Floor

How to Clean Vinyl Flooring

If you hate the idea of scrubbing your floors to keep them shiny, you should consider installing vinyl tile floors. How to clean vinyl flooring? Cleaning vinyl tile floors is easy and quick. You don’t even need a special vinyl tile cleaner, mild soap and warm water will do just fine. In order to keep your vinyl floors in perfect condition keep in mind the following:

Keep Vinyl Tile Flooring as Clean as Possible

If you want your floor to look as new for years, vinyl tile cleaning is all about cleaning regularly but with low intensity methods. Make sure you sweep and vacuum regularly, to avoid dust settling on the vinyl and potentially scratching the finish away.

Prevention Goes a Long Way

One of the best ways of keeping your vinyl looking great is making sure you don’t walk inside the house with a lot of dirt on your shoes. A mat on the front door will go a long way towards keeping your vinyl looking pristine for longer. Dirty and small stones can scratch the vinyl surface, and the more scratches the more dirt that will accumulate in them.

Cleaning Vinyl Tile

To clean vinyl tile flooring, the best tools are a mop and warm water. Make sure you don’t let the water form pools, as they could get into the cracks between the tiles and affect the glue. If you want to clean vinyl flooring more deeply, a mild solution of floor cleaner and warm water will do the trick. Another option is mixing a bit of water and vinegar, and using laundry detergent and water for in-depth cleaning once a week.

How To Clean Vinyl Tile That Is Really Dirty

Most of the time you should be able to clean your vinyl floor with just a bit of water. For very stubborn dirt, try mixing a bit of ammonia with warm water and use that to clean the entire floor, or spot clean particularly dirty areas with a more concentrated mix. However, make sure to use water to clean the floor afterwards, and always do this with the windows open as ammonia fumes are toxic. You can also use bleach instead of ammonia.

Wax Is Not Going To Help

Waxing vinyl floors is, in most cases, a bad idea unless your vinyl manufacturer recommends it. But what people forget is that many mop-and-go type of products actually have some wax in them to add shine. The only result you will get from using those products for vinyl tile cleaning is a layer of dirty waxy residue dampening the shine of your vinyl flooring.

Protect Vinyl Tile Flooring With Vinyl Floor Sealer

If your vinyl floors are very dirty, they probably have lots of small scratches that are like tiny dirt magnets. A commercial acrylic finish can be applied once the floors are totally clean and left to dry, giving you a glossy floor that stays clean for longer and looks much better.

Benefits of Vinyl Flooring For Bathroom

Filed Under: Information

One of the areas of the home where vinyl tile flooring really shines is on bathrooms and other rooms with high humidity levels. Installing vinyl floors on your bathroom is cost effective, easy to maintain and durable. And it also looks great, and can match the craziest or most conservative home décor styles. If you can design it, there is most likely a matching vinyl design to suit your flooring needs. The benefits of vinyl flooring for bathrooms are many:

Vinyl Flooring Is Non Slip And Comfortable

The bathroom is one of those places where you will spend a lot of time barefoot, navigating your way on a oftentimes wet floor. Vinyl flooring is perfect for bathrooms because it can be treated to be non-slip, making it a much safer alternative than other floor surfaces such as natural stone or even some ceramic materials. Vinyl flooring is also very comfortable underfoot and reduces noise, which is perfect when you are walking barefoot in your way to a bath.

Vinyl Floor Tiles Are Easy To Install

The installation of vinyl flooring is quite simple, with a large variety of self-adhesive, peel and stick tiles that can be installed by people without previous experience or training and is pretty quick. This means you can realistically have a new bathroom on a weekend, instead of having to spend several days without access to the bathtub.

Low Cost Bathroom Flooring? Sure!

Vinyl flooring for bathrooms is very low cost, both in terms of materials and installation costs if you do it yourself. You can buy tiles for less than $1 for square meter, though if you go after luxury bathroom vinyl tiles the prices will logically be higher. However, even high end vinyl flooring is much cheaper than ceramic, wood or stone, and easier to install.

Cleaning Vinyl Flooring Is Easy

The floor on your bathroom is subjected to lots of abuse, from spills to water pools after the children had a bath. It also needs to be kept clean because otherwise it can become a breeding ground for bacteria and mould. Vinyl flooring is easy to clean and doesn’t require specialist care or the use of difficult to find cleaning substances. Warm water and detergent works just fine, the milder the better. If you mop spills as soon as possible and vacuum regularly you shouldn’t need to use heavy duty stuff. If you install no-wax vinyl tiles don’t use products that contain wax and it will keep its shine through the year.

Vinyl Comes In All Colours And Styles

Do you want a retro bathroom? Modernistic one? Want to imitate the luxury feeling of natural marble and granite stones? Whatever effect you want to create on your bathroom, you will be able to find a vinyl tile to go with it. You can find high end vinyl tiles that look a lot like the real thing, without the maintenance. So if you always wanted a wood floor on your bathroom, but are scared of the costs and the maintenance then vinyl flooring can be your best alternative.

Vinyl Surfaces Are Water Resistant

Last but not least, one of the major benefits of vinyl flooring for bathrooms is that is highly resistant to water and humidity. Unlike natural stone or wood, vinyl is non-porous and impervious to water, provided it has been correctly installed and there are no gaps between the tiles. This means casual splashing from the bathtub won’t have you running for the mop, though you may want to clean up spills as quick as possible so they don’t dry into hard to remove stains.

How Do You Remove Vinyl Flooring

Filed Under: DIY Installation

All the good things come to an end, and vinyl flooring is not an exception. Whether you are tired of your existing vinyl design, want to install a new one or opt for a totally different flooring material, learning about removing vinyl floor is almost as important as learning how to install vinyl flooring tiles. Thankfully, it is a very simple procedure that can be done by anybody, and all you will need is a utility knife and lots of patience.

Removing Vinyl Floor With a Knife

The first thing you’ll need to do if you are removing vinyl tiles or sheets with a knife is to cut them into strips using the knife. In order for the strips to be easy to handle it is best to make them about 10 to 12cm wide. Insert the knife into the incision and slowly cut the adhesive below so the vinyl sheet separates from the floor. Peel the strip as you do so, and repeat until all the vinyl is out of the way. This is a messy and quite slow process, so a little trade secret that may help is removing vinyl flooring using dry ice.

How do I Remove Vinyl Flooring Using Dry Ice?

First of all, remember to always wear gloves if you are handling dry ice, as otherwise your hands will easily get frostbitten. Dry ice is a very cold substance, the solid form of carbon dioxide, so you will also need to be on a well-ventilated area and be careful not to inhale too much fumes, though it is generally not very toxic.

To remove vinyl flooring using dry ice, just cut the ice into cubes about 30cm big and place them on top of the vinyl. The dry ice will evaporate and cool off the vinyl, making it brittle and easy to break after a few minutes. The broken pieces of vinyl can be swept away easily. If you are working on a large surface, such as vinyl commercial flooring, this method is much more cost effective in terms of time.

Preparing The Floor After Removing Vinyl Floor

It doesn’t matter which method you used to remove vinyl flooring, there will be traces of vinyl and adhesive for vinyl tile on the floor which needs to be removed. This is a process that requires first the use of a scrapper and can be quite a bit of hard work but it is necessary if you plan on installing any other type of flooring as the surfaces need to be flat and clean. To make scrapping easier, you may want to use boiling water to soften the adhesive up but use towels to contain it and don’t try this if you are trying to remove vinyl adhesive from porous substances such as wood.

Some stubborn spots may be resistant to manual scrapping, in which case you will need to use a chemical stripper to soften the adhesive up. However, make sure to follow the instructions from the manufacturer, wear protective equipment to avoid breathing in the fumes and keep the area well ventilated.

Vinyl Commercial Flooring

Filed Under: Information

Vinyl floor tiles are a fast and easy way of transforming a room. They are also quite inexpensive, which has made them one of the most popular choices for home-owners looking to renovate on a budget. However, vinyl commercial flooring is also a great alternative particularly if you want to renovate as quickly as possible to minimize the time it takes to be open for business.

Heavy duty vinyl flooring for commercial spaces and offices is available from many manufacturers, though due to the higher requirements in terms of endurance and quality they are often more expensive than their domestic counterparts. Consider also whether you are going to install them yourself, or you prefer to hire a contractor to do the job. Learning how to install vinyl floors is easy, but since an office or shop need to look perfect even with heavy use you may want to leave installation to a professional that can guarantee great results.

Benefits of Commercial Flooring Vinyl

Vinyl commercial flooring can also be used for residential areas, as it offers better longevity than domestic vinyl tiles. It has many benefits for shops, offices and any heavily trafficked areas:

Comfortable underfoot and non-slip
Vinyl flooring for commercial use is thicker and more resistant
Easy to maintain, can be cleaned with mild detergent and water
Can last for ten to twenty years with minimal maintenance
Vinyl square tiles can be replaced if they get damaged, without having to replace the entire floor.
Can be installed over concrete, plywood subfloors, existing wood or linoleum floors… making it quick and easy to change how your office or store looks like.
Cleaning liquid spills is easy, and they won’t cause long lasting damage such as they would on a carpet.

While vinyl luxury tiles suitable for commercial use come in almost any colour of the rainbow, most business owners choose hard wearing styles that don’t require constant cleaning to look great. Textures that imitate natural stone such as granite or hardwood materials with clear grains look great even after a full day of trading, and can be cleaned with mild soap and water to look as good as new. Very light colours such as white marble may look expensive, but can soon become dirty and show every footstep, particularly if people are coming in from the street all the time. Commercial vinyl floor is considerably easier to maintain than carpets, particularly if it tends to rain a lot in the area and you are getting tired of people tracking mud inside.

The cost of vinyl flooring is considerably lower than alternatives such as stone or hardwood, making it one of the cheapest choices in terms of commercial flooring. Vinyl is also a modern alternative to linoleum or laminate, and if you choose tiles you can replace them inexpensively as they break instead of having to refinish the entire surface. This makes vinyl commercial flooring a great choice for any environment that requires affordable flooring that is suitable for heavy use.

How To Install Vinyl Floors

Filed Under: DIY Installation

Vinyl flooring comes in many different formats, suitable for installation by people with different levels of DIY expertise. Peel and stick vinyl tile squares are probably the easiest and most affordable way of laying vinyl floor. You can buy them in almost any colour or pattern at almost any home improvement store or over the Internet, and the prices for vinyl flooring start at less than $2 per square foot. To install vinyl floor tiles you will only need some easy to obtain tools and patience.

Things You Will Need

Self Adhesive Vinyl Tiles

Utility Knife

A Yardstick or other straight edge

A kitchen rolling pin or a tile roller

Measuring tape

Chalk line

It is recommended that you buy about 20% more tiles than you calculate you will need, to cover for any error or miscalculation. Spare tiles can also be used later on in case a tile is damaged and requires a replacement, as some styles may go out of stock or be discontinued.

Preparing the Surface Before Laying Vinyl Floor

You can install vinyl flooring tiles on almost any surface, except for carpet, but said surface needs to be totally dry, clean and flat. If you are installing on concrete you will need to repair all cracks or uneven areas, using a self-leveling compound. If you are replacing old vinyl tiles you will need to remove them and then use a scrapper to remove any stubborn vinyl floor adhesive. A wood sander can be used to make wood surfaces suitable for the installation of vinyl tiles.

If you are installing vinyl tile on a bathroom, make sure to remove the toilet first and set it aside so you can reinstall it after you are done. Clean the floor thoroughly before you start installing, vacuuming out any dust or debris to ensure your new vinyl tiles stick perfectly to the substrate.

How To Install Vinyl Flooring Tiles

Once the floor is perfectly clean, dry and even it’s time to start installing your new flooring. While most people wondering “How do I lay vinyl flooring” may be tempted to start from a wall, it is far better to start from the centre of the room.

Make two straight lines using the chalk across the centre of the room. The point where they cross is the middle of the room, and the place where you will start laying the vinyl floor. Your first vinyl tile should be when those two lines meet.

Peel off the backing of the tile, align it exactly where you want it and press firmly. Continue laying down tiles, making sure you line them up very carefully with either the chalk line or the previous tiles so the edges are straight. Use the rolling pin or tile roller to make sure the tiles are perfectly glued to the floor.

Once you reach a wall, you will probably need to cut a tile so it fits snuggly. You can use the utility knife to do so, just make sure you cut the tile against a wood surface so you don’t accidentally etch your newly installed floor.

To cut vinyl tiles straight you can use the yardstick and the utility knife to score deeply on the paper side, then fold forward on the non-sticky side for a perfect and clean cut.

Installing Non Adhesive Vinyl Square Tiles

If you have chosen vinyl tiles that aren’t self-adhesive, you will need to use vinyl floor adhesive suitable for the surface you are installing the tiles over, but otherwise the process is very similar if a bit more messy. Check out this video for a demo: