Skip to main content
1 of 2
STW
  • 766
  • 4
  • 10
  • 22

How can I remove laminate flooring from an oddly shaped hallway without destroying it?

I have a locking laminate floor that runs continuously through two large rooms and down a narrow hallway. The boards run length-wise down the hallway, and through the large room--the hallway "rows" are 40' long in total--20' in the hallway, 20' in the large room. When looking at the overall floor the hallway is in the middle of the rows.

Here's a rough diagram. Each "|" represents a laminate piece--there are no transitions. In reality the pieces are staggered.

   ||| < this is the hallway flooring
   |||
   ||| |||||
   ||| |||||
||||||||||||
||||||||||
||||||||
||||||||

The hallway flooring suffered some water damage along one side. I need to remove it, replace the padding underneath, and replace the laminate portions which are warped.

My question is how to remove the flooring from just the hallway. Ideally I'd be able to remove it non-destructively and leave the main floor undisturbed so that I can reinstall the hallway flooring.

I understand I'll need to cut some of the pieces to remove them at the junction of the two rooms, but will I be able to reinstall new pieces using the locking mechanism--or will the only option be to trim and glue in the pieces at the junction of the rooms?

Any advice, tips, our thoughts would be appreciated!

STW
  • 766
  • 4
  • 10
  • 22