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XP: NMMR Laminate Flooring Issues
I also posted this on the decor/renovating board but thought you guys might have some good suggestions too.
We currently have laminate wood flooring throughout our entire house (except for the kitchen), that the previous homeowners put down just before putting their house on the market. I've noticed that about 9 times out of 10 if something gets spilled on the floor, the seams between the boards start to buckle and bubble, even if we clean the mess up immediately. For example this morning DH spilled some coffee on his way out the door. In the time it took me to get from the foyer to the kitchen to grab a towel (all of 20 steps away) and clean up the mess, I could already see the boards starting to buckle at the edges. I dried it with a towel, grabbed my hair dryer to try and dry it out some more and then put something heavy on top of it to try and straighten the boards out (so far that seems to be the best way to minimize the damage but it's a PITA).
Has anyone run into this? Any tips for preventing it? I had hoped that laminate floors would be easier to take care of than carpet, but that's not proving to be true for these. Our nephew is going to be spending a lot of time over at our house this summer and between him and our new puppy I envision lots of little spills.
Thanks for your help!
Re: XP: NMMR Laminate Flooring Issues
We have laminate in parts of our house and have never had any problems.
but is the wood floor version instead of acrylic. You can buy it at most stores.
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)

Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
@brij2006 I'll swing by the store and give that product a try tonight. Thanks for the suggestion!
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)

Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
www.5yearstonever.blogspot.com
We've run into issues with several things the previous owners DIYed that we are now having to go back and fix--I think they were in a hurry to get the house on the market and just slapped things together for the most part. I'm just hoping we can save these floors so we don't have to replace them.
I suspect, especially since the previous owners were installing it to make their house more marketable, that they went with the cheapest laminate flooring they could. Laminate wood flooring comes in different thicknesses with (of course!) the thicker ones usually being more expensive. 10mm is by far the most common, 12mm is even better. But it also comes as thin as 8mm, which I was told by Lumber Liquidators is harder to install and more likely to buckle because of its thinness. I was also told it should never be used in a high or medium traffic area. Unfortunately, if that is the case, there isn't much you can do about it now
, although I liked brij2006's suggestion. Maybe some kind of sealer like that will at least give the floors more time before they need to be replaced.
I put laminate wood flooring in my rental unit three years ago and it is still just as beautiful and strong as the day it was installed...and that flooring has been through three different tenants all of whom had dogs. I forget the exact brand name, but it was middle of the road quality at Lumber Liquidators and 10mm thickness.
I'm guessing that these are probably the one of the cheaper laminate floors out there, but since we weren't the ones who installed we don't know for sure. I've been paying a lot of attention to the floors since I posted this and I've noticed that there are areas where if DH is walking you can visibly see the floor dipping under his weight.
I've been thinking about this. The floor dipping is normal- it's a floating floor and so it will move around as you walk on it. (Just saw that in your above post). We have laminate in our living room and my DS's sippy cup spills in there every now and then, and we don't have the same problem with the seams.
I'm wondering though if it's an installation issue. If they did the floors quick to get it on the market, they may not have waited the 2-3 days for the floors to acclimate to the space before installing. I know that's something that every manufacturer recommends to limit warping and buckling- maybe they skipped that step. And if they did, I bet there is absolutely nothing you can do about it now.
I"m sorry! Hopefully the wood protector will work!