VCT Project

[woodguystl]

I have a project for the local Lions Club. Their banquet hall is approximately 1000 sq ft. Ideally they don't want to go through all the chaos of tearing out 30+ year old VCT. How ever they would like to re surface the existing VCT with a new look. He asked if it were possible to heavily a braid the existing then coat over it with one of the products used to coat (garage floors for instance) Adhesion was my first thought and concern. If we were to get adhesion how long would it possibly last under the heavy traffic of a banquet hall.
I've inquired some trusted professionals here, no answers any of us have come up with as of yet. Just wanted to bounce this off the professionals out there. If need be the VCT will come out. They'd really like to have an Epoxy type of coating on it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and or advice.
Woodguy.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Before you abraid anything on a 30 year old "VCT" I'd have it tested for asbestos. 30 years ago is in the time frame it could be asbestos. You don't want to get the fibers airborne.

Daris

 

[rugaddict]

all kinds of red flags here my good man---asbestos is of course your main issue----its only a risk when its airborne and taking a sander to it is about the best way to make the site a toxic waste dump---adhesion to the tile is a seperate issue and only trial and error will clarify this since no one else does this as a normal course of operation---the existing wax on the tile will be your biggest concern---a far greater concern is the quality of the adhesion of the current tile---what good is sticking something to the tile and then the tile popping up----about your best bet here is to strip the wax off the existing tile and put more vct or another flooring product over it---every other option includes rip up of the vct---

 

[DarisMulkin]

all kinds of red flags here my good man---asbestos is of course your main issue----its only a risk when its airborne and taking a sander to it is about the best way to make the site a toxic waste dump---adhesion to the tile is a seperate issue and only trial and error will clarify this since no one else does this as a normal course of operation---the existing wax on the tile will be your biggest concern---a far greater concern is the quality of the adhesion of the current tile---what good is sticking something to the tile and then the tile popping up----about your best bet here is to strip the wax off the existing tile and put more vct or another flooring product over it---every other option includes rip up of the vct---

And if it is decided to rip up the old and it is asbestoes I would go with an abatement company that does this for a living. You don't want any fall back later.

Daris

 

[Incognito]

I have a project for the local Lions Club. Their banquet hall is approximately 1000 sq ft. Ideally they don't want to go through all the chaos of tearing out 30+ year old VCT. How ever they would like to re surface the existing VCT with a new look. He asked if it were possible to heavily a braid the existing then coat over it with one of the products used to coat (garage floors for instance) Adhesion was my first thought and concern. If we were to get adhesion how long would it possibly last under the heavy traffic of a banquet hall.
I've inquired some trusted professionals here, no answers any of us have come up with as of yet. Just wanted to bounce this off the professionals out there. If need be the VCT will come out. They'd really like to have an Epoxy type of coating on it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and or advice.
Woodguy.

"Abrade" is the word I think you meant which means for our purposes to rough it up allowing a little "bite" for whatever kind of paint or epoxy coatings you might choose. That gets any wax/finish off and opens up the pores. Anything applied to the surface will close those pores and in some instances cause problems under those tiles with moisture and alkalinity accumulating where previously it was passing through happily.

There's a lot of questions and concerns here with this project. First off the only good reasons to go over existing floors is if they're "down like IRON" ------an expression my first boss liked to use----or if the demo is otherwise infeasible due to financial constraints (asbestos) or 24/7 critical operations. It's foolish to lay over any flooring that can be relatively easily removed, OBVIOUSLY because of the potential of the problems from underneath as well as the bonding issues.

We don't really know if the customer wants a cheap and easy----somewhat temporary solution or if this flooring is supposed to be there performing for another 30 years like what's down there now.

First question that comes to mind is WHY do they want a new floor. If it's just out of style, dingy, beat up but otherwise a good solid job then it's a good chance they can do a cheap sand (non asbestos) with a heavy grit sandpaper and then painted over. That's a pretty cheap way to go and I'd want an experienced PAINTER to consult with or better yet do the work. Usually there's some problems with the existing that precludes an overlay.

There's nothing cheap about the epoxy coatings so it wouldn't make a lick if sense to put something like that over existing VCT. You want to demo, shot blast, treat for moisture and THEN apply the coatings. I believe that holds true for the concrete stain/sealed/polished look.

Another layer of VCT is pretty much always the cheapest alternative-----WAY cheaper in fact than most anything I can think of all said and done REGARDLESS of whether you lay over existing or demo.

 

[Floorguy]

No..no..no and no...
Nothing will bond properly on top at the VCT.
They want a cheap fix, there is no cheap fix.
Overlay the floor with a floating vinyl plank, like Engage, Konecto, Adura or second layer of VCT if they are really cheap.

Anything you attempt to adhere to the top of VCT it will bite you, if they say we want it anyway, leave the job alone, if you fool with it you will regret for years to come.
If they sign off on it and it fails, they will find away to make you responsible.