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msjay2u

need vinyl flooring advise

msjay2u
16 years ago

I am thinking of putting some of those Armstrong self stick tiles on my floor in a high traffic hallway (but only 2 people). The floor is a softwood and I can see lines where the PO had put tiles down and the dirt seeped in between the tiles.

Should I do anything to the floor before putting the tiles down? I called Lowes, told him what I was buying and the idiot told me make sure I have enough morter. duhh with vinyl? and if I was putting tiles down what happened to me needing a sub floor over my wood floors? Then he said put extra glue on the self stick tiles and I should be fine. I decided I better log in here and ask the experts. LOL

Comments (17)

  • bluesbarby
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We have cement foundation so can't really help on the soft wood question. However, when we installed peel and press in our bathroom and studio we didn't use extra glue but did us a special primer on the floor first. It's held up extremely well.

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Are you speaking of paint primer? Thats interesting. How long ago did you do your floors and how has the tiles held up to the humidity?
    Thanks!

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I came on the forum so many times then I got caught up in responding to others. My how quickly the questions can get buried!!LOL

    I really appreciate your advice. I copied everything you said and included it in my book that I have saving all good ideas and advice. I think I am going to do the floor this weekend but since I have to go to work on Saturday then a ladies night out Sat night I might have to pass it on to next weekend. LOL

    And what a coincidence. I brought a sample tile to see how it will look in my kitchen and guess what it is? CRYNTEL!! But the pattern I have is Sandstone and you are right they do look like real tile. I feel even that much better about your advice since you tested your technique on the same tile I am planning on using.
    THANKS!!!! Will update with results this weekend or next weekend. Since this was in your previous house I suppose you don't have after shots?

  • johnmari
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a few photos online - we just moved out in September. (Sigh.) Is Sandstone one of the ones with the fake grout line created by a beveled edge exposing the grayish interior? I was very suspicious of the potential for peeling with that edge style, because the edge of the wear surface is exposed to foot traffic instead of being wrapped down over the edge of the tile. The rolled-over edge on the "Italia" line seemed much more durable to me. (Everyone insists that beveled edges on any kind of flooring catch SO much dirt and we never had any problems with either the rolled edges on the tiles or the microbevel on our hardwood floors.) We also considered the Trafficmaster Original solid vinyl tile at Home Depot, which are pretty much the same thing as the Cryntel solid vinyl tiles, but there wasn't a color that played nice with the cabinets that was neutral enough for selling - the Verdestone looked fabulous with the cabinets but the green was just too distinctive.

    For reference, here's the "before" nasty vinyl floor. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put a white vinyl floor in a kitchen in New England with three doors to the outside should be strung up by their ears! Even after scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing with cleaners that sent me bolting from the house gagging and choking, the floor looked permanently dingy. We HAD to cover it to make the kitchen presentable.
    {{gwi:1892050}}

    And after (don't mind the mess in the first couple, they were taken while we were tearing the kitchen apart to "update" it for selling). It is not as pink as it looks, my camera is a bit on the old side and often makes things look weirdly pink. It really looked amazing.
    {{gwi:1524269}}
    {{gwi:1892051}}
    {{gwi:1892052}}
    {{gwi:1892053}}

    Just for fun, here's the bathroom we used it in too. It's actually exactly the same tile, but the cool colors in that room (the cabinets are BM Bittersweet Chocolate, which is a fairly cool brown) bring out the blues and grays and tone down the warmer shades while down in the kitchen it looks much warmer because of the honey-oak cabinets.
    {{gwi:1469933}}

  • oceanna
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Johnmarie, I can SO identify with what you said about white vinyl in the kitchen! I have five dogs tracking mud across mine all winter/spring/fall and I was literally mopping it five times a day. Your new floor is lovely and I'll bet you love it! Here's a picture of my new vinyl floor (yes that's vinyl, not wood) in progress so you can see my old white floor too...

    {{gwi:1892054}}

    MsJay, someone at Lowe's told me to put extra sticky on the backs of my tiles, too, but the box of tiles clearly stated you should *not* use extra glue. Read the box and see what it says. Good luck with your new floor, and please post pics!

  • squirrelheaven
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you're just doing a hallway, how about a piece of sheet vinyl to eliminate the dirty cracks.

  • johnmari
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I did really like it. We moved out 2 1/2 months ago and I miss it - we're in another house with a freakin' white vinyl floor! Arrrrgh!!!! We are going to wait for the kitchen remodel to do anything about it though, the list of more important things that need doing is far too long.

    The Cryntel box said not to use additional adhesive too. However, I chose to take the aforementioned advice from someone who had been installing them in many houses for many years, and it sure made the installation one HECK of a lot easier. I dropped one tile on the subfloor after peeling the paper off but before coating with adhesive and we had to use a mallet and chisel to get the blasted thing up. We were a hair off on the initial placement of enough tiles that it would really have looked craptastic (not good if you're trying to sell a house) had we been stuck (ahem) with where the tile had initially landed. Within two minutes with the added adhesive, it was just as durn-near-impossible to move a tile (dummy me put a couple in backwards along the walls, with the cut edge instead of the finished one exposed) so I had plenty of confidence in their ability to stay stuck. For one whole dollar per square foot, I didn't really give a rat's rump about violating some kind of warranty (which would probably be quite difficult to get satisfaction on, considering the company is based somewhere in Southeast Asia IIRC)!

    Note that you do NOT follow the instructions on the bucket of adhesive about using trowels and stuff. Tiles that don't already have that trace amount of adhesive on them require a lot more goo.

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wrote a long response this morning when I first got to work and obviously all I did was hit the preview button cause it is not here! Let me see if I can remember what I said
    1- the hallway I mentioned is really a 12x13 utility room and if all goes well in it then I will branch out to the bathroom and kitchen. I don't know why I called it a hall... typing and thinking too fast.

    2- I was scared to try the sheet vinyl because if I make a mistake in the cutting I feel I only have 2 options: to chuck the damaged sheet or do an ametuer patch job. If I make a mistake with the vinyl tiles each tile only costs 88 cents each.

    3- i like the wood vinyl look but I had painted some of my wood floors and I think it will be a hyprocsy to put wood vinyl over the rest of the floors.

    4- JohnMari your last post was hilarious. Gotta love it!!
    thanks for your advice. You are right about once the tiles stick it is hard as heck to move them so I think your advice sounded good.

    Has anyone else had any experience with using supplemental glue with the self stick tiles?

    It is supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend so I might just do floors, yard work and all sorts of crap that the cold weather has discouraged me from doing. Hopefully there won't be any good movies on cause I take breaks when I am working and if the movies on are good my breaks can last through the whole movie (actually the work will be like the break between the movies)!!! LOL anyone else have that problem?

  • starwitness
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I used the Cryntel tile that Johnmari mentioned in a bathroom (mine is the "beige stone," though, not the travertine). It's really great stuff -- the matte finish looks more realistic and is better for wear and tear. We didn't use any additional adhesive, and have had no problems so far.

    We did use a separate kit for sealing the seams between tiles. It's a clear coating that you brush onto the seams. This might be perfect for you, if you're worried about dirt between the tiles. I don't recall the exact name of the product, but it's made by Armstrong and was in the vinyl tile aisle of Lowes.

    Photo:

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I came into work this morning and on my computer in my office was the message I thought I had submitted yesterday. I took out some but for the most part here is what I said....

    I probably should have not called the room a hallway. It is the back room between the bathroom and kitchen and has the back door that we use like a front door and in my mind it is a hallway even though it is about 12x14. LOL , I know, I know....big hallway. Plus it has a washing machine. SO utility room might be the better term.

    I am not sure about the rolled edges. You might be right though. I will check them out when I go back. I like that wood vinyl too. I thought about that but then I had painted my wood floors in the living room and bedroom. that would be crazy to then put wood look on other floors. LOL.

    I think everyone has had a white sheet vinyl floor. Contractors love it. In my old house mines had a grain texture and the dirt got trapped in the grain and was impossible to clean good. Nowadays I am not much of a scrubber anymore since I am an empty nester. Swiffer wet jet is more my style now so that floor would have streesed me out.

    BTW...It is freezing cold here in NC...

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    okay I am back again. I painted my kitchen and added beadboard to the front of my lower cabinets and tomorrow the counter top is going to be tiled [white tile/white grout] and now I am not so sure of the flooring I originally picked out. Is that going to be too much going on in the kitchen? Here is a picture of the new paint color. no pictures of the new cabinets or tiled countertop yet. Thanks!
    {{gwi:1891943}}

  • mildredpots
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you are not using the extra glue on the self stick, and you put one in the wrong place, you can use an old iron to remove it. Hold a warm iron on the tile for a few minutes to soften the glue, and then you can scrape off the tile. THe tile is trashed, but it is easy to lift. I did this to remove the PO's peel and stick and replaced with my own temporary choice, later removed the one I put in to put in a more permanent floor. Gotta say they have some really beautiful choices now...which they really didn't have back when I used it.

    If you are using sheet vinyl in a small area, I have found it helpful to uses heavy paper (I used old calenders) and completely cover the floor. Tape the paper together well and cut to fit every edge, bend and barrier. When you are done, remove this pattern and take to a larger room and tape over the sheet vinyl and carefully cut out. If you do a careful job on your pattern, it takes much of the risk out of laying your own sheet floor. I would personally not try to do a large room...I know my limits!

  • squirrelheaven
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    How cute your kitchen looks! (And I admire a girl who can post with dishes in the sink!)

  • msjay2u
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have no large rooms!

    If I could have switched that photo I would have. I did not think about it till I had already taken the photo, I was in the middle of responding to a post and my choice was to finish cleaning up the kitchen, take the picture and try to maintain my train of thought or just take the picture. You guys will have to bear with me through my rehab process and I promise when the house is finished no more messy photos. Hopefully for now my contributions to the thread will overshadow the messes.

    Anyway where can you buy decent priced tiles besides Home Depot and Lowes [they have the same stuff]? I might still go with my original tile since I really can't beat the price AND I noticed yesterday they have it in 18" or 24" tiles. maybe that will make it look less busy?

  • tsilva82_yahoo_com
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    HI, I want to install Cryntel vynil tile in my kitchen. I tried one small area and noticed the next day that some of the tiles are popping up. I cleaned the entire area 100 times to be dust free and applied BULLS EYE 1-2-3 Primer Sealer on the concrete floor. Should I use some kind of glue(what brand) to avoid this problem? Tks very much.

  • jbhandari_gmail_com
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hello,

    In the last 6 weeks my life has been miserable trying to do installation of Crntel Vynil Tiles I picked up from Lowes. These are Peel and Stick tiles which I planned to install in my basement which is finished and has wooden subflooring on it. The subfloor is porous (unfinished Plywood). After reading a lot about installation and other instructions; this is what I did:
    1. Cleaned up the Floor Dry. Vaccumm it many times.
    2. Did you a good quality Primer (Henry) off Lowes.
    3. Installed Peel and Stick Tiles in Mid Oct. (Western, MA).

    This is my basement and when I am not using it usually the temperature falls to around 52 F.

    We had early cold weather here and the Temp did fall into single digits and to my surprise; a lot of tiles popped up.

    This was observed around 10th Nov and thats what it seems that I can literally peel off any tile easily. The back surface is tacky but not tacky enough to get stuck to the floor.

    So comes part-2 of my exercise.

    I peeled off all the tiles, cleaned the surface again and this Time I used Armstrong S-750 Glue as it was evident that now Tiles need glue to stick to this wooden surface.

    Its cold so I made sure that Temp. is around 70 F in the basement. But in two days; many of the tiles just popped off again when it was cold.

    Any help or pointers as How Should I fix this?

    Thanks in advance;