At Garmon & Company, we work with leading businesses in various sectors to deliver high-quality commercial flooring solutions. We stay up to date with the latest flooring trends and techniques to offer our clients the best available solutions. Today, we are looking at the emerging trends in the luxury vinyl flooring category.
12-hour workable adhesives
PSA adhesives that are designed to be used with carpet tiles have been used to install luxury vinyl flooring for a while without a warranty. Now there are PSA type adhesives that are available specifically for luxury vinyl flooring, there has been a shift towards more installers using PSA adhesives over traditional hard-set vinyl adhesives.
The reason for the popularity of PSA type adhesives is because it offers a workable drying time of up to 12 hours.
We would advise caution, however, as this type of adhesive is only suitable for some commercial settings. Only hard-set adhesives should be used in commercial applications and for areas that will deal with heavy rolling loads.
Rigid core products
Another emerging trend in the luxury vinyl flooring sector is rigid core products.
Rigid core products are now available in a glue-down format for luxury vinyl flooring. The rigid core is similar to the rigid core used in click products.
The rigid core brings several benefits. The core helps to remove the need to backroll adhesives to minimize trowel ridge show through, reduces damage from static and rolling loads, and cuts the chance of substrate imperfections transmitting to the flooring.
There are some downsides. Rigid core products will take more time to evaluate the substrate and correct any issues.
Growth in LLT use
More 4.5 and 5 mm loose lay tile products are being used in commercial projects. The flooring industry is starting to recognize the benefits of loose lay tile. Benefits over traditional glue down luxury vinyl include faster, easier and more forgiving installation. Repairing and replacing damaged flooring also becomes easier.
Part of the reason for this is because loose lay tile can be installed with a perimeter band of PSA adhesive only and the middle of the room can use a light application of long working time PSA adhesive.