How To Fix Long Gaps In Flooring! (Laminate, Vinyl LVP & Engineered Wood Floors) | DIY TIP & TRICK

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On this episode I'm going to show you how to fix long gaps in flooring on Laminate, vinyl plank (LVP) and engineered wood floors. This is a great DIY tip and trick for beginners!

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Videos produced by Fix This House are provided for informational, educational and entertainment purposes only. Please use SAFETY precautions when following the tutorials on these videos. Viewers doing projects at their own home are doing it at their own risk and Fix This House cannot be held liable if they cause damage to their homes or injury. Fix This House cannot claim liability with all applicable laws, rules, codes and regulations for a project. Always stay informed of your local building codes! Happy and SAFE renovating!

#Vinylplankflooring #laminateflooring #Engineeredflooring

[sosalpha]

I literally just did my daughter's room and have these issues. You're a super hero!! Thanks for always coming through with home fixes! Love your channel!

[irontailrolo]

I have the same problem with the vinyl planks. If I knew this was a common problem, I would never have bothered with them. Good video for us that are stuck with this garbage.

[paulross]

Thank you from Canada! Just laminated my whole basement+bathroom...It looks good but now I even feel better about the future of the job I've done. I installed the laminate on top of DriCore Insul-Armor w/o any kind of sound barrier. So...one week all looks good. TY!!!

[EMC]

I’m so glad I found you video, I was ready to remove four rows. This has been a challenge to do, especially when I never thought I’d do it, but three handymen backed out of doing job at the last minute. One room almost done and it looks good other than going very slow. Thank you for your tips.

[stonepointdrivingschool]

Thank you - very informative and creative ways to move the planks and close the gaps! I am working with Eng. Hardwood - floating it, and struggling in my 1965 uneven subfloor pier/beam house - Ugh! Pulling my hair out now - but God is helping me through it - many prayers. I plan to 'nail down' several boards to keep it from shifting - After I get it all in place - then I will counter sink the 'finishing nail' with wood putty match. I just need it finished ASAP! Thanks again for your humble spirit.

[davidh]

This video showed up randomly and I am very glad it did - I fixed the gaps in my laminate on all three storeys of my house! Thank you @Fix This House for the excellent video, I have subscribed and I also look forward to watching the rest of them!

[terrybrown]

I applaud you for asking the you tube community for suggestions. This was a great presentation. Thank you.

[MrJffranco]

I just want to say THANK YOU! My little Granddaughter loves to dance in front of the living room television, well needless to say I noticed 3 planks on the floating hardwood floor I put down with gaps....now I am a big time panicker, but thanks to your video(I do believe yours is the ONLY video addressing lengthwise gaps) I was able to fix it today and it looks good to me! So again thank you for your helpful video!

[dnhmoog]

I can't thank you enough for this clear instruction. Your demonstration is awesome and humble. You have made a difference! Thank you.

[stefaniecirillo]

I love your practical solutions to these problems! Thank you for sharing! Your amazing

[watermight]

This little trick was super helpful when i was removing a large number of broken planks.

[carpediemwithLesli]

Been looking for something like this for a couple of years!!!
Thank you soooo much!!!!

[zachariahgreen]

I encountered a gap after removing a built-in TV Stand (built into sub-floor) that my vinyl plank flooring was originally installed around, and putting in vinyl plank flooring in that space after nailing down quarter-inch board as prep. I didn't use the cheapest planks you could find for the initial install, but certainly not the most expensive and the flooring install I was working with and trying to line-in with was about 2 years old. My understanding is most floors should last about 10 years (although mine supposedly has a lifetime warranty).

I see the comments in here about stressing joints and general concerns about the floor in general with this clamp method and I have to agree - this flooring is heavy and making the directly adjacent joints of the planks near the gap responsible for the strain is probably not the best. So we wanted to pull more of the floor together to fill the gap (remember - if installed correctly you should have about of a quarter inch space on the entire border of the floor, which is hidden by your toe-kick trim and/or your quarter round at the base).

What we did was put double-sided carpet tape (the tape was noted as "permanent" and no I don't have the name of it, but if it helps I got a 75' roll for about 15 bucks at Home Depot) on an 18" 2x4 as shown on another video by Fix this House on a "test piece" of our vinyl plank floor. For the test piece, we just used some left over planks from the initial floor install. I placed the 2x4 on the test plank, stood on it and pounded the 2x4 with a 4-lb sledge hammer several times, and ripped it off. The finish was not removed and the tape lost some adhesiveness.

Then starting at the farthest wall approximately 1-plank away from the wall, I did exactly what I did with the test plank. I put the 2x4 in the middle of my plank, stood on it, and started hammering the entirety of the floor down towards the gap. The 2x4 slid across planks despite the tape, so if that happens don't be discouraged. I weigh about 225lbs and I estimate the floor to weigh about 10 times that. Anyway, once I neared the gap (2 planks above it), I carefully, with careful foot placement to prevent the flooring from coming up, peeled the 2x4 up.

I then, after repeating the same procedure on the test piece to ensure the adhesiveness of the carpet tape was the same, started from the other side of the room again about 1 plank off the wall, and started hammering on my 2x4 while standing on it, again pulling the whole floor towards the gap.

I then did it again from the other side of the room. That was all it took and it closed the huge horizontal gap that I had that was actually bigger than the one shown in this video. I did not use clamps, and I ensured I had someone watching the gap so I didn't overswing either, which I think is very important.

Last step was a hard scrub with a swiffer wet jet to ensure all the adhesiveness was removed. It took about 30 minutes and 20 bucks in tape and 2x4s. Your mileage may vary.

Thank you for all the commenters and of course Fix this House for the informative videos. I felt obligated to share this procedure in case it helps anyone in a similar situation.

[noraconnelly]

I have this issue in my kitchen and it's super annoying! 😑 I see that debri has gotten in between my boards so I will clean it out with a carpet knife & vacuum, then I'll implement your fix technique. And I LOVE the idea of using the suction cup handle!! 😃❤️🤓👍💯
A BIG THANK YOU!

[carole]

It took all of 5 seconds to subscribe to your channel. Plowing through the posts at the rate of a mules day of work, but it is worth it!

[AjaxHire]

Good technique; will add to my repertoire.
"You can never have too many clamps" says the Master Woodworker.

[davidkirkham]

Nice job! However, each time you move 1 board, are you not making another gap on next board?

[tanyahamilton]

Another idea could be using a heavy duty suction cup or handle style for windows. Seems like it would do the same job without using the double sided tape. Thanks for the video

[robbisson]

Thanks for the information, now to repair, my brother's vinyl flooring.

[bryanbenson]

Only extra thing I would do is a little clear gorilla glue in those seams, in case it doesn't close 100%, it will forever be fused at that spot. Doesn't take much. Also, dampen the tongue first with water as that helps gorilla glue set up properly.