laminate flooring buckling

[krissy]

I have a piece of flooring that's buckling in my living room with laminate floor boards. There's a prominent bump on one side of the room (next to an island kitchenette) and I imagine there is a lack of space between the flooring and the kitchennete island (I have checked underneath the base board there and some of the pieces seem to touch the edge, while others do not).

Any suggestions? I've done my share of googling, but has anyone dealt with it first hand?

[Pheesh]

What's most likely happened is it was laid out of square and exactly like you've mentioned some of the floorboards have touched when the material has expanded (usually happens at a change of season). What you'll need to do is remove any skirting that is on your kitchenette island so you can see where the floorboards touch, then run a grinder along the edge of the floorboards that are there. You'll want to provide an even, decent sized gap (5mm or so) and then replace any skirting so that it isn't visible. The flooring should pop back into place after that.

[krissy]

Thanks, that's what i though too. now to get my hands on a grinder. Or a sander. I was also thinking of a saw but can't imagine how i'd do it without removing the flooring and i would really rather now. You're right about it now being square; i think there are multiple issue points but hopefully taking care of the ones against the kitchenetter will fix it for now.

[krissy]

Literally no space. I guess they must have installed the kitchen counter after on top of the ceramic tiling and just ignored the laminate. I don't know. Looks like I have to cut in before I can grind or file.

[escobert]

Yeah, always gotta leave a very slight space between each board to allow for swelling during more humid months. It's a pretty good pain in the ass to fix.

[krissy]

update: we took a circular saw to it (without going all the way through) and pulled the rest out via pliers when it was nice and loose. back to normal! the bump is gone. feels great to be able to walk on it again without feeling like im on a hike

SOLVED

[escobert]

Nice job!