Floored

I have always encouraged homeowners to learn to make small repairs, but I also encourage homeowners not to try repairs that are out of their comfort zone. Here is an example of questions I receive about small repairs:

The Client wrote:

We recently purchased an older house that has just been completely remolded. The kitchen has a new one-piece linoleum floor that was perfect, until we moved our refrigerator into the kitchen. We caught the leg of the refrigerator on the floor and put a ten-inch rip in the new linoleum. We have a leftover piece of linoleum, but it is not big enough to do the whole floor.
Is there anything we can do short of replacing the whole floor?

My reply:

Since you have a piece of the old floor you are in luck. You can patch the bad area, and in most cases the patch is undetectable. Here is a list of things you will need to do the job:
 A very sharp utility knife
 A steel straightedge
 Masking tape
 A sharp putty knife
 Floor adhesive
 A small notched trowel
Let’s get started by following the steps below:
 Cut a piece of flooring larger than the repair
 Tape the piece to the floor, matching the pattern
 With the utility knife, and using the straightedge, cut through the patch and press hard enough to cut the old flooring also. Tip: if the flooring has a pattern, try to cut in it, this will help hide the cut.
 With the putty knife, remove old flooring, and glue.
 Make sure the surface is clean
 With the notched trowel apply a thin layer of adhesive; keep it about a half-inch away from the edges.
 Put the patch in place and press the patch in place until it is level with the rest of the flooring.
This method works great.

The other way to make these repairs is to call your local handyman an go fishing.