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weedyacres

addressing glitches in vinyl flooring install

weedyacres
9 years ago

About a year ago, we laid sheet vinyl in the kitchen. This past weekend we extended that into the neighboring pantry area. The vinyl used to be $3/sf special order, but is now $1/sf in-stock (woo-hoo!).

I had a factory edge at the mate line and assumed that the new stuff would mate perfectly right up to it. Wrong. The pattern isn't continuous left to right, and there are 3 shades of the gray tile. So I found a row of tiles a little bit in that matched up in color sequence, cut a few inches wider, then cut out the rest of the template for the space.

I slid the new underneath the old, lined up the grout lines perfectly, then sliced the new along the factory edge of the old. I then peeled both pieces back, laid down vinyl floor tape, and stuck both pieces to it.

2 problems remain at the seam:
1. The "main" tiles that I had color-matched look ok, but the tiles in the next row over are not all the same color.
2. The new vinyl is a hair thinner than the old vinyl (perhaps why it's now cheaper?).

I don't know of anything I can do about the color mismatch, and I'm ok living with it. But given the differing heights of the vinyl, is crap going to get stuck in there, or will the higher vinyl edge get "dinged?"

One more issue: Because of where we had to line up the color tiles, the factory edge at one end of the pantry came up a bit shy of the floor edge. Due to out-of-square walls and/or flooring, at the far end it's 1" from the baseboard.

A piece of quarter round will cover up the gap on one end, but is short by 1/8" or so on the other end. Any ideas to cover this up? I have extremely low faith that I'll be able to find a color match in the remnant I've got left.

Comments (4)

  • GreenDesigns
    9 years ago

    If it's only one short wall, remove the baseboard and shim it outwards a bit, then disguise the gap at the top with some backing and caulk. It will give you enough room to cover the gap at the bottom with the 1/4 round.

    Did you do a full glue application, or only a perimeter glue? For situations like this, I find that perimeter glue isn't enough over time. You get some creep, even though the manufacturer says you won't. That is what ends up affecting the join areas. With the subtle height difference that you have, I'd expect the area to only telegraph that worse when the inevitable creep happens. You might think about a marble threshold there. It would be traditional for an older home, and eliminate a lot of your now and future problems.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I used 2-sided tape around the perimeter and under the seam, no glue. The kitchen floor proper hasn't shown any creep in the year it's been in, but then it doesn't have any seams.

    The problem with a threshold is that the seam is 2" this side of the doorway, and actually goes under the cabinets on either side of the galley layout. And wouldn't a marble threshold be a tripping hazard?

    The baseboard is just a short one. It's "glued" into the plaster wall, so it would be messy to pull off. But I could do a variation on your suggestion and add a 1/4" board to its face, putty up the crack, and paint it out.

    Or find some jumbo Q-round.

  • glennsfc
    9 years ago

    If there is a seam sealer recommended by the flooring manufacturer for the flooring, you can use that to seal the seam and hopefully prevent some dust from settling against the high edge.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Seam sealer applied. Thanks for the suggestion.