Ideas how to fix air bubble under laminate flooring

[jgradyc]

I'm helping a friend fix up a rental house. The flooring is a laminate that looks like hardwood. It's several years old, but it's still in good shape except for a slight warp in one sheet. You can feel it settle about an eighth inch when you walk over it. It's not enough to be visible to the eye, even when looking very closely. The place where you feel the bubbling is only about a 6" circle. The problem is that it's a few feet in front of a doorway between rooms so you feel it every time you walk from room to room.

When I looked online for a fix, everyone recommended starting at a wall and removing laminate to get to the warped piece. Then, replace it with a new sheet. That's not going to happen because it's unlikely that I can find an exact match, plus it's a major undertaking and I'd probably break some more laminate removing it. I'd most likely have to replace the laminate for the entire 16x16 floor.

Surely there is an easier fix.

[Sam1]

If it's not a big deal I wouldn't mess with it.  Cause if you're worried about 1 board, in one spot and 1/8" and it's old flooring, you're looking for perfection and that will require replacement.  Just chalk it up to character and move along.

[A.J. Holst]

Adhesive in a syringe? We used it for resilient (vinyl, vct)

Slightly different situation but if you can access the void and weight down the board it may work

[peejman]

1 hour ago, Gotthegoods said:

Adhesive in a syringe? We used it for resilient (vinyl, vct)

Slightly different situation but if you can access the void and weight down the board it may work

If you glue it down, you may end up with buckling or separation due to thermal expansion. 

My house is mostly laminate, Pergo I think. There's several areas where it's floating and moves/creaks when stepped on. It's mostly due to the subfloor not being leveled properly before installation, or the foundation settling afterwards. Best I'm aware, there's not a good way to fix it short of redoing it, which same as your case, ain't gonna happen. 

[tnhawk]

I put Pergo laminate in my house about 15 years ago.  I wouldn't use an adhesive, as its designed to float to allow for thermal expansion.  Check along the wall as the flooring should have a small gap between it and the wall.  If a board is pushing against the wall, it may be the cause of the warped boards.

[Dane]

Can you go from the underside and shim the subfloor? Or drill the subfloor and put some leveler in from the bottom.  

[FX4F150]

With Laminate, you CANNOT glue or fasten down.  Laminate is meant to float with 1/8"-1/4" expansion on all sides.  If you have a warped piece of laminate, it is a defect and SHOULD be replaced.  Laminate was manufactured as an engineered product specifically NOT to warp, cup or bow.  So, you could have a buckle in the laminate or a flex in the subfloor.  IF you can visually see a 'hump' or 'rise' in the floor, yet the subfloor seems to be flat, i would think your laminate is buckled because there isn't enough expansion. If you can't see a 'hump' or 'rise', then you might have an issue with the subfloor.  3 fixes: 1, replace floor. 2, pull quarter-round (or finish molding) to check for proper expansion gap.  3, would be to check subfloor from underneath as suggested and possible inject a 'filler', NOT GLUE.

 

Sorry, i don't post much (at all really), but i offer advice when i can.  BTW-15 years in flooring.