Back to the Mail Bag: Answers to Your Resilient Floor Questions

My articles often elicit reader questions about resilient floor coverings and their installation. This month, I’ve gleaned a dozen such inquiries from my files. By sharing them with you now, I hope you’ll gain some practical insights that can help you when, and if, you come across similar situations during the course of running your business.

Q: What causes a heat-welded vinyl seam installation to act as a “dirt catcher?”
A: The main reason is the seam was skived too soon. When the seam is skived while the weld rod is still hot, that weld rod is easily stretched. The skiving knife will stretch the center of the rod up as it cuts it off. Another reason for the problem could be that the rod was not cut off in two passes. The first cut should be done with the trim plate, and the second pass should be the final and flush cut.