When an easy job turns ugly

[MushCreek]

I'm trying to put LVP in the finished great room in our barn. I've done LVP before; once you get it laid out, it goes quick. This stuff I bought (cheap) is a different animal, though. It's made by Shaw, a major brand. They have a little QR code on the box to take you to the installation instructions. Wrong. It takes you to their general website, from where you follow a long path to get to instructions. Only one problem. Shaw makes a variety of different products, and the boxes don't tell you which one it is. Looking up the various numbers on the box got me nowhere. The only reason I'm trying to find the right instructions are that I'm having a problem cutting the stuff.

Oh, it cuts all right, but if you cut it lengthwise, it warps like crazy- sideways. I tried a table saw, bandsaw, and jigsaw. They all warped the same. Now you go to click the next row in, and you're trying to bend a 4" wide plank on the 4" dimension. It warps about 1/8", which is more than it wants to bend, believe me. I finally made some clamping blocks to fit over it so I could force it into place. I have a bad feeling that eventually it's gonna go SPROING! and come apart. This stuff is some kind of composite. Other LVP I've installed was much softer, and I don't remember having a problem with warping. Now that I have 4 courses together, it's clicking together OK. Of course, when I get to the other side of the room, I'm going to have the same problem, and I won't be able to put clamps on it. At least it's in a barn, where hopefully nobody will notice if the seams open up. Sigh....

 

[jbailey927]

@MushCreek I installed LVP in our basement and used a sharp utilitie knife to score and snap the LVP. This was by far the cleanist and fastest way to do it for me. I went through a ton of blades as I got a new blade every few cuts as I found that made a ton of difference. A carpenters square for the short cuts and a drywallers square for the long ones are what I used to make straight cuts.

 

[MushCreek]

This stuff won't score and snap- I tried. I guess if you kept at it long enough, it might. That being said, I got about 2/3's of the 400 square foot room done today, including moving all of the furniture around, and sweeping, vacuuming, and Swiffering. Then I had to wrestle a giant piece of plastic into place. I also had to remove all of the baseboards and undercut the door jambs. About 7 hours today; my 72 y/o body can't take any more than that. It's gonna be Tylenol tonight!

 

[cgrutt]

Not familiar with the product you're using but wonder if underscoring the pieces that you are cutting lengthwise will help with the warping (assuming its cupping). Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 thickness of tile. If anything else should help flatten it back out. Several passes on table saw spread across final width.

 

[Youngandfree]

I've never seen any LVP that you can't score and snap.

 

[MushCreek]

This isn't really a vinyl product. The core is some kind of a very hard composite. It's hard to cut, too. It's not cupping, it's warping along the length. Just like ripping a piece of wood with a lot of stress in it. The first piece I cut was on the table saw, and it was trying to close on the blade.

 

[RoninB4]

-It sounds like there might be internal stresses that are part of the manufacturing process itself, much like some metal will warp when cut and the stress is released. With extrusion molding there's a variety of reasons for stress. can't offer any advice for that.

It's gonna be Tylenol tonight!

-This I can offer a suggestion for. I've found that Aleve works better and longer for muscular/tendon/ligament soreness. You can't take as often as Tylenol but it's a better evening afterward for me using it.

 

[PCustoms]

This isn't really a vinyl product. The core is some kind of a very hard composite. It's hard to cut, too. It's not cupping, it's warping along the length. Just like ripping a piece of wood with a lot of stress in it. The first piece I cut was on the table saw, and it was trying to close on the blade.

Got a pic?

 

[MushCreek]

I've tried Aleve, and it didn't seem to have any effect. Ibuprofen PM seems to work best for me, although I rarely take it. I discovered that it really helps me sleep because of easing the aches and pains, but it's not recommended to take for a long period of time.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Before i had both knees replaced the best non prescription pain reliever that put a dent in the pain for me was one or two 650 mg 12 hour acetaminophen along with a 200 mg ibuprofen, taken an hour and a half beforehand. Interestingly, even with both knees hurting like hell when walking I installed 4 rooms of LVP and a bathroom of sheet goods, along with replacing some mobile home subfloor using hard cap knee pads with no real issue. The getting up and down was a real ***** though when there was no one around to pass materials as needed.

 

[PopcornSutton]

I used a power miter saw for cross cuts and a fence on my band saw for rips. The stuff I bought from Costco (don't recall the brand but one of the top brands) was about 3/8" thick and tough. No way that would snap.

 

[RoninB4]

I've tried Aleve, and it didn't seem to have any effect. Ibuprofen PM seems to work best for me, although I rarely take it. I discovered that it really helps me sleep because of easing the aches and pains, but it's not recommended to take for a long period of time.

-It's a bit odd but medications don't interact the same or work as advertised for everybody. Glad you have something that works for you, I don't think my knees would allow me Day 2 of the job you're doing. Best of luck to you.

 

[MushCreek]

This morning, my back is stiff from moving the furniture, and my legs are tired and sore from getting up and down. Knees seem OK.

 

[RoninB4]

This morning, my back is stiff from moving the furniture, and my legs are tired and sore from getting up and down. Knees seem OK.

-I used to use Tiger Balm (red) for muscle aches during my training years. It stinks-a-plenty but using it immediately after a hot shower opened up all the blood vessels and carried away the lactic acid trapped in the muscles, which contributes to soreness. There will be some heat involved as the skin absorbs it so DO NOT get it on any.....sensitive parts.

 

[MushCreek]

I did my hour work-out this morning, and that loosened me up. I'm ready to get back at it!

 

[Skooterj]

Before i had both knees replaced the best non prescription pain reliever that put a dent in the pain for me was one or two 650 mg 12 hour acetaminophen along with a 200 mg ibuprofen, taken an hour and a half beforehand. Interestingly, even with both knees hurting like hell when walking I installed 4 rooms of LVP and a bathroom of sheet goods, along with replacing some mobile home subfloor using hard cap knee pads with no real issue. The getting up and down was a real ***** though when there was no one around to pass materials as needed.

Your doc let you stay on ibuprofen before your surgery? It is my go to, but my doc made me switch to acetaminophen before my knee surgery since it doesn't thin your blood like ibuprofen.

My son cut his hand once, and the prescribed pain killer was ibuprofen, 800 MG. It was one big pill. I went to his follow up with him and asked the doctor why he couldn't just take 4-200 MG pills. Doc said that was fine, but insurance would only pay for the 800 MG, not the over the counter 200 MG x 4. So whenever I'm really hurting, I just grab 4 and I'm good to go.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Your doc let you stay on ibuprofen before your surgery? It is my go to, but my doc made me switch to acetaminophen before my knee surgery since it doesn't thin your blood like ibuprofen.

My son cut his hand once, and the prescribed pain killer was ibuprofen, 800 MG. It was one big pill. I went to his follow up with him and asked the doctor why he couldn't just take 4-200 MG pills. Doc said that was fine, but insurance would only pay for the 800 MG, not the over the counter 200 MG x 4. So whenever I'm really hurting, I just grab 4 and I'm good to go.

I had to drop the Ibuprofen for a period of time before the surgery.

 

[MushCreek]

I managed to score and break one lengthwise. It took both ends of a fresh utility knife blade, and quite a while to get through the skin. It didn't break cleanly, so there was a lot of the core sticking out past the cut edge. AND- it still warped! Evidently there's a lot of stress in this stuff. I managed to get the last row in, which all had to be ripped, but it was a fight. I don't know if the seams will open up or not, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. I used a big pry bar and a scrap of material against the wall to force the seam together. All that's left is to put the baseboards back up, and rearrange the furniture (again). The worst thing is a massive 12' maple table that weighs about 200 lbs. I built it in place, figuring I'd never have to move it. Hah!

 

[MushCreek]

Here's a quick try at scoring and snapping a scrap piece. As you can see, the core didn't snap cleanly along the score line. It's also VERY hard to score at all. Should hold up well to foot traffic. Also a pic of the finished space before I rearranged the furniture.

 

[Hooked]

Beautiful room.

 

[Fixr]

That looks like plain old laminate to me, not a bit like LVP.

 

[Milton Shaw]

I had an 84 Buick Regal 3.8 that started throwing a cam sensor code. New cam sensor, same code. It was the magnet in the cam that was missing. That's a timing chain and gear code that required almost taking the engine apart. All for a $5.00 part. Never did find the magnet even after removing the oil pan. It would go into limp mode-- still run just not run well without that signal.