Why are my floor planks buckling and lifting up?
Flooring planks expand and buckle over time, spreading to multiple pieces and creating loud noises when outdoor temperatures drop. This ongoing movement causes tiles to curl and lift, requiring repeated fixes while leaving homeowners worried about preventing further damage.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Sanding and gluing individual loose tiles back in placeDid this help you?
- 2Cutting an expansion gap around the perimeter using a multi-toolDid this help you?
- 3Trimming the edges of planks and re-laying them with caulkDid this help you?
- 4Tearing up the entire floor and reinstalling or replacing itDid this help you?
- 5maintaining a constant indoor temperatureDid this help you?
- 6removing baseboards and using an oscillating tool to cut an expansion gapDid this help you?
- 7Taking off a baseboard to check for and fix missing expansion gaps.Did this help you?
- 8Blaming the installer for failing to properly acclimate the materialDid this help you?
- 9Checking instruction manuals for correct installation proceduresDid this help you?
- 10Having the installer drill, inject glue, and place weight on the affected area overnight.Did this help you?
- 11Hiring a different, more trusted professional to independently assess the installation.Did this help you?
- 12Checking with a spirit level to confirm the delamination.Did this help you?
- 13Accepting that no subfloor is perfectly level and treating minor soft spots as a normal downside of floating floorsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Over time, some of the tiles have started to expand and lift here and there.”source ↗
“I sanded down a couple of them and glued them back in place, but the same thing keeps happening to other tiles.”source ↗
“I’ve noticed since some areas where they overlap occurs has these peaks.”source ↗
“The tiles were likely ice cold (Calgary area November temps and stored in a garage) when they were installed.”source ↗
“I’ve noticed areas where there is a noticeable slope or depression where the wall was.”source ↗
“Feels like I wake up every day and find a new one. Floor is only about a month old and has been lived on for only 2 weeks.”source ↗
“couple of months pass and i noticed the flooring blistering/lifting in the living area”source ↗
“approx 1.5m x 1.5m of the kitchen area floor has lifted and has loud cracking and banging when walking on it.”source ↗
“I've found 2 other areas where the floor is blistering/delaminating. I can now feel these sections when i walk about the house and i can confirm the delamination by placing a spirit level on the floor and pushing up and down on said sections.”source ↗
“recently my SPC flooring is buckling up. It started with just one piece three weeks ago and now it’s happened to five more pieces”source ↗
“when I walk throughout my main floor it sounds like I’m walking on plastic wrap, especially early morning or late evenings when the temp outside drops, at this time it’s extremely loud”source ↗
“I’m just more worried the floor will keep curling in spots and I just want to prevent further damage at this point.”source ↗
“I can feel some soft spots which flexes when I step on it. Should it be completely flush at the edges?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 10How to fix separating vinyl flooring planks without replacing them
- 4Is minor up and down movement in LVP flooring normal?
- 3Why is my laminate floor bubbling at the seams?