A depressing question about flooring

[deathmage]

I just had my floors done and I got these water resistant laminate looking floors, it looks like wood but the material is like some kind of plastic got it from lumber liquidators

 

[PhreeByrd]

First of all, all but a very few wood or wood-look flooring products have a very water-resistant finish. All but a very few have a man-made wood backing material which is not very water-resistant. All of these are prone to degradation or warping if allowed to get wet. Most of them also have beveled edges on the planks as shown in the OP's photos. The bevels help to hide installation imperfections and small defects in the planks that cause warping and therefore imperfect seams. What I see in the OP's photos is not a terrible installation. It looks like there are some areas that could have been done a little better, but don't be too hard on the DIY previous homeowner. Professional installers leave imperfections like this, too, and often worse than this. And personally, I'd be more concerned about the dog urine soaking into the wood than a little aquarium water.

All that said, unless you're setting up a really small tank, you are not going to be able to repair or replace the floor under it without breaking down the tank and moving it out of the way. The floor looks relatively new, and the product may well be still in production or still in stock somewhere. I'd try to find some of the same flooring material -- at least enough to repair all of the current defects plus the area under the aquarium stand. Manufacturers typically stamp the back of their products with some kind of identification code or mark which helps narrow down replacement products.

I'd start there. Your options change dramatically depending upon whether or not you can find matching replacement flooring.

 

[SallyWho]

*sigh* It's pretty depressing to consider having to repair the floors already. I've lived here less than a year. The part about floating laminate vs glued is a good point. I'm pretty sure this laminate isn't glued, so it sounds pretty likely that the weight of the tank is going to cause buckling. :/ I'll try to have someone come evaluate it before I get going on the build.

 

[cracker]

You could paint/stain the floors. There some very nice looking products out there & lasts forever. I'm cheap so used rustolium garage floor paint very sturdy & in expensive compared to flooring. Came out looking pretty good. it's a lot less work/money & tearing up the laminate isn't that tough a job. Bet You could find a handy man to do it for you & not set you back too much.

 

[RichReef]

Most laminate floors are compressed cardboard. That's why water is a big problem.

Another problem is most have a foam pad under them.

Both are a no.

I would cut and remove the laminate around the tank and put down some nice matching tile. You can even grade the floor so in case of a leak it would drain to the crawl space. Not knowing your crawl space that may not be possible. Just finishing up the new family room for my build and I plan to put a drain to my basement crawlspace.

 

[Centerline]

A thought occurred to me the other day. I bought this house last June, and the seller had installed wood laminate floors himself. It's not really an awful job, but it's not flawless either- looks great so long as you don't look too closely at certain edges around doorways or kitchen cabinets. My problem is moisture. I had a water leak from the fridge shortly after moving in, and my dog has had some health problems that cause her to have accidents in the house (and she simply will. not. crate.). I've noticed that in the spot by the fridge and around the area where my dog tends to pee, the flooring creaks a little and a couple of the seams between planks aren't quite flush anymore. It's not like there's gaps or any significant buckling going on (yet), but if I'm about to put a big ol' fish tank on that floor, there's bound to be spills. Plus, deciding later to replace the floors would mean a heckuva hassle to move the tank. Should I delay my build (that I've been waiting 8 years for) for several more months while I save money and replace my floors now, or just cross my fingers that the flooring won't buckle and get ugly too fast? I mean, the floor isn't in terrible shape or anything, but it's already showing tiny itsy bitsy signs of future problems after only ~ 18 months (it was installed a few months before I bought the house). And if I do decide I have to delay my build in order to replace lots of flooring ($$$), what's the best kind of flooring to replace it with, that won't bankrupt me? I'm not exactly rich. It has to be either water resistant or waterproof, be able to withstand significant weight without cracking or leaving dents, and not be school-cafeteria-level ugly. Thoughts? I'm really hoping not to have to replace my floors, but I want to do what's right for my home and my future tank.

You may want to consider some 1/2" HDPE with a "juice groove" (like a cutting board) routed into the edge to catch stray drops from cleaning etc. You can get the cut to size at several places on line - for something like 80" x 32" (4" extra all the way around to catch splashes.) it will run around 150-200 bucks. Or you could just score a sheet of the black utility grade stuff and cut it yourself. $213 at "Professional Plasics" - https://www.professionalplastics.com/Utility_HDPE_Sheet

 

[jsker]

How about finding the flouring to replace a section under the tank first, then cutting a section out and tile the section. Get some urethane and seal the edges around the tile section. If you decide to sell then you can always replace the section with the extra flooring on hand? You can also checked the sub flooring to see if the flooring is sound and even replace the subfloor with with a thicker marine ply with screws and tile. When it comes time to replace the floor under the tank, than section will be pulled and a new sub floor can be installed and the wood flooring can go down. Just some more to think about

 

[cracker]

My mistake ! I assumed You had a concrete slab for flooring.

 

[AquaART]

Yeah. There’s plenty of ideal flooring options. OP clearly stated she isn’t going to be ripping out and re-doing the entire floor.

I believe she did mention that she didn’t want to have to deal with it later and asked if she should change it now—and If so, with what. That’s what I was suggesting; however, if you’re looking to circumvent the issue on the budget you can seal your floor with a special laminate sealer that repeals water. It doesn’t water proof the following, it makes the water bubble up as if it’s coated in oil, and it never has a chance to absorb into the wood/ cracks.