Sealing the seams of Laminate flooring in a kitchen
I installed a nice thick laminate flooring in my kitchen/dining room/utility room area last week... 3 days after the install the washing machine leaked (which of course has never happened before)... Well the seams of the laminate in that area swelled up, and I figured after a few days of drying that the seems would go back down. They did not. So I just went and bought more to ripup and replace the swelled section. To prevent this I bought a washing machine pan, so if it leaks again this will not happen... but as for the kitchen sink and back door entrence, is there some type of sealer I can wipe onto the flooring? There were a few diffrent discussions I found online saying yes/no for sealers, but nothing was definitive... What can I do? Thanks! Laminate floor and water are not friends as you have found out and it is often better not to install it in areas that are potentially exposed to water. IMO no sealer will ever make this type of floor completely waterproof as you will never completely seal every crack, and though advertised as being flexible, the floor movement over time would likely still create some open cracks in sealed areas. Water always finds a crack and spending time and money applying a sealer might give you a false sense of protection that is not really there. The better option might be to simply consider a waterproof mat application in areas you are concerned with, and quickly dry the floor anytime it does get wet. Like with alot of things, laminate is a cost effective attractive solution but with certain limitations. Again you already know this too. I, likewise, can't tell you what you want to hear. I can only echo equinox's (is that possessive?) comments that water and laminate/engineered floor do not play nice, ever.
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