Page 6 - 2018-08-CFR Volume 119 - How Can You See What You Can’t See - The Luxury Vinyl Tile And Plank Dilemma

Shade of the material can be either in the face or the back. Shade variation between pieces of the mate-
rial generally indicates the material was manufactured at different locations, marshalled for packaging
and mixed in the boxes. This can result in the surface shade looking different. Does this really happen?
It does.

Backing color of the material goes along with the shade differences. Taking the product out of the box or
random boxes and turning it over will reveal if the material has consistent coloration. If some of it is dark
black for example and other of it is a different shade and if those shades vary from one to the other then
the material is not the same. If the product truly came from one run there will be consistency if not there
will be variation and the tell-tale sign that the products are in fact different.

Backing markings such as variations in number, texture or some physical trait being different are also in-
dication that the product is not all from the same run. This is very common and will tell you if there is an
inconsistency in the product.

Drape is a true indicator of a variation of the product. Drape is how the material bends when you hold a
plank with your fingers with your arms bent and in front of you a bit. If you hold one plank in one hand
and one in another that possesses any of the traits already mentioned and if one of the material bends or
“drapes” more, this is proof of the materials being different. This physical indication can be the result of
more filler in one product than the other, more plasticizer which will make the product more pliable, how
the materials were blended or any inconsistency in the make-up of the vinyl tile or plank.

Random physical difference of the material being exhibited on the floor. This condition manifests itself as
some planks or tiles doming, cupping, curling, lifting on the ends or other inconsistent physical character-
istic at an installation. This is NEVER an installation problem. This is strictly a product problem resulting
from one of the traits mentioned previously. An installer doesn’t and can’t possibly create this type of
condition. How would that happen? How would the environmental, the operation of the HVAC, the sub-
strate, old adhesive or anything else for that matter create a condition that does not uniformly affect the
entire floor? Only if there is an inherent inconsistency in the affected planks or tiles themselves will there
be this type of a problem. This is the time to go back to any material left over and start scouring for differ-
ences in the products in the boxes.

Length. The state of California will love this one as they have a zero tolerance for anything that is not the
size it says it is on the label. If a product is supposed to be 6 x 48 it better be 6 x 48 on the numbers.
The comment came up in a conversation the other day that since most of the products are made over-
seas somewhere that maybe they measured them in millimeters and not inches. Nice try for an argument
to justify the lengths being short. If the size on the box describes what’s in the box then they better match
or you didn’t get what you paid for.

These are all issues we are finding every day on large projects we are involved in and engaged to solve
the problem. When someone tells you that all 200,000 feet of a material for example is from the same
run and you check all of the traits mentioned here and it has most of them, you can bet the farm that the
material did not all come from the same run. It’s likely it didn’t come from the same manufacturing facility
either.

Let’s take a minute to discuss WPC and SPC products especially relative to installation and particularly
substrate conditions. Don’t believe all the marketing hype of being able to go over any substrate with
these rigid core products. The substrate must be level and if it’s not you’ll jeopardize the material, the
locking system and create noise issues. SPC is a more brittle product and if it bridges a void in the

6 Commercial Flooring Report August 2018