Tarkette Fiberfloor seams

[Jon]

We have Roberts, Ardex etc etc here. Maybe made here
Here is a link I found
https://www.giltedge.co.nz/category.asp?cid=1
But I do not use their glues, I use a glue which is supplied by the Tarkett Importer
Our glues do stay sticky when dry and one can lay into touch dry but most drop the vinyl in wet. There is no way one can lift the vinyl to save it.
We do not make vinyl in NZ anymore so everything is imported, Tarkett, Robert Malcolm, Irvines A lot made by IVC probually
https://www.robertmalcolm.co.nz/products/vinyl/

 

[highup]

The job was a 27 foot double wide MFG home. 26 feet inside dimensions.
Because of this funky width vinyl, there were 4 seams.
The width of the dining room to the far side of the living room was about 27 feet. Cuts were 15, 16, 25', and a fill cut of about 12 feet.
Seams were 11', 16', 17', and 12'. With 13' 2 material, there would have been one seam.
I mentioned earlier, that the "grout lines" in this wood-look material were about the same width as a Bic, or ball point pen line. The lines were black.
With a seam cutting tool I made a couple years ago, I could almost cut that skinny seam line the line in half, so no need for making a perfect pattern match. The seams turned out sweet.
One thing about the vinyl. A thickness issue. This was most likely a Tarkett Fiber Floor.
With that in mind, I felt some minor ledging here and there when tucking the seams together and into the latex seam sealer and cleaning them up afterwards.

Only one side of every seam was taken from a factory edge.
One seam edge was from the factory edge, and the second half of every seam was from the middle of the roll.
There seemed to be some ledging.............. different thicknesses on the seam edges. Not much, but ever so slightly higher on one side than the other.

Are a sheet vinyl's thickness's the same at the outermost (intended seam edges) the same thickness if you make a seam up from the center of a roll?
I'd suspect that the intended seam edge thickness is more accurate than the center of the roll.

 

[Jon]

I mentioned earlier, that the "grout lines" in this wood-look material were about the same width as a Bic, or ball point pen line. The lines were black.
With a seam cutting tool I made a couple years ago, I could almost cut that skinny seam line the line in half, so no need for making a perfect pattern match. The seams turned out sweet.
One thing about the vinyl. A thickness issue. This was most likely a Tarkett Fiber Floor.
With that in mind, I felt some minor ledging here and there when tucking the seams together and into the latex seam sealer and cleaning them up afterwards.

Only one side of every seam was taken from a factory edge.
One seam edge was from the factory edge, and the second half of every seam was from the middle of the roll.
There seemed to be some ledging.............. different thicknesses on the seam edges. Not much, but ever so slightly higher on one side than the other.

Are a sheet vinyl's thickness's the same at the outermost (intended seam edges) the same thickness if you make a seam up from the center of a roll?
I'd suspect that the intended seam edge thickness is more accurate than the center of the roll.

I never try to cut a line in half
Just pull the vinyl 1/8 of an inch over then cut beside the line, most times the vinyl hasn't a line on each side of the vinyl as the rolls have been cut down. Some times you have to reverse or move over a line to get a close distance across the patern
Did you have the knife vertical to cut the join? If slightly on the angle you will get a different height as the join will not join nice, also you have to have the straight edge on the top sheet flat If on the top and bottom sheets of vinyl the join will not be good. I double cut as far as I can to the wall, bar about 6 inches, pull out the off cut, turn myself around, then swap the bottom of the last 6 inches to the top then double cut that last bit. If trying to cut all the way to the wall the last 6 inches goes all strange as you can't cut it nice

 

[highup]

You never try to cut a line as thin as a ballpoint pen in half when making seams? You is as chicken as Ernesto.
I didn't try to cut the 1/64" line in half, Jon............... just saying the cutter I made can probably cut as close as you'd ever dare to.
The cutter is made up of a piece of 2" by 2" angle aluminum stock. The cut ends up dead on 90 degrees. as far as controlling the depth of cut, I can stack 3 recipe cards on top of one another, and slice through two of them, leaving the third unscathed.
It's all in the wrist.

 

[highup]

I hate doing vinyl, Jon, so I make tools ............to make me appear talented to those who are easily amazed.

 

[Jon]

I use a straight edge like this all the time
Makes paterns with it as it will bend for wavy walls, double cutting joins etc
Just gotta watch were you start the knife as the blade can slide along the straight edge and bite your fingers
https://www.lookfloors.co.nz/product/2567/10910-steel-flex-straight-edge-18-inch

 

[Nick]

Does anyone remember the double face cutter ? I use to use it to cut cpt cove base ..

 

[highup]

I think my brother had one of those.
Here's the one I made a couple years ago for a scary vinyl floor repair job. I slapped it together the day before I started the job.
I modified it a few days ago by making it shorter and adding a curved wood handle for more comfort.
The third image shows it adjusted to cut through exactly two layers and no deeper.I wipe a little WD-40 on the sides and bottom of the cutter so it slides easier.
I like the tool better than freehanding with a knife. The wide flat bottom of the tool keeps the overlapped edge from rippling or distorting as you push it. I used it to trace cut a head seam on a glued down carpet repair and it worked for that too.