Wow, this thread goes on and on. I would like to put my 2 cents in as I have probably laid a square mile of VCT over the years... VCT is a durable commercial flooring that will stand up to almost anything you throw at it as long as it is cared for properly. I can give some tips about how to lay and care for it. 1. VCT will conform to the underlying subfloor over time. If you want it to look good, make sure it's smooth and fill cracks and joints with a skim coat or thin set product made for use with VCT. As far as laying it over a broom finish... It may work, but will use more glue and eat a trowel or two... Also, I imagine you would see a texture when it's shiny over time as the glue cures (and pulls the tiles down). I would use leveler (thin set made to flow and level itself) over the whole floor before trying to glue it to a broom finish. 2. VCT is easy to lay, use the right trowel, hold it at as close to perpendicular to the floor as you can, spread it leaving only what the teeth on the trowel let through (extra glue will not clear and come through joints, let the glue clear, and set the tiles tight together. A razor knife and straight edge scores tiles to cut easily and then just snap them. An easy way to cut the size of the tile that meets the wall is to set it on top of the last whole tile and lay another against the wall on top of that, score the one on the whole tile using the the other as a straight edge and snap. Don't let the one you are using as a template get stuck to the glue . For more complex obstacles, a heat gun makes it much easier to work with without breaking the tiles. 3. Work from the middle of the floor, not from a wall. Snap two chalk lines perpendicular to each other and square with the building and use that as the starting place. Don't try to end at walls with whole tiles (it seldom works out and you have a 1/4" gap that's hard to fill with tile). Walls these days are never true and straight and seldom square. 4. Use good glue, Armstrong or Roberts work well... Don't just buy the cheapest you can find. 5. Buy some extra tile and put it away, you will never be able to find something to match it exactly later. 6. Charcoal lighter fluid on a paint rag (white) works great to clean up messes you make with glue. 7. Let it cure for several days (a week if iits cold) before getting wet or waxing. 8. Damp mop it and wax it with several coats of good high traffic floor wax. 9. Mop with products designed for waxed floors, many cleaners will either strip the wax or discolor it over time. 10. You can't just add wax over and over, it needs to be stripped or at least buffed before applying wax again (every 6 - 12 months depending on traffic. This will keep the wax from starting to look yellow.
