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Laminate flooring looks great on day one. But after a wet Spokane winter — snow tracked in through the front door, humidity shifts between rooms, heat kicking on and off — some homeowners start noticing gaps between planks. Boards lift at the edges. A hollow sound appears underfoot where none existed before.
These aren't flukes. They're the most common problems with laminate flooring, and most of them are preventable when you know what to watch for.
Laminate is one of the most popular floors in Spokane homes for good reason. It's affordable, scratch-resistant, and installs quickly. But it also has a short list of real weaknesses that don't always come up at the point of sale. Knowing them before you buy — or recognizing them early if you already have laminate — can save you hundreds in repairs.
This article covers six of the most common laminate flooring issues: moisture damage, buckling, gapping, surface scratching, fading, and fit for your specific room. We'll explain what causes each problem and when it makes more sense to look at a different flooring type altogether.
The most common problems with laminate flooring are moisture damage, buckling or warping, gapping between planks, surface scratching, and fading from sunlight. Most of these happen when laminate is installed in the wrong room, laid without proper acclimation time, or exposed to water over time. Laminate is made from compressed wood fiber — it looks like hardwood, but it reacts to moisture like wood too. Choosing the right AC rating for your traffic level and keeping laminate out of wet-prone areas prevents most of these problems before they start.
Moisture is the number one enemy of laminate flooring. The core of most laminate planks is made from high-density fiberboard (HDF) — a compressed wood material that absorbs water when seams or edges are exposed. According to the North American Laminate Flooring Association (NALFA), laminate planks cannot return to their original shape once water damage sets in, and affected boards must be replaced. The surface layer resists light spills, but laminate is water-resistant, not waterproof. That's a meaningful difference.
When water gets under the planks — or soaks in through gaps at the edges — the HDF core swells. You'll see it first at plank edges near doorways, along baseboards, or anywhere water pools regularly. The boards lift slightly, curl at the corners, or push up against each other at the seams.
In Spokane, entryways and mudrooms take the most abuse from November through March. Snow gets tracked in on boots, wet umbrellas drip on the floor, and the temperature swings between cold outdoor air and warm indoor heat. That cycle is hard on laminate. Rooms where this kind of moisture exposure is routine are poor candidates for laminate flooring:
Minor swelling — caught early and dried out quickly — can sometimes be salvaged. The affected boards may flatten once moisture is removed and the room returns to normal humidity. Severe swelling means the HDF has deformed and won't recover. Those boards need to be replaced.
If your entryway is due for new floors and you want something that holds up through a Spokane winter, waterproof core products are worth a serious look before you commit to laminate.
Moisture isn't the only thing that can push laminate out of place. Even in dry rooms, the wrong installation approach creates its own set of problems.
Laminate is a floating floor — it isn't glued or nailed down. The planks click together and sit on top of the subfloor as one connected surface. That surface needs room to expand and contract with temperature changes. When installers butt the flooring tight against a wall without leaving an expansion gap, the floor has nowhere to go. It pushes up from the middle or lifts at the edges instead.
Buckling also happens when laminate isn't acclimated before installation. Most manufacturers recommend letting the planks sit in the room for 48 to 72 hours before laying them. This gives the boards time to adjust to the room's temperature and humidity. Skip that step, and the floor may shift after installation as the planks slowly adjust on their own.
Spokane homes see real temperature swings — cold nights in winter, warm afternoons in summer. That range causes more expansion and contraction than you'd see in a mild coastal climate. Floors near exterior walls, sliding glass doors, or large windows feel those swings most. If buckling shows up in those spots, an installation gap failure is usually the reason.
The fix, when boards aren't warped or cracked, is straightforward: remove the baseboards, pull the affected rows, create the proper gap, and re-lay the planks. A common DIY mistake is cutting laminate tight against door jambs to get a clean look — that removes the expansion space entirely and often leads to buckling within the first heating season.
Gaps between laminate planks are one of the most common complaints after the first full heating season. The floor looks fine when it's installed. Then winter arrives, the heat comes on, and thin lines start appearing between boards along long runs in the living room or hallway.
The cause is humidity. When indoor air dries out — from heating systems running through a Spokane winter or from the dry summer air that follows — the wood-core planks contract slightly. They pull away from each other and leave visible gaps. It's the same physics that affects solid hardwood, just harder to reverse with laminate.
Spokane's climate makes this more likely than in wetter regions. The inland location means less ambient moisture in the air, especially from July through September and again during peak heating months. If you run forced-air heat regularly, your indoor humidity can drop well below comfortable levels without you noticing.
The recommended indoor humidity range for wood-based flooring is 30 to 50 percent relative humidity. A whole-home humidifier is the most effective way to stay in that range year-round. Portable humidifiers in the rooms with the most gapping can also help.
Small gaps that open in winter and close again in spring are a normal response to seasonal humidity change. They don't necessarily mean something is wrong. Persistent gaps that don't close — or gaps that appear in a newly installed floor — point to a product issue, a subfloor problem, or a humidity level that's consistently too low for laminate to perform well.
Gaps and buckling are structural issues. But there's a surface problem that shows up quietly over time — and by the time you notice it, it usually can't be undone.
Laminate doesn't have a real wood surface. The top layer is a photographic print of wood grain, protected by a wear coating made from aluminum oxide. That coating is what stands between your floor and daily damage. Once it's scratched through, the print layer underneath shows the damage clearly — and unlike hardwood, laminate cannot be sanded down or refinished. The board has to be replaced.
How fast that wear layer breaks down depends on the AC rating of the product you bought. AC ratings run from AC1 through AC5 and measure how much abrasion, impact, and foot traffic a laminate floor can handle:
For most Spokane family homes, AC3 is the minimum worth buying. Homes with dogs, kids, or heavy foot traffic through main living areas are better served by AC4. An AC2 board in a kitchen or hallway will show wear within a few years — the surface dulls, the print layer develops visible scuffs, and no amount of cleaning restores it.
Pet nails, furniture legs without felt pads, and grit tracked in on shoes are the main culprits. A quality doormat at every entry point and felt pads under all furniture legs go a long way toward protecting any laminate floor. For minor surface scratches, wax-based repair kits can reduce their appearance. Deep wear damage through the coating means the board needs to come out.
Not sure which AC rating makes sense for your home? Our team at Pro Floors & Blinds can walk you through it — visit our wood and laminate flooring supplier page to see what we carry.
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Most of these problems come down to one question: is laminate the right floor for this room in the first place? Sunlight exposure is one more factor worth answering before you install.
Laminate's print layer can fade with prolonged UV exposure. The wear coating slows it down, but it doesn't stop it entirely — especially in rooms with large south- or west-facing windows where direct sun hits the floor for several hours a day.
Spokane gets an average of 171 sunny days per year. That's more than Seattle and more than most people expect from eastern Washington. For flooring, it means UV exposure is a real consideration — not just in summer, but on clear winter days when low-angle sun comes through windows and hits the floor at a direct angle for hours at a time.
Fading rarely happens evenly. Furniture, area rugs, and other objects block sunlight in irregular patterns. Over time, the protected areas stay closer to the original color while the exposed areas lighten. When you move a couch or roll up a rug, the contrast becomes visible. Once that shade difference sets in, it's permanent — fading on laminate can't be reversed.
When shopping for laminate in sun-heavy rooms, look for products that specifically list UV-resistant wear layer coatings. Premium laminate lines include this as a named spec — it's worth asking about before you buy.
Beyond the product itself, a few simple steps reduce fading significantly:
UV-filtering window treatments serve double duty in Spokane homes — they protect your floors and reduce cooling costs in summer. Pro Floors & Blinds carries window treatment options worth looking at if sun control is part of your plan.
Most of the problems covered in this article come down to one question: is laminate the right floor for this specific room? For some spaces, it's a strong choice. For others, a different product will perform better and cost you less over time.
Laminate works well in dry, low-humidity rooms with moderate foot traffic and a tight budget. Bedrooms, living rooms, and home offices in Spokane homes are good candidates — especially when the priority is a wood look at a lower price point.
The rooms where laminate tends to fall short in Spokane homes are the ones that see the most moisture and temperature stress:
For those spaces, luxury vinyl plank (LVP) is the most common alternative we recommend. LVP is waterproof through the core — not just at the surface. It handles Spokane's humidity swings better than laminate, installs similarly, and comes in at a comparable price point installed. It's also softer underfoot and warmer in feel, which matters in below-grade spaces.
Here's a quick comparison to frame the decision:
In our experience at Pro Floors & Blinds, the rooms where we most often redirect buyers from laminate to LVP are entryways and basements — two spaces that are common in Spokane homes and genuinely hard on laminate. The conversation usually starts with a customer who had laminate in one of those rooms before and is replacing it.
The best move before committing is to take samples home and test them in the actual room. Look at them in your lighting, against your walls, at different times of day. It's a step that eliminates a lot of regret.
Taking that extra step with samples ensures your choice feels right in your home — and saves you from second‑guessing later. Want to learn more? Visit Pro Floors & Blinds today to explore options with guidance tailored to Spokane homes.
Let one of our experts help you find the perfect floor!
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