Page 5 - 2018-08-CFR Volume 119 - How Can You See What You Can’t See - The Luxury Vinyl Tile And Plank Dilemma

Crumb Rubber Underlayment
which is made from ground up
rubber tires of all kinds and qual-
ities containing SBR (Styrene
Butadiene Rubber) and a pletho-
ra of other chemicals is incom-
patible with PVC which is used
to make LVT/LVP.

There are various types of SBR
used in tires so the consistency
of what comes from recycled
crumb rubber is inconsistent and
impossible to determine and im-
possible to determine the reac-
tion to PVC as a result. The re-
action between crumb rubber
underlayment and PVC however
is well known in the industry and
that reaction will cause vinyl Doming from crumb rubber underlayment

flooring to distort and dome, lift
and otherwise change its physi-
cal characteristics. These two products should never be used together. The incompatibility of SBR and
PVC being well known apparently didn’t get to the crumb rubber suppliers. When there is a failure of the
flooring installed over crumb rubber, and we are being inundated with them on a daily basis, the installa-
tion contractor gets blamed. People being hired to go out and look at the complaints are completely un-
aware of what they are seeing, unaware of the incompatibility of these two materials and have no
knowledge of what’s taking place so they blame the installation, the adhesive, moisture in the concrete
and everything but what it is. If you have a problem with an installation over crumb rubber you need to
call us and the second thing you have to do is stop installing over this product. Most of the big name
hard surface flooring manufacturers ban the installation of their vinyl flooring products over crumb rubber
underlayment because they are aware of the incompatibility of these two materials.

How can you see what you can’t see?

This certainly sounds like a stupid statement but when it comes to problems with LVT/P the answers are
hiding in plain sight but you can’t see them. You first have to see and know what you’re looking at as
far as a problem is concerned and then see and know what’s not blatantly visible or obvious. And there
are obvious visible signs that tell all. I’ll list them.

Texture which is the texture of the vinyl tile or plank can vary on a project especially when the materials
are mixed in the boxes which indeed happens. You’ll see this by taking random pieces from several
boxes and comparing them. If this is the case you’ll also see variations in the material on the floor espe-
cially when the sun shines on it.

Sheen is the gloss or lack thereof of the flooring material which, like texture, can vary in random pieces
of the flooring material. If the product has a urethane layer or surface treatment it can look cloudy or ha-
zy because plasticizer is reacting with it and creating this condition. This condition makes the floor look
dull or dirty and it can even be detected by feel as it may have a slight tacky feeling. This can’t be
cleaned off or corrected. Sheen variation can also be seen on the floor as some of the tile or plank will
look shinier or duller than others. Don’t you think and expect the gloss level should be the same for all
the material?

5 Commercial Flooring Report August 2018