I can’t find the same floor for my repair, now what?

By Steve Craig
Jan 7, 2019

Here’s a suggestion to a question I often receive from customers looking to do a small repair to their existing flooring that they can no longer get. This is a fairly common problem in our industry, especially in regards to laminate flooring. As new technologies are introduced to improve on the locking systems and durability of these products, or even just to keep up with quickly changing trends and styles, it’s very common to have a product you may have recently purchased discontinued within a few years, and sometimes even sooner. This can be a difficult pill to swallow if you end up needing a few boards to repair a floor that’s been damaged, especially if your only other choice may be to replace the entire floor. One of the easiest solutions to this dilemma that’s commonly overlooked is to use flooring from an inconspicuous area in your home for your repair and then put in as close a match as you can find in the less noticeable area. This can be accomplished by either using a t-mold or modifying the locking mechanism and joining the new planks with an adhesive, depending on the area you’re borrowing from. Closets and pantries are perfect for this but in a pinch I’ve even had customers use floor that would end up being hidden under furniture like a sofa or entertainment center. This can be done with almost any type of floating floor that uses a glueless click lock system for installation. Keep this in mind if you’re installing a new floor as well, and make sure to purchase enough material to have an extra box or two left over at the end of the job, just in case a repair is needed down the road. It may end up saving you a lot of time, frustration, and an even more costly repair, if you can no longer find the same product.

Until next time, thanks for reading, and have a great day!!