Anyone install VCT under the recommended temp?

[jayoldschool]

I have finally got my VCT home, and I was planning to put it down this weekend. First time in a month that I have a free weekend. However, it has been cool (not cold) here for the past week. I have cranked up the radiant in the garage, but the problem is that the radiant system is designed to heat only when the boiler is called on to heat the house (in order to save oil). My house is so well insulated that the boiler doesn't have to run very often during cool weather. So, in order to get the garage radiant hot, it needs to be colder out so my inside house thermostat calls for heat.

Anyways, am I tempting disaster to lay tile tomorrow if the floor temp is under the recommended 18C? Do I wait for colder temps so I can get the garage warmer? Or, just wait until spring?

 

[ssleepingbeauty]

Even though it is recommended to install at certain temperatures. I would install at a slightly cooler temperature than warm. The reason being is, with cooler temps the VCT may want to sound as if the floor is making a cracking or popping sound for awhile as you walk on it. That is because the adhesive isn't bonding as fast as it should. But... it will eventually go away and will bond just fine with time.

If you install the VCT (especially a radiant floor) that is too warm. It will install fine and lay down smooth. But... if the slab is too warm the VCT will be warm and expand and look great! That is until the temps drop and the VCT contracts and now you will have permanent gaps on all of the seams.

I have seen this on numerous occasions. And once VCT shrinks it will not expand again. I've have had jobs where the contractor didn't have the right temps, only to put on temp heat that gets to hot, then shut it off over night. And they ask why the tiles are gaped. As if an installer could install a entire room with all of the tiles equally gaped

I personally would say between 55* & 72* F should be safe either way. Also try to let the VCT acclimate to the room 24 to 48 hours before installing. Basically just store the VCT in the room a day or two before you install it

 

[doc2460]

Spoke with an Armstrong distributor yesterday who was not recommending VCT placement in the garage due to the tiles cracking with cold weather. Anyone have any input regarding that issue? I live in MO and have temps into the low teens at times.

 

[chevelle67]

I have seen numerous garages in WI with VCT floors hold up well, and its been known to get -20 F on occasion.

 

[SteveB]

I was able to install my VCT during the heat of summer , no problems at all. We often get winter temps of -15C, close to 0 Fahrenheit, and on rare occasions experience a week or so of -30C. My unheated but insulated garage has provided no ill effects on the VCT flooring. The tiles slight shrinkage can seen in a few places on the perimeter where the vinyl moulding meets the floor and there is a slight gap. Come the warmer weather these gaps disappear.

I installed my VCT in July/06.