Sealing edges of laminate floors

[Julian]

I have a laminate floor that runs across the whole front living area of my apartment including the kitchen. It is not proving as resilient to water as I had hoped and by the kitchen sink even small drops of water that happen to fall on a joint, if not noticed for as little as 5 or maybe 10 minutes, are causing blistering around the area where presumably the water seeps in and causes the MDF to swell. These blisters don’t shrink back, or at least not completely since one is 6 months old and still visible although interestingly can only really be seen under artificial light.

I still have quite a few off cuts and whole planks and the colour match is still perfect so I am thinking of stripping back about 4 planks in front of the sink (easy because it’s at the corner of the floor with open sides where it runs under kickplates at the corner so no skirtings to worry about, just pop the corner kickplayes and lift). I’m wondering though, if I do that, whether I could apply any sort of wood sealant (by brush presumably) along the tongue and the groove profiles of the new planks that I lay to try and retard or even prevent water ingress to give me more time to notice spills and get to them before they swell the MDF, or maybe even to be sufficiently effective that any small drops would actually spread out and/or evaporate on the surface before they got into the MDF.

Is the above practical or is any sealant that I might use likely to swell the MDF itself anyway and thus look terrible? If this is an option then what sort of sealant would people suggest?

It seems a shame to redo the whole floor because it is only about one square metre in front of the sink where I am seeing issues although I am kicking myself for not going with vinyl planks and putting up with the day of hassle while the concrete subfloor was being screeded in return for the peace of mind. I might yet go that route because the uncertainty of how many extra blisters the floor will pick up in the future is bugging me.

- Julian

[stewamax]

If it is only 1 sq m why not just use a matching mat with a rubber (i.e. non-slip and non-porous) backing?

[wilbobob]

As you have some off-cuts I'd suggest giving the edges a coat or two of a matt hard wax product like this
https://www.screwfix.com/p/liberon-hard ... 1ltr/4613f

You'd see if it swells the backing before applying to the floor, and the matt finish shouldn't show at the edges

[bionichamster]

You can buy joint sealants for laminate, I used some in a kitchen and bathroom and it worked fine over many years. The stuff I bought was like a low adhesion flexible glue. Very similar to the stuff used to stick bank cards to letters when you are sent a new one. Sticky enough to stay put and grip, very flexible, but easy enough to peel or rub off if you need to.

However I also bought a laminate sealant that was basically just a variant of pva glue, and not as good as it was much stickier, less flexible and once dried was permanent.

I would agree that some waxes are likely to work too, possibly better on the outer edges than the glue described above which is best in a joint.

I’m not at home just now and can’t double check but I think the good stuff was : https://www.wickes.co.uk/Click-Guard-Lamsinate-Flooring-Joint-Sealant---125ml/p/148241 . The link has different packaging to mine (bought around 15 yrs ago)but sounds like the right name and looks like the same stuff.

At a push i’d Paint the outer edges with any waterproof coating, eg a clear varnish, but not the joints.

BH

[anniesdad]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=thomp ... ent=safari

I’ve used this outside on single block walls to stop rain penetration and it’s great. Maybe do a test on an off cut first.

[sg31]

There are different grades of laminate. Some are ok where there is very little possibility of water, some which are ok for kitchens and some ok for bathrooms although these are like the abdominal snowman, reported to exist but no one has ever seen them.

I recently wanted laminate for a bathroom and found that Howdens did a sealant that effectively upgraded kitchen laminate to bathroom standard. This stuff....

https://www.howdens.com/tools-and-acces ... ly-sdh0099

It is a clear gel that is easy to apply, just run a bead on the 'tongue' of the board before clicking together. Howdens is trade only but if you Google the product it is available else where.

I can't tell you how effective it is in practice because we still haven't brought the bathroom into use.

If the laminate is of poor quality you might be better biting the bullet now and using something suitable for kitchen use. I know B & Q have kitchen quality laminate from about £10 per metre.

If the gel is effective I will use it on all laminates in future 'just in case'.