VINYL & LVT The Rules
Preparation products and adhesives expert F. Ball and Co. outlines the main points crucial to sur
When installing luxury vinyl tiles (LVTs), it is useful to have the benefits of pressure-sensitive adhesives, which afford high initial tack and a long open time. In the past, these benefits and the advantages of other types of adhesives, such as temperature tolerance, have been mutually exclusive. Now, thanks to innovations in adhesives technology, pressure- sensitive adhesives are available with a range of additional features, which it pays for flooring professionals to know about.
Pressure-sensitive adhesives are ideal for the installation of LVTs because they form an instant grab upon contact, so, once positioned, tiles or planks won’t move about as fitters work. They also offer an extended open time, reducing the risk of late placement and making them ideal for where more complex designs or patterns are being created.
These adhesives are typically allowed to dry to a permanent tack before placing floorcoverings. They are designed to give both a strong initial tack and high bond strength, which increases as it is trafficked. The fitter can go over the adhesive with a roller, pre-coated with adhesive, to flatten the ridges formed by trowel application, reducing the incidence of trowel serrations shadowing through thin vinyl flooring.
Temperature-Tolerant Requirements
High temperatures or extreme temperature fluctuations can cause floorcoverings to expand and contract significantly.
16 | Tomorrow’s Retail Floors
This can be the case in conservatories or rooms with floor- to-ceiling windows that are subject to ‘solar gain’, potentially leading to unsightly tenting and gapping at the edges of LVTs.
When installing floorcoverings in such areas, a temperature- tolerant adhesive should be used. These develop the high bond strength required to hold floorcoverings securely in place when subject to extreme temperatures and temperature fluctuations.
However, temperature-tolerant adhesives have traditionally been ‘wet-lay’, and flooring professionals requiring this type of adhesive have had to forgo the advantages of pressure- sensitive adhesives.
Hybrid Adhesives
In recent years, advancements in hybrid polymer adhesives enabled F. Ball and Co. Ltd., manufacturer of subfloor preparation products and adhesives for floorcoverings, to create Styccobond F49 Hybrid PS, a high-performance vinyl adhesive that combines both pressure-sensitive and temperature-tolerant characteristics.
Styccobond F49 is a water-based vinyl adhesive that develops the extremely high bond strength and dimensional stability required to hold vinyl floorcoverings firmly in place in areas exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations (from -20°C to +60°C). Whilst providing high initial tack, the adhesive
www.tomorrowsretailfloors.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34
