Repairing Vinyl Flooring

Fix a hole, tear or scratch in four simple steps.

Next Project
Time

An hour or less

Complexity

Beginner

Cost

Less than $20

Introduction

You can fix small tears, burns and gouges in a vinyl floor in less than 30 minutes. An inexpensive kit contains all the materials you need to make the ugly blemish disappear.

Tools Required

  • Utility knife

Materials Required

  • Vinyl repair kit

Project step-by-step (4)

Step 1

Vinyl floor scratch repair how to steps: Buy the kit and prep the surface

Cut away loose vinyl

Wondering how to remove scratches from vinyl flooring? Tape around the damage. Cut out any loose fragments with a utility knife. Clean dust or dirt from inside the damaged area with a damp rag, and smooth rough edges with the enclosed sandpaper.

The easy maintenance of vinyl and linoleum flooring makes it ideal for bathrooms, kitchens and other busy areas. However, heavy, hot or sharp objects can damage this tough material, and nothing looks worse in the middle of the floor than a conspicuous blemish. The Vinyl Floor Repair Kit allows you to repair those unsightly burns, cuts and gouges in your vinyl or linoleum flooring. It’ll disguise imperfections up to the size of a quarter. The kit is available at hardware stores or online. Prepare the surface for patching as shown in Photo 1. Keep the tape 1/2 in. back so the repair adhesives don’t glue it to the floor. Here, learn how to patch a tile.

How to Install Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring

Step 2

Mix and apply paint

Mix paint to match the vinyl

Mix the paint to match the floor color, and paint the inside surface and edges of the damaged area. Clean off any paint that gets on the surrounding vinyl surface. Let the paint dry for 15 minutes, or speed up the drying time with a hair dryer on low heat. Mixing the special paint to match your flooring color is the trickiest part of the fix. The included color-matching guide will help you determine basic colors, but a closer match will require a little trial and error. An exact color match may not be possible, but if it’s close, it’ll be virtually indistinguishable at normal viewing distances.

Check the color mix by dabbing test samples on a piece of clear packing tape laid on the floor. Add small amounts of color to the mix until you find a close match. Dark colors will lighten slightly and light colors will darken slightly after the hole is filled.

Luxury Vinyl Tile Installation

Step 3

Add filler and floor bond

Pour filler powder into the hole and level it off with the enclosed smoothing paddle. Hold the floor bond right over the filler powder. Slowly drip the bond onto the filler powder until the powder is saturated (it’ll only take three or four drops to cover a dime-size area). Let the compound harden for 15 minutes. The filler and floor bond level the hole flush with the rest of the floor.

Install Vinyl Flooring in a Laundry Room

Step 4

Sand smooth and finish

Apply acrylic finish

Brush the clear acrylic finish over the repair, and allow two hours’ drying time before walking on the area. If the surface appears rough after the bond dries, lightly sand it smooth with the enclosed sandpaper (be careful not to scratch the surrounding floor surface). Protect the repair with clear acrylic finish.

Repair and Reglue Sheet Vinyl Floors