vct "grain"

[370z]

looking for opinions:
i'm gonna do a black and white checkerboard pattern in my garage. i would like to make my black and white blocks large by combining 4 of the same color vct to make a 24"x24" block rather than the one tile 12"x12".

my question is should i (do i need to) rotate the grain of the same colored tiles 90 deg?

i think it would look better if the grain was the same direction, but i read that it is better to rotate the grain 90 deg each tile to help with expantion and contraction with heat.

what do you guys think?

 

[rockportag03]

I've alternated the grain on every project that I've been involved with. (commercial construction)

 

[Traditional hotrodder]

I've laid hard surface floor covering for 14 yrs. and have never heard or seen vct expanding/contracting more in any direction. To alternate the grain is solely the end users opinion. I'd have to say that 95% of my customers preferred it installed alternating direction.

 

[rwhite692]

Definately, you want to alternate the grain...This is how I did it...each black/white square is 24" (four tiles)

 

[koolkev12]

I disagree with altering the grain. There was someone on here about 6 months ago that did his garage with all the grain going the same way. This gave the look of epoxy with the flakes. Hopefully that person will come on and show pictures again. I will try to find the thread. IMO it looked A LOT better with the grain going the same direction.

I feel that commercial applications do this to hide any small flaws. Just my opinion......

 

[rwhite692]

Having done both types of floors (VCT and epoxy) I can say for sure that, when using tiles with a directional grain appearance, alternating the tiles gives you more of a random appearance (as you get w/flakes on epoxy), as opposed to putting the tiles all down in one grain orientation. But there is no "right" or "wrong", it's just personal preference.

If the goal is to achieve a similar look to flakes over epoxy, there are VCT tiles available which have no directional grain to them, but instead they have more of a totally random, granular look, kinda like stone - and it has no "directional grain" to it.

Those are really neat looking but they sell at a premium to the standard VCT tile types like the Armstrong Excelon such as what I used.

 

[370z]

well, i ended up kind of doing both. like i said earlier ; i wanted to combine 4 vct tiles to make a larger 24"x24" black&white pattern on my floor. So i kept the grain the same with-in the black 24"x24" block , then turned 90deg for my next white 24"X24"block.

imho i think this helps hide the fact that each of my blocks is made from 4 separate tiles and possible will help if there is any truth to the expansion /contraction theory of grain direction lol

pics to come soon

 

[nflfreak43]

GREAT!! you owe me a knew key board... first from all the drool... second from the puke after me seeing the Chebby emblem, and 3rd from the drool of getting over the chebby emblem and getting back to the magnificence of that dammed garage!!!!!

 

[rwhite692]

GREAT!! you owe me a knew key board... first from all the drool... second from the puke after me seeing the Chebby emblem, and 3rd from the drool of getting over the chebby emblem and getting back to the magnificence of that dammed garage!!!!!

LOL, Thanks!...(If it makes you feel any better, we do have a Ford Super Duty truck in the family, and a Chrysler 6.1 hemi car so we have the big 3 all represented!)

 

[Wingnut65]

Great garage rwhite692. I still love browsing your layout.

370z, The 'basket weave' pattern is up to you. You've heard both sides mentioned here. 'Yes' will make the individual tiles stand out and make the 24x24 look like four squares put together. 'No' will give a more uniform look and will make the 24x24 look like one large tile. I'd suggest getting the tiles out of the boxes and test them - half the floor straight grain and half rotated. Review it from all angles with daylight and at night and make up your mind. You are the one who will have to live with it. (Some of us would still have to install it the way the Mrs. wants it.)

 

[hamllik]

What ever vct tile you use make sure you get a glue called clear thin spread. when you lay it down wait until it wont stick to your hand then lay your tile. Be sure to have it just right because once its there its not comming back up. Dont use general purpose floor adhesive it will never dry and will weep glue out of the seems. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone that is thinking about doing vct. I have laid four or five vct floors and on my first one I used general purpose floor addhesive and six months latter it still was weeping glue. I talked to a proffesional installer that has been installing for thirty years and he told me what I did wrong. Also Clear thin spread makes a great adhesive for almost anything. It works great for rubber cove base just wait the same on it.

 

[rwhite692]

What ever vct tile you use make sure you get a glue called clear thin spread. when you lay it down wait until it wont stick to your hand then lay your tile. Be sure to have it just right because once its there its not comming back up. Dont use general purpose floor adhesive it will never dry and will weep glue out of the seems. I just wanted to put this out there for anyone that is thinking about doing vct. I have laid four or five vct floors and on my first one I used general purpose floor addhesive and six months latter it still was weeping glue. I talked to a proffesional installer that has been installing for thirty years and he told me what I did wrong. Also Clear thin spread makes a great adhesive for almost anything. It works great for rubber cove base just wait the same on it.

Agree- "General Purpose Flooring Adhesive" (such as used on Sheet Vinyl flooring, etc) should never be used on VCT. Only use Adhesive which is specifically intended for Vinyl Composite Tile. Armstrong has their own. I used Henry 430.

 

[Mac Attack]

As a personal preference, I put all the "grains" facing the same direction.

Kinda hard to tell from the shine when the floor was new, but...

370z:
I enjoyed your floor thread! It sure looks nice, and I plan on doing the epoxy over my VCT this spring. My VCT's been down for over three years now and I still like it.

Dave

 

[370z]

2 cute!