How to Repair Sheet Flooring: Personal Experience
Vinyl sheet flooring looks great and installs quickly because it comes as one large sheet as opposed to individual tiles. But what happens when it gets a large rip? That was a situation that I had to deal with last year after a refrigerator delivery guy tore the vinyl sheet flooring in my kitchen. It turns out that repairing vinyl sheet flooring isn’t that difficult at all. It will take you roughly one hour’s time to complete the repair. Here’s how to do it:
Sheet Flooring Repair Supply List
In order to complete this home repair task, you will need a piece of replacement vinyl, vinyl adhesive, a utility knife and a framing square. You’ll also need an adhesive spreader, a piece of scrap plywood, a putty knife, sand paper and two cinder blocks.
Remove Damaged Sheet Flooring
Start by using a sharp utility knife to cut away the damaged area. Based on my personal experience, I would recommend that you use a metal framing square as a cutting guide during that process. Once you have the piece removed, measure and cut a replacement piece of vinyl.
Clean Underlayment
One of the keys to a successful sheet flooring repair job is to make sure that the edges of the replacement vinyl patch are flush with the pre-existing vinyl’s edges. Having a clean, smooth and level piece of underlayment is a crucial part of that task. As such, it is imperative that you remove as much of the old adhesive from the underlayment as possible. In my experience, one of the best ways to do this is with a putty knife or sand paper. Simply scrape or sand the old adhesive away.
Install the Sheet Flooring Patch
Once you have the underlayment cleaned and the sheet flooring patch ready, you can proceed with the repair job. Continue by positioning the replacement vinyl patch into place without the adhesive. Double check the fit. If everything looks good, go ahead and apply the adhesive. In order to apply the sheet flooring adhesive, you will need a serrated adhesive spreader, a piece of scrap plywood and two cinder blocks. Spread the adhesive onto the floor and then position the replacement piece of sheet flooring into place.
Allow Sheet Flooring Adhesive to Cure
Afterward, remove any residual adhesive that may have oozed out of the repair seams. Then lay a piece of plywood on top of the repair area and cover it with the cinder blocks. Leave the piece of replacement flooring weighted down like that for 24 to 72 hours until the adhesive has had a chance to cure. Once it has cured properly, the floor will be ready for use. One caveat though, I would make sure that the sheet of plywood is the same size as the repair area and that all of the residual adhesive has definitely been removed. Otherwise, the plywood could end up adhering to the floor and thus create the need for further flooring repairs.
Killeen Gonzalez enjoys completing home improvement projects with her family and has traveled extensively.
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