexible it should 'give' with the floor's movement. It was only a tiny gap though so I don't know if it would be a feasible option for your problem!