How to replace kitchen without replacing flooring?

Not sure if this is a 'curly' one but didn't know where to turn to for a possible solution - we've installed our click lock laminate flooring about 8 years ago and at the time we found it quicker/easier/economical to go around our kitchen bench. Now, 8 years later we are looking at renovating the kitchen but the footprint of the kitchen bench will be slightly different (at the moment it's got a weird bend at the end and we're looking at having a straight end) so there will be some parts of the floor that have the old tilling that is under the laminate flooring.

My question - is there a way to fix that without ripping out all the flooring? My husband seems to think that's our only option so I'm hoping to get other people's opinion/expertise.

Thank you!

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MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @mariabalint. It's wonderful to have you join us and many thanks for your question on flooring.

The first option to explore would be whether you can track down the same laminate flooring, or at least something very close to it. Since yours was laid around eight years ago, it’s unlikely you’ll find the exact product still available, but sometimes older ranges do pop up as clearance stock or second-hand through places like Gumtree or marketplace groups. Even if the colour isn’t a perfect match, a close-enough tone may blend in once furniture and the kitchen are back in place.

If you can’t get a match, another approach is to make a feature of the affected section rather than trying to disguise it. For example, you could cut a neat border around the footprint of the new cabinetry and then lay a different but complementary flooring in that area. Think of it as a framed “inlay” or feature zone. Some people use a slightly darker or lighter shade of laminate, timber, or even tiles to deliberately contrast the rest of the floor.

Your husband isn’t wrong that re-laying the floor would be the most seamless option, but these two alternatives—sourcing a close match or turning it into a feature—mean you don’t necessarily need to rip everything up. It really depends on how much you want the floor to look perfectly uniform versus how open you are to something a little different but still stylish.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

mariabalint

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/56609#Comment_56609

Hi Mitchell,

Thank you so much for your quick reply and happy to have found this; so many great resources and projects to get inspiration from.

We do have a couple of boxes of the old flooring left (apologies, should have mentioned that in my original post) - my concern is more around the way the flooring clicks together and if the missing pieces can be 'patched up' without taking out the existing flooring. I've attached a phot of the layout to give you a better understanding of what I'm talking about. The circled end is the concern area - once we replace it with a different shape bench, there will be a gap in the flooring and wondering what the process is (if any) to fix a gap in the click lock flooring?

Screenshot 2025-09-01 135517.png

Thank you!

MitchellMc

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/90573#Comment_90573

It’s great that you still have some of the original flooring on hand, @mariabalint, as that gives you the best chance of achieving a seamless look.

The challenge with click-lock systems is that they are designed to be laid in sequence, so patching in new boards mid-run can be tricky. This is typically a job best left to a professional installer, but to give you an idea of the process, you would usually cut back the existing boards so you can re-establish the staggered pattern. In most cases, the click mechanism on the replacement boards needs to be trimmed off, as it prevents the boards from being dropped into place. Once cut to size, the boards are then glued down instead of locked together, which is similar to the technique used when repairing tongue-and-groove flooring mid-room.

Depending on the space, you may find you can slide the new boards in without trimming, but if not, gluing is the usual method. This way, you can fill the gap without having to pull up the rest of the floor.

Mitchell

mariabalint

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/111186#Comment_111186

Amazing! Thank you so much for your reply, Mitchell. Greatly appreciated

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