Putting down lvt

[CalvinHobbes]

So we have amtico lvt floor tiles which we need to put down ourselves on a chemfloor. Needs must. 

Homebase has good reductions on paints which is good so whilst looking found this floor primer cempolay.

I know we need it to be compatible with whatever adhesive we use.  Any suggestions? Also wondering what tools..the roller from Screwfix and some sort of soft hammer??? I know...yikes.

[Gone West]

We had Amtico LVT floor tiles laid in the bathroom and en-suite at our last place. I took a great deal of care preparing the floor so the fitter could just come in and lay them. When he looked at the floors he said he would have to do some filling and scraping. He spent quite some time doing this and at the end it was like a mirror. He said it was critical that it was perfect, as any imperfection on the floor surface would show on the tile. I'm afraid I can't help with floor primer but IIRC he used a knife, straight edge and roller, but I didn't see a soft hammer.

[CalvinHobbes]

Thanks, fair point. We have chemfloor and it was well put down, only one crack and we have to deal with the breakers too. Not quite sure about them.  So hopefully not too much scraping. 

[Thorfun]

Out of interest, can you lay Amtico on some form of underlay to remove any small imperfections on the underlying floor? Or does it not work that way?

[Conor]

We laid our LVT down on 2mm foam underlay. Still had to do a fair bit of scraping and prep. Feels great underfoot 

Edited Sunday at 18:42 by Conor

[Tetrarch]

We had 110 sq m of Amtico laid, it took 30 bags of Mapei Self-levelling Compound to get a finish. My Amtico guy was a joy to watch, it was a privilege to watch him work

 

After the SLC he was meticulous going across the whole floor looking for any bubbles or imperfections that he sanded out. He used a primer to key the surface.

 

As a tip for the install, he laid down every plank dry and marked where they would land. He worked in about 12-plank increments. He obviously knew exactly how much adhesive he could manage and he spread it out to the markings. The thing that surprised me most was that he also trimmed back the underside of the leading edge of every single plank to ensure that there was a perfect join. I cannot find fault with anything he's done

 

I have done amticof mysel in a small bathroom. I did an OK job with the planks but failed to prep my plywood properly and ended up with a a small bump where the planks butted each other. That house is now someone else's problem but I wish that I'd had a pro do it

 

Regards

 

Tet

[Chanmenie]

1 hour ago, Thorfun said:

Out of interest, can you lay Amtico on some form of underlay to remove any small imperfections on the underlying floor? Or does it not work that way?

There’s two types, glue down and click, the click version can have an underlay or has a built in underlay and can be used on slightly uneven floors. The glue down does not have underlay and needs a perfect base to lay on.

[CalvinHobbes]

Indeed, we have glue down.

 

[Chanmenie]

You don’t really need a roller, but probably a primer then 3mm latex screed then glue them down. Why would you need a soft hammer for glue down ?
I used the Ardex 175 adhesive on my upstairs landing and bathroom as that was what the flooring supplier had.
It worked well