Open Floor Surgery

So relieved! About a month ago, our AC drain line backed up, the shutoff failed, and quite a bit of water leaked into our return vent. I thought I caught it in time and vacuumed up the water. A week or so later, the laminate wood floors in the hall and living room started buckling. That laminate runs through most of the house. It was installed by the previous homeowners who left a partial box in a storage closet. It’s not available anymore and we only had a handful of additional salvaged pieces from when we renovated the kitchen. I carefully pulled up 2 sections of the laminate to reveal the problem. The original parquet hardwood underneath had swollen and pushed together to form arches.

Assessing the living room floor damage

Three photos of hallway floor demolition

Tearing out a couple strips of the parquet allowed the surrounding floors to lay flat again. I spent a day off of work replacing what I ripped out with Dricore panels that were a similar thickness.

Then came the moment of truth. I taped up the foam underlayment and started piecing back in the laminate. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have enough spare pieces to replace the ones with broken edges, but by leaving some open space under the pantry, I barely made it. Whew!

Hall repair process photo 1 of 3

Hall repair process photo 2 of 3

Hall repair process photo 3 of 3

Living room repair process photo 1 of 3

Living room repair process photo 2 of 3

Living room repair process photo 3 of 3

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