Page 8 - Flooring Specialist Winter 2023

LVT Installation from the Perspective of the Backseat Driver, continued

adhesive can soften and, in some cases, re-emulsify causing Another common misconception is that adhesives solve all
all sorts of problems. the dimensional stability issues of LVT. The problem here
is most LVT in North America is installed using pressure
There is another problem with high moisture-resistant sensitive type adhesives. Pressure sensitive adhesives work
adhesives. It’s just like the driver of our car racing through a because they have a property called “cold flow” which means
heavy rain thinking he’s in total control, cas, since he has high they move under pressure to improve their bond. Pressure
performance all-season tires that promise to perform in the sensitive adhesives therefore get stronger in terms of their
most difficult conditions. The problem is: you can’t predict bond strength with the more traffic or pressure you put on
everything, and you can become overconfident with some the system. You’ve probably seen this yourself when you
of the claims made by tire companies as well as adhesive lightly place a piece of LVT/P on the super sticky adhesive
manufacturers. bed and find that you can remove it easily to position it
properly. That same piece of LVT becomes next to impossible
Yes, high moisture-resistant adhesives work marvelously to remove once you step on the piece or roll it with a 100
when the conditions are within a certain range. That range lb. roller. But PSAs almost always retain some nature of soft
includes an understanding of the pH of the surface and stickiness no matter how far they transition from a PSA state
there are no pre-existing conditions of hydrostatic pressure, to a tougher condition and as such are going to give way to
osmotic blistering, or alkali silica reaction. High performance, strain cause by LVT movement.
moisture resistant adhesives are no match for high pH,
osmotic action or hydrostatic pressure. These conditions So, to be clear, no matter what claims made, PSA adhesives
will cause that gooey adhesive mess we’ve all seen in horror are not going to keep a piece of LVT locked in place so it
stories about glue failures under LVT/P. All I am doing here, will never shrink or grow. They may control some of that
as the backseat driver, is urging caution to make sure the movement but to be clear they are not rigid, structural type
installer (or driver) observes all the signs and takes some adhesives. Now if you want rigid and non-moving you need
time to understand how to use the adhesives properly and to look into other adhesive types including hard-set, wet-
not expect them to solve moisture-related problems on their set adhesives or reactive types. Those adhesives are readily
own. available but certainly not the preferred installation method
for North America. Installers like large, wide open, sticky
surfaces to work with for LVT and do not like working on
Dimensional stability wet adhesive that allows the LVT to move around during
installation.
of resilient floor and Lastly, and this is oftentimes the hardest thing to control,

particularly LVP is take your time to install LVT properly and do not try and rush
through. Our driver can certainly get to the destination point
usually pretty good in a hurry, but the carnage he can create by blasting through
some of the warning signs and roadblocks is not the desired
outcome.
but no matter what Again, from the backseat driver’s perspective, I urge flooring
you read on the installers to pay attention to all the signs along the road.
Read the installation guides, acclimate the flooring and
specification sheet monitor installation temperatures, pay special attention to
the substrate you are working on and don’t count on the
for the flooring adhesive or the flooring to solve all the problems found
there. Understand the positives and limitations of the
adhesives used to install LVT, and do your best to enjoy the
product itself, you scenery while you complete your work.

need to take that

information in

context to how it About the Author: Jeff is currently the FCIS & Retail Business
Marketing Manager at MAPEI Corporation. He has been with MAPEI
is presented. since 2007 and was previously with QEP and Capitol USA Adhesives
in vp marketing/sales roles.

8 Flooring Specialist Winter 2023