# VCT Installation



## Floyd Price (Aug 19, 2006)

I'm a professional hard surface floor installer, mostly tile, marble and wood and I've done many jobs that have been VERY large. Over my 12 years I've only done small amounts of VCT and have been successful. I've moved to a new location and have been gathering new contracts, but it's been a little slow to start. I've been offered a 4000 square foot VCT tile job which I would like to take, while I know how to prepare the floor, how to work with the glue and cut, and lay out the floor, the one thing I don't have extensive knowledge in is how to prevent the VCT from jumping joints, where the four cornners don't line up exactly. Over the years I've seen so many VCT tile jobs where the joints jump and I just don't want that to happen to me. Thanks for your answer and suggestions.


----------



## 1coolremodeler (Jul 22, 2006)

*VCT joint jump*

Dear Mr. Price I have been in the flooring business for over 10 yrs. and I have laid easily over 500,000 s.f. of VCT. And there is no way to prevent joint jumping. It is because all of the tiles are not the same size. All it takes is one tile to be off 1/16 of an inch and theres the jump.Sorry man but just try to work it out as best as you can. overall especially on a large job you wont be able to tell if you work the tile.


----------



## Floyd Price (Aug 19, 2006)

I figured as much, but I had to ask. I thought the answer was because I wasn't laying them right, such as stairstepping and ect. Thanks


----------



## Taurus Flooring (Jun 1, 2006)

stairstepping is the only way.


----------



## soxfan (Aug 2, 2005)

Obvious stuff:
Make sure your help knows stair stepping is bad and needs to be brought to your attention asap. I once had an idiot induce nearly a 1/4" step in 45 sf of tile. He though it was no big deal. Use plenty of glue and give it enough time to set up. Lastly, its not a forty-thousand sf job, its twenty two-thousand sf jobs all at the same address.

Less obvious
If its one big room you need to divide it up into quadrants and start in the middle. That's easy enough to do by just leaving the quad nearest the door unglued until the field in the other three is down. Turning each tile 90 degrees to its neighbors helps, but the customer needs to be consulted about this. Randomizing all of the tiles by opening up all the cases and shuffling them together helps too. That's a perfect job for the greenest helper while the glue flashes off, btw.

The flatness of the floor seems to make the biggest difference, so think SLC for prep, not just regular floor patch. 

As a next to last resort, the tiles can be worked as you set them, don't just push them hard together or lay them down with no tension at all. Find the middle ground that still leaves the joints difficult to see so if things do drift, you can push them together or lay them next to each other loosely to pull things back into alignment. A VCT cutter can also eliminate quite a bit of stair stepping if used carefully.

Lastly, flush thresholds that are color-coordinated with the tile aren't necessarily the worst thing in the world. If there's even one spot where you have to tile around in a circle, say two big rooms that are connected by more than one door well away from each other, talk to the customer about using lots of them to keep things standard looking. In a pinch, cut down a piece of the base to 1 inch thick. It won't be as scuff-resistant as a piece of mercer, but it will look like it belongs there.


----------



## soxfan (Aug 2, 2005)

I use the term 'stair stepping' as what happens when the tiles start to become mis-aligned btw. I never knew installing the tiles along a diagonal line was sometimes called that.


----------



## Floyd Price (Aug 19, 2006)

Thanks, that was some great advice. So just to clear it up, it is good to lay the tile on a diagonal line "stair step" them in right. Not just straight lines.


----------



## soxfan (Aug 2, 2005)

I don't think its that critical. Its nice if you're 1/4 turning them since this way all the tiles in a particular 'course' all run in the same direction; but you do end up moving around more to install the same amount and speed is important with VCT. 

What is critical is to get a really good L installed. Once the L is in good, its relatively easy to keep things under control. That's why I like to leave 1 quarter of the room unglued and put the layout lines in the middle. I like to put as many tiles as possible into the glue very lightly at first to make sure that they're perfectly aligned with my line and with each other. As long as you gently place them in the glue, you can tweak them if they drift. If you leave one quarter of the room unglued at first, you can get an awful lot of tile along the line installed without having to put your weight on it. Therefore you'll still be able to adjust it. I don't like to drift even as much as from the left side of the chalk line to the center of it until I get near a wall on big jobs. Just make sure to press them down when you're happy with where they are and before you put weight on them.

Oh, and don't forget to use the 3,4,5 method to put your second line down and make it loooong There's no sense in doing any of the stuff I mentioned above if the layout lines are at 89 or 91 degrees to each other. Use a finish nail and the little hole in your tape measure where the hook connects to the tape itself and you can get a big and really accurate 90 degree angle marked out.


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Get your "L" on... Sox, your using the same method but calling it a different name. Right on advice though... only thing i'd add is the direction of the VCT tile... most have an arrow for a reason.


----------



## PrecisionFloors (Jan 24, 2006)

Sox gave perfect advice on layout and getting started. I will only add that the reason for quarter turning each tile is to minimilize the effects of the natural expansion and contraction the tiles will cycle through due to climate change. If they are all running the same way the effects are much greater and gaps WILL occur.....tuning them in essence makes the tiles "fight" each other, thus stabilizing the growth or shrinkage rate.


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

PrecisionFloors said:


> Sox gave perfect advice on layout and getting started. I will only add that the reason for quarter turning each tile is to minimilize the effects of the natural expansion and contraction the tiles will cycle through due to climate change. If they are all running the same way the effects are much greater and gaps WILL occur.....tuning them in essence makes the tiles "fight" each other, thus stabilizing the growth or shrinkage rate.



Exactly, hence the arrow on alot of the VCT. I pitch a biotch when someone tells me the pattern must run straight.


----------



## Rugkicker (May 10, 2006)

I have layed thousands of feet of VCT..(not peel and stick) and I have yet to see a arrow on the back of a tile.who knew.another idea that will help is if you have to gap a tile..take a scrap peice and shave of little shavings with your knife along the edge..use the shavings to fill in the gap. once waxed,you will never see it cause the color matches perfect. specailly on a big floor. like saw dust is to wood.


----------



## AustinDB (Sep 11, 2006)

I've laid Armstrong tiles before and the only difference between the top and bottom is the bottom has a flat finish-would make it quicker if they did have an arrow.


----------



## PrecisionFloors (Jan 24, 2006)

You don't need an arrow.....the grain is direction is very easily visible.

^^>>^^>>
>>^^>>^^
^^>>^^>>


----------



## J&J Home Imp. (Nov 25, 2006)

What have ya'll been getting to do VCT? I did a hair salon a while back and I think I got like $1 a ft on about 800 square ft.


----------



## Lazarus (Nov 25, 2006)

I'm in the tile & marble business....but have laid down a buttload of VCT in my time.

I just occured to me....why not "sell" them on doing this in a "running bond" or "brick-type" pattern? Seems that this would solve the problem nicely?


----------



## Jesse's Carpet (May 1, 2009)

Laying a "brick" pattern does mostly curb "run off" or "stair stepping" but its a hard sell to most customers plus it does slow installation. The 1/4 turn works the best though and if you carry a sanding block with medium grit sand paper you can generally keep run off at bay. What usually causes tile to run off is the factory cut (accross the grain) edges, it is a rough edge in comparison to the lenght cuts and everyone thats done much VCT knows that a 64th of an inch will add up to 1/8" run off in a very short distance. Often a quick hit with the sanding block to knock off the burrs will keep you running straight through out the job. You just have to be carefull not to get an angle going with the block, you're not trying to remove "hard material" only the burrs. Very very light pressure is all that is needed. Also working from 3 to 10 boxes at a time helps average out the varibles. Having warm tiles cuts way back on run off as well, on a nice sunny day have your helper lay a few boxes out in the sun or lay some tiles out near a sunlit window. The tiles will be very flexible and the burrs I spoke of become soft and are easily reformed when pressing the tiles in place. 

Lots of good pointers here from other contractors, glad I found this site.


----------



## BKM Resilient (May 2, 2009)

Hi Floyd. There's good advice and poor advice mixed in amongst the replies so far. 4K square feet of VCT is roundabout what good a tile jockey working out of a big production shop in any major city lays in one day---not including busting boxes down and floor prep. I have apprentices that can throw in a hundred cartons a day after 6 months or so when we're running Targets, Walmarts, schools and hospitals one after another and all you're doing is slinging tile. 

So to the point. The layout is critical. Laying the tiles in a "pyramid" pattern off your main lines is not only faster but allows you to slightly adjust the corners before they get out of hand. In a very large room we would cut the room in half and start near the center. This cuts any problems with running out of square and some rows "gaining" or "losing" on you in half. Tiles are not perfectly sqare and true out of the box. Armstrong is the only one that even TRIES to control dimensional stability. Quarter turning the grain is recommended by every manufacturer because any bias in size that comes from cutting and cooling can be offset rather than magnified by turning the grain. Now here's the most important thing that someone already stated. DONT PACK THE TILES TIGHT ALONG THE CHALK LINES. Place the tiles together firmly but not pressed hard and tight. As you progress due to the rolls in the slab and some variations in the sizes of te tiles you'll start running off here and there. So you loosen up some here and fudge pack the gaining rows AT THE SAME TIME. You see, as one row wants to run up you're going to start pushing it back. YOU DONT DO THAT IN ONE OR TWO TILES. It's a process whereby over 50-100 square feet you've loosened adjascent rows while tightening up the problem row. Now that seems really complicated and hard to write down but when you're slapping in 75-100 cartons a day it becomes mechanical---and unconscious process. 

Good luck. Just by your awareness and concern of the "tricks" I know you'll do fine.


----------



## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

Holy zombie thread Batman!!


----------



## BKM Resilient (May 2, 2009)

1coolremodeler said:


> Dear Mr. Price I have been in the flooring business for over 10 yrs. and I have laid easily over 500,000 s.f. of VCT. And there is no way to prevent joint jumping. It is because all of the tiles are not the same size. All it takes is one tile to be off 1/16 of an inch and theres the jump.Sorry man but just try to work it out as best as you can. overall especially on a large job you wont be able to tell if you work the tile.


**********************************
I've laid countless millions over 30 years. The size irregularities within a batch of Armstrong VCT are INCONSEQUENTIAL. All the other commerical VCT is garbage and will create problems lke you describe so that's a whole different discussion. Your example of a 1/16" off is way extreme. Even a tile that's a hundredth of an inch off would catch your attention and should be thrown to the side and used for cuts. It's all about quality control at the factory. Now if use Armstrong, you've laid it out correctly and stay on your chalk lines and the tiles are running off let me tell you it's NOT becasue of the immeasurably small differences in size. It's a combination of the concrete irregularities and the installer's lack of experience that create the problems. You just have to know how to soften and tighten EVERY SINGLE TILE with extremely minute twists as you go to compensate. That takes many hundreds and thousands of boxes until your hands and eyes are reacting to the grid without any real thought process. The most common mistake I see from less experienced guys is trying to make up the small gaps or gains in a single tile or a couple of tiles. That just ain't how we do it. When you stand up nothing you're doing the way of adjustments should be visable.
With an Azrock or Tarkett that are simply WAY out of square and very far off in size all the same rules apply but you have to go even farther. Cutting back to a line is WORST CASE SCENARIO. That's really not something we do because you're going to have to cut across the whole room. I'm going to "cull" out the bad tiles as I go. I can see in an instant tiles that don't fit. Frisbee throw those to your cutting wall. I lay these cheap VCT floors quite a bit looser because I know they're going to start running every which way-----but loose. So that starts on your main chalk line and the perpendicular line which I always set in a row of four tile. Getting that on line, evened up and set will establis for you how tight you can lay this particular batch. They're inconsistent so you may get a nice square batch and it'll lay in sweet. Next job it's a Godawful run and you better just EASE UP on your pack so when the problems start up 30-50 off the line you've got some slack in your grid to play with.


----------

