Help please with my Vinyl (?) Wood Flooring Spaces

Mim28829369
by Mim28829369
I recently purchased a home with vinyl (?) wood flooring. Since moving in, the planks are separating at the ends of each board! What can I do to stop this or fix it?
There are three spots shown here where the boards are separating end to end.
  10 answers
  • Oh dear not good! I hope it wasn't bargain basement vinyl flooring as those are very thin and have a tendency to shrink over time. Sometimes it is an installation problem too. I have a nightmare story about that myself . . . See if either of these links help you out. Did you receice a one year home warranty when you purchased the house?


    https://youtu.be/v2YGXCnNTO4


    http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3020694/gap-in-vinyl-plank-flooring

  • Mim28829369 Mim28829369 on Sep 18, 2017

    No, no warranty :( Thanks for the reply!!

  • Jill Jill on Sep 19, 2017

    This looks like it is a floating laminate wood floor and you might be able to close up the gaps by kicking the boards and any subsequent ones to close them up. I have a floating bamboo floor in my kitchen and this sometimes happens and it's pretty east to take care off. Just be sure you don't have a sole that will leave a scuff mark when you try this.

  • Tiggers mom Tiggers mom on Sep 19, 2017

    this happened with our floor and my husband attached a strong holding suction such as one to attach to remove mirror etc. and then used a rubber mallet and hit the suction holder until it moved back into place. Depending on the location you may need to repeat with other tiles in the same row till even it worked for us good luck

  • Melissa Pearce Melissa Pearce on Sep 19, 2017

    I've laid laminate floor and this is the tool you use for tightening gaps. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Roberts-Pro-Pull-Bar-for-Laminate-and-Wood-Floors-10-18-8/100390108


  • Anthony Anthony on Sep 19, 2017

    Vinyl not vynil btw...the OP said that it was Vinyl flooring, not wood flooring. Perhaps 'wood filler' might work just as well as it is used for spacing in wood flooring. Worth a try and try to find something that would match.

  • Sandy Sandy on Sep 19, 2017

    do not use wood filler as it will get bigger gaps and more often. use the gap closer tools as suggested by others to tap them back into place. once all are in place you may be able to place baseboard o proper width and depth along walls to hold in place.

  • Rose P Rose P on Sep 19, 2017

    I had a few that kept separating , after " kicking" them back in place I went to the wall where the end of those planks were and dropped in a few toothpicks to stop them from spacing. (Had to move molding to do that and then put back.)

  • Bra28885147 Bra28885147 on Sep 19, 2017

    This type flooring is made to "float" so it can expand and contract with the temperature. Attempting to lock them in place will cause them boards to buckle. Unfortunately this is just one of the drawbacks to this type of flooring.

  • Anthony Anthony on Sep 19, 2017

    If it were a typing error, she wouldn't have put a "?" after it, which indicated to me she wasn't sure of its spelling. I was not criticizing her spelling.