Gaps in sheet vinyl floor

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Mrxman

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Hi There

I've laid a commercial grade vinyl floor in our kitchen which looks great.
As the vinyl is only 2 meter wide I had to create a seam in the corner which was done with great difficulty.
It looks o.k but you can see a tiny gap/line here and there.

Question: would it be acceptable to use silicone to fill the gap or is there any other product/technique recommended for the job?

Thanks
 
I've seen a lot if commercial vinyl laid (because I've installed a lot of sub floors) and the vast majority is heat welded as @crazydaze says. You do see the occasional cold rolled joint (i.e. butted, no welds) but TBH the floorers I've dealt with don't like laying that way as it always seems to need a lot more work to do a decent job whilst being less reliable (I've seen cold formed joints open up, whilst that is very rare for welded joints). I believe some American manufacturers can supply cold welding solvent for their own products, but I can't recall seeing it used
 
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JobAndKnock said:
I've seen a lot if commercial vinyl laid (because I've installed a lot of aub floors) and the vast majority is heat welded as @crazydaze says. You do see the occasional cold rolled joint (i.e. butted, no welds) but TBH the floorers I've dealt with don't like laying that way as it always seems to need a lot more work to do a decent job whilst being less reliable (I've seen cold formed joints open up, whilst that is very rare for welded joints). I believe some American manufacturers can supply cold welding solvent for their own products, but I can't recall seeing it used

'
Click to expand...
Exactly this ^
 
JobAndKnock said:
I've seen a lot if commercial vinyl laid (because I've installed a lot of sub floors) and the vast majority is heat welded as @crazydaze says. You do see the occasional cold rolled joint (i.e. butted, no welds) but TBH the floorers I've dealt with don't like laying that way as it always seems to need a lot more work to do a decent job whilst being less reliable (I've seen cold formed joints open up, whilst that is very rare for welded joints). I believe some American manufacturers can supply cold welding solvent for their own products, but I can't recall seeing it used
Click to expand...
Thanks. It was actually exceptionally hard work. Luckily it's only a small area of around 20 cm which can be seen but won't be walked on and as I have no idea how to heat weld a floor maybe best to cover it with a mat or something.
Is using silicone a bad idea?
 
Mrxman said:
I have no idea how to heat weld a floor maybe best to cover it with a mat or something.
Is using silicone a bad idea?
Click to expand...
TBH having watched vinyl floor layers it doesn't  look too difficult...

...but watching anyone who is practised in any trade is the same - they generally make it look deceprively easy when the reality is it can take a fair amount of practise (plus the right tools). The guys I've watched use a heavy duty heat gun (e.g Leister, Steinel, etc) set to the required temperature for the vinyl welding sticks they are using and fitted with a special nose piece. Probably a bit over the top to buy one of those for 200mm, though!

Did you lay the jont onto double sided flooring tape? That is how I've seen cold formed joints being done
 
JobAndKnock said:
TBH having watched vinyl floor layers it doesn't  look too difficult...

...but watching anyone who is practised in any trade is the same - they generally make it look deceprively easy when the reality is it can take a fair amount of practise (plus the right tools). The guys I've watched use a heavy duty heat gun (e.g Leister, Steinel, etc) set to the required temperature for the vinyl welding sticks they are using and fitted with a special nose piece. Probably a bit over the top to buy one of those for 200mm, though!

Did you lay the jont onto double sided flooring tape? That is how I've seen cold formed joints being done
Click to expand...
No I put spray adhesive down. Think I may leave the welding for this time. It's a small area in a small kitchen.
 
Cold weld would be ok but hot welding is the better job. Ring some local flooring company’s and I’m sure someone will do it for £50-100
 
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