Had a job last week in two bathrooms and the heating packed up in the house over night and the camaro i fitted had gapped on the ends, and round the edges in places, so i thought I would do some testing of adhesive at home and have put some lvt on some 4 x 2 sheets of ply, I applyed the adhesives in the evening and left them overnight temp about 22 degrees, then I know this is extreme, but put them in my garage in the morning and was amazed after an hour how much the tiles had gapped, the first one was camaro plank which was on mapei vs90 and the second was some small tiles i was given on mapei eco fix ps Both rolled with a hand roller, I wanted to see if the vs90 would hold stronger in those conditions My question is, when is the adhesives at full strength, the ps presumably stays the same unless its getting traffic ?
the warmer and more pressure on a PS adhesive teh better it grabs. As for a standard vinyl adhesive like mapei eco or Fballs f44 then its set after a few hours. Can you see why i say to fit the tiles cooler than the area now? Hence so they grow and tighten up the joints. Just for your info, the floor you fitted at the training centre is still down (i have not uplifted yet) and that place has been down to 4c and has peaked at 41C in temp ( we monitor the conditions and will post up a pic for you to see) Well anyway, the floor you fitted in there when the area is at normal temp of 18-22c is 100% gap free and im sure the lads that was on cap + cove course this week can confirm) The flooring should always return to its normal size when the conditions are put back the same unless fitting on a epoxy or similar adhesive. Also the plywood you have tested on,
Yes I do understand about the temp, When i fitted that camaro I was taking them from a colder room and then laying them , the heating broke down overnight then they gapped , the heating has now been up and running now and I'm going there tomorrow, so will have a look . So as long as there fitted at the right temp they should always return to that size hot or cold through the floorings life, bar epoxy glue ?
Has anyone tried Laybond BEST yet we have been selling for about a month fitters seem pleased with it.
rugrat can you arrange for a small tub to get sent out to me for testing please. Also do you supply mapei stuff?
the flooring should return to its original size. the issue with your job is the glues would not of finished grabbing and may now be trying to hold the tiles in there smaller condition as in theory they are going to act like they was fitted to warm for the area and the area changed it temp and the tiles shrunk rather than the other way around. Guess you will find out tomorrow. Hopefully they return to there original size.
Pretty much. But if the glue had grabbed properly before they moved then there is no issues as it should return. We will see tomorrow !
Ii Tomorrow I have got the kitchen to do in spacia , is it ok to use the hand roller or do I need to invest in a 68kg ( ps adhesive )
If the glue says a 68kg roller then thats what you should use. A hand roller will do teh same job if you can put 68kg of force behind it
I shall ask if they will supply you some, No. I did want to supply Mapei products, but the rep did not want to supply us, I think he is to well in with other local suppliers. Some companies are more protective of there markets...
Wasn't worth the effort mate. Plus i dont want to get myself stuck using a product because i sell it. If a better product comes out i will switch to that.
Went back to my job today, heating sorted working at full tilt, my gapped planks have all tightened up all round , so I guess the heating must of stayed on long enough for the adhesive to grab.... good result ! You could get a blade in between the planks when they were gapped
