Our house in San Diego has Quick-Step laminate floors. In the living room is an area about 9 feet long, about 12-18 inches wide (2-3 boards) that are buckled where the boards join on the sides. The buckling raises the joint about 1/4 inch above the floor level.

The floor was like this when we bought the house; we don’t know if there was previous water penetration of the laminate.

The boards do not appear damaged themselves, but they clearly don’t fit any longer into the restricted space.

This area is under a skylight, and about a foot from the fireplace hearth.

I’ve watched YouTube videos on repairing laminate floors; it looks like you either have to lift all the flooring between the wall and the damaged area, or cut out the damaged boards, cut off the tongue side, and use cyanoacrylate glue on the cut edges.
I have the right tools to do the job, I think, including a plunging track saw for cutting out the old boards. I also have enough replacement boards to replace six or so board if necessary.

My question is: can water swell the boards enough to cause this buckling without any apparent damage to the boards themselves? If so, and if that is adequate explanation for the buckling, I would feel OK about tackling it. But if there is a problem with the floor under the laminate, then it would be better for me to hire a professional.

Wood expands more across the grain than with the grain when the relative humidity changes. Laminate floors require ½" or so around the perimeter to allow for this. Also, the floor should 'float' - not be attached to its substrate.

I've only done one room in laminate overlay. That was about 10 yrs ago but it's still good. (I'm by no means an expert and am deferring to any real experts.)

In my opinion it is worth a shot to pull it up and take a look at it and see if you can repair it. My first thought was no gap at the wall as Jim mentioned.

If you can't repair it, then you will have to replace all of it, you won't find a match even if you can match the sty;e and color because the manufacturers always change how they attach as well.

When ex and I bought my house in 2003 (PQ area), she installed some laminate (off the internet (close-out sale) using the cheapest table saw available). I lived with the buckling until this summer - a wood-look porcelain was installed throughout the bottom floor.

1. the tile is hard, noticeably harder than the laminate.

2. the stays cooler - about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than outside until about 3pm

3. cleaning is hella lot easier and and to her credit, my forever wife chose wisely with the look of the tile and the 4" baseboard (which she and I installed)

The floor does float; and I’m pretty sure it was only click-locked into place.
Lifting the floor from one wall to the area buckling as suggested, and leaving a larger space at the edge for horizontal swelling would likely be the best solution, but is more than I am willing to take on.
If I can find a local person experienced at doing it, I’d rather go that route.