Thanks for a great tutorial! I have an issue with my vinyl planks in the new apartment and would be very greatful if you could advise. Basically whoever installed the planks a couple of years ago did not do it properly and the planks are kinda wobbly at the corners in many places (I can see that the locking mechanism is broken in those places). The planks were installed without any glue. So I was wondering if it was technically possible to disassemble the planks and reinstall them using some proper glue this time. If I do so, will the planks sit tight despite the broken locking mechanism? Or do I need to purchase new planks instead? Thanks in advance! :)
Hiya! I'm forced to speculate a bit since I don't know a lot of exact things. First, when you refer to an apartment, my mind jumps to the standard apartment arrangement, which is that we pay rent, and basically everything the landlord owns that falls apart is their responsibility: the lock on the front door, the air conditioning, any water pipe issues - and flooring. And pulling up and putting back down even _some_ flooring can turn into a big deal, evoking the question, "Why didn't you save yourself the trouble of doing it and have _us_ do it," or "Why didn't you save us the trouble of your having done it, and discovering halfway through that your lack of expertise mattered..." so I'm assuming that this is indeed your purview, but I wanted to point that out just in case you have a very welcome, "Oh, yeah!" moment, and could wash your hands of the work and cost. That said, I can tell you what I know about the situation in general. 1. _In general,_ locking mechanisms are designed to be used maybe three times. The theory is that you might lock some planks together, then realize that something needs to move, so you unlock them and then re-lock them. One, two, three. That doesn't mean they self-destruct like Ethan Hunt's secret messages after the third try, just that they're not made to disconnect and reconnect over and over, and you could be crossing this particular product's threshold just trying what you want to try, especially given the condition in which you've found some of these. 2. You can really only pull planks up in one direction: the opposite from which they were installed. You'd need to find the edge row that ends in 'grooves', not 'tongues', and that's where you'd start. Not from the sides, and not from the opposite side of the room, because ultimately you have to put these back down, and that's tongue-into-groove, tongue-into-groove, tongue-into-groove, not groove-into-tongue (which you'd be impossibly stuck with if you undid this from the wrong direction). So depending on where these issues are, you could be puling up a _lot_ of planks, agitating a lot of locking mechanisms. 3. Doing this will may void the warranty. This is not because doing it is necessarily harmful to a floor, but because of how warranties work. You have to install things exactly their way, or they won't guarantee it anymore. Now, a) it may not void anything; check your floor's documentation, and b) the warranty might already be void under the 'original owner' thing many come with, or it might not yours to activate, so this may just be a non-issue. Okay, the irritants out of the way, then: It is very likely that you _can_ glue the joints together, for a floating laminate or vinyl floor with a click-together installation. It is (almost) never required, nor even recommended, but it's allowable because the whole floor needs to float, not the individual planks. Some tips: I. Since I don't know your product, go to a home or floor store, or call the manufacturer, if you can determine who it was, tell them your floor type and brand, and ask what adhesive you need. Different materials need different adhesives to even work, so don't guess on this. II. You should be applying a _very_ thin coat of the stuff into those joints, so it doesn't squeeze out and either dry into bumps on the top surface, or glue the flooring to the subfloor if it squeezes out underneath. III. If you can, experiment first, either with a small pair of easy-to-access planks or any available spare pieces. The thing is, even if you do this all perfectly, and the flooring (or your subfloor's unevenness, which could be the original culprit) just isn't up to it, it might not work. So it's probably time-risky to try, but potentially not cost-risky, because if it doesn't work, then you're buying new planks, which you probably had to do anyway. - David
Thanks for a great tutorial! I have an issue with my vinyl planks in the new apartment and would be very greatful if you could advise. Basically whoever installed the planks a couple of years ago did not do it properly and the planks are kinda wobbly at the corners in many places (I can see that the locking mechanism is broken in those places). The planks were installed without any glue. So I was wondering if it was technically possible to disassemble the planks and reinstall them using some proper glue this time. If I do so, will the planks sit tight despite the broken locking mechanism? Or do I need to purchase new planks instead? Thanks in advance! :)
Hiya! I'm forced to speculate a bit since I don't know a lot of exact things.
First, when you refer to an apartment, my mind jumps to the standard apartment arrangement, which is that we pay rent, and basically everything the landlord owns that falls apart is their responsibility: the lock on the front door, the air conditioning, any water pipe issues - and flooring. And pulling up and putting back down even _some_ flooring can turn into a big deal, evoking the question, "Why didn't you save yourself the trouble of doing it and have _us_ do it," or "Why didn't you save us the trouble of your having done it, and discovering halfway through that your lack of expertise mattered..." so I'm assuming that this is indeed your purview, but I wanted to point that out just in case you have a very welcome, "Oh, yeah!" moment, and could wash your hands of the work and cost.
That said, I can tell you what I know about the situation in general.
1. _In general,_ locking mechanisms are designed to be used maybe three times. The theory is that you might lock some planks together, then realize that something needs to move, so you unlock them and then re-lock them. One, two, three. That doesn't mean they self-destruct like Ethan Hunt's secret messages after the third try, just that they're not made to disconnect and reconnect over and over, and you could be crossing this particular product's threshold just trying what you want to try, especially given the condition in which you've found some of these.
2. You can really only pull planks up in one direction: the opposite from which they were installed. You'd need to find the edge row that ends in 'grooves', not 'tongues', and that's where you'd start. Not from the sides, and not from the opposite side of the room, because ultimately you have to put these back down, and that's tongue-into-groove, tongue-into-groove, tongue-into-groove, not groove-into-tongue (which you'd be impossibly stuck with if you undid this from the wrong direction). So depending on where these issues are, you could be puling up a _lot_ of planks, agitating a lot of locking mechanisms.
3. Doing this will may void the warranty. This is not because doing it is necessarily harmful to a floor, but because of how warranties work. You have to install things exactly their way, or they won't guarantee it anymore. Now, a) it may not void anything; check your floor's documentation, and b) the warranty might already be void under the 'original owner' thing many come with, or it might not yours to activate, so this may just be a non-issue.
Okay, the irritants out of the way, then:
It is very likely that you _can_ glue the joints together, for a floating laminate or vinyl floor with a click-together installation. It is (almost) never required, nor even recommended, but it's allowable because the whole floor needs to float, not the individual planks. Some tips:
I. Since I don't know your product, go to a home or floor store, or call the manufacturer, if you can determine who it was, tell them your floor type and brand, and ask what adhesive you need. Different materials need different adhesives to even work, so don't guess on this.
II. You should be applying a _very_ thin coat of the stuff into those joints, so it doesn't squeeze out and either dry into bumps on the top surface, or glue the flooring to the subfloor if it squeezes out underneath.
III. If you can, experiment first, either with a small pair of easy-to-access planks or any available spare pieces.
The thing is, even if you do this all perfectly, and the flooring (or your subfloor's unevenness, which could be the original culprit) just isn't up to it, it might not work. So it's probably time-risky to try, but potentially not cost-risky, because if it doesn't work, then you're buying new planks, which you probably had to do anyway.
- David