Vinyl Sheet floors and PVC floor tiles offer great advantages in residential, commercial or public use applications such as clinics, hospitals, schools, medical and electronic industries, they are easy to install, easy to maintain, they allow creating a waterproof layer that prevents the growth of batteries and the transfer of humidity, in order to retain all of vinyl floor’s mechanical characteristics of adhesion and resistance, it is necessary to properly weld the PVC flooring together, for that we have this detailed vinyl flooring welding guide that guarantees impeccable neat, clean seams.

Why Should You Do Weld PVC Flooring Seams?

Whether in public space, in the hospital sector or in private homes, vinyl-PVC floor coverings are clean, easy to clean and are therefore in high demand. PVC or vinyl floor are available in different roll widths. In large rooms, however, it may be necessary to connect tracks to one another. If you lay PVC or linoleum in several sheets, you should grout them to seam and protect them from moisture and other risks. What are the risks involved in installing a PVC floor covering subjected to current traffic without welding?

The risks involved are multiple in the event of laying of non-welded PVC flooring seams:

• Joints opening

• Cleaning water infiltration

• Dust infiltration and fouling of seals

• Peeling of edges at joints

• Edge curling

• Mold stain

• Accelerated coating aging

How To Weld Vinyl PVC Flooring For Perfect Seam Sealed?

Now that you have known the necessity of welding and sealing PVC floors, if you haven't done so, you can't wait to learn how to properly weld your PVC floors. Then follow us to learn! Like welding metal materials, welding plastics also need to take corrective measures according to their structure and the thickness of the parts to be welded. In today's market, there are four types of joints in resilient Vinyl floor construction, including seam sewing, cold welding, hot welding, and Ultrasonic welding. Among them, the cold welding and hot welding are the most used, both can permanently seal the seams between two vinyl floor sheets.

PVC Floor Cold Welding

Cold welding, also called contact welding, allows the joining of two elements through a chemical reaction and without any heat input. Particularly fast and resistant, welding is commonly used to fix a floor covering. This type of transition is used to make any transition rails superfluous or to get a closed and sealed transition so that the PVC covering looks like one piece.

If the vinyl floor is not homogeneous such as the LVT vinyl floors for private residences and commercial premises, you can cold weld the joints. To do this, bring the appropriate jointing agent from a cartridge into the floor joint and let it dry according to the manufacturer's instructions. Cold welding is divided into two types: cold welding fluid, cold welding ointment (also called seam paste) - cold welding fluid, suitable for heterogeneous vinyl flooring, wallpaper, and PVC plate with a tight seam (less than 1mm). - Cold welding paste is suitable for the connection of PVC floor, rubber floor, wallpaper, and other joints with a wide seam (4mm below), as well as between the wall and the floor.

How To Cold Weld Vinyl Floor Seams?

With PVC cold welding technology, you can quickly and easily connect two PVC floor coverings. This cold welding technique is suitable for PVC floor coverings and other PVC materials. Livingfloor offers you the right products for this technology.

You need the following materials & tools for PVC floor cold welding: 

• The PVC covering to be glued

• Knife

• Double sided tape

• Cold welding agent

• Ruler / tape measure

Follow the below steps to cold welding PVC Floor Sheets properly:

• Step 1 - Preparation of the substrate: the surface should be clean, dry, free of dust and grease. You should remove adhesive residue from previous floor coverings. It is best to wipe the surface to remove any dust and dirt. Important: then let the floor dry properly.

• Step 2 - Cut the PVC flooring to fit each other: After you have cleaned the surface, lay the PVC covering overlapping to see to what extent it has to be adjusted. Then cut the PVC covering to fit. Ideally so that the two ends touch lightly. 

• Step 3 - Position two inch wide masking tape centered over the seam: Fold these two ends over and glue a strip of double-sided tape over seam. The adhesive tape must be resistant to solvents. Then peel off the cover paper from the adhesive tape and fold the previously cut ends back onto the floor and press the covering in place.

• Step 4 - Firmly roll down the trip and cut it over the seam: The adhesive tape is pressed firmly with a pressure roller so the seam is visible, there must be no air bubbles underneath. 

• Step 5 - Cut the tape over the seam with the cutter: Using a straightedge and a pole groover cut a 1/8” wide groove to about 2/3 of the thickness of the PVC flooring. You will need to remove flooring from both sides. 

• Step 5 - Apply a bead of cold weld with the caulking gun: Press the cold weld into the seam using a smoothing spatula held at an angle of about 20 degrees. Make sure that the excess weld is separated from the seam and that the weld is flush with the surface of the tape. To achieve the best possible seal, you have to push the needle deep into the seam and drive it slowly through. With ideal dosing, an approximately 5 mm wide liquid film is formed on the adhesive tape.

• Step 6 - Remove the tape after about 10 minutes: Carefully remove the tape and excess either while the weld is still wet or after curing which usually takes 8-12 hours, allow the cold weld to cure before any traffic is allowed in the area and wait at least 72 hours after application before heavy loads are allowed to cross the seam. The cold welding agent is then hardened, the seam is tight.

PVC Floor Heat Welding

Heat welding involves applying a filler bead between the two edges of PVC materials by melting the selvedges and the filler bead. This filler bead (also called "weld bead") is a bead of material allowing the joint, that is to say to achieve the edge-to-edge junction of the strips between them by welding. The advantage of hot welding is that it offers a truly waterproof, durable, and robust solution, which can therefore easily withstand the passage of heavy traffic. 

For homogeneous PVC floors, thermoplastic grouting (colloquially called "welding") is suitable for this. The seam is enlarged with a gouge and a fuse wire is inserted into the joint. It is heated with a hand welder and the floor is thus sealed. In hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and the medical industry, the control of hygiene and sanitary measures is the primary reason why the use of Industrial Vinyl Flooring or vinyl coverings that allow greater sanitary control has been extended, but which in turn must guarantee greater durability. to the exposure of the chemical agents used daily for cleaning and disinfection and it is where it is essential to have a guarantee that the welding of the joints was correct or the correct equipment was used at the right temperature to guarantee a total fusion of the plastic parts. Hot welding is used to seal vinyl floors throughout the life of the coating. This seal allows the glue to retain all of its mechanical characteristics of adhesion and resistance. It also makes it possible to hermetically seal the penetration of dust between the strips.

How To Heat Weld Vinyl Floor Seams?

The heat welding process requires the control of three fundamental variables, temperature, speed and pressure added to the previous grooving process of the joints on which it is to be welded, we have options to perform the grooving of the joints, either manually or automatic as well as with different options in hot air guns to perform the welding manually or to perform it automatically.

You need the following materials & tools for PVC floor heat welding: 

• Welding wire, cord or rod (diameter 3-4 mm)

• Joint planer or scraper

• Side cutters

• Scraper and / or spatula knife

• Pinch roller

• Fixing weights

• Hot air welders

• Seam sealer

There are two main types of hot air welders: automatic welders and manual hot air welders:

• Handheld hot air welders: can be used on roofing and flooring jobs, generally for welding around corners and other points. What is hot air plastic welding? Hard to reach, but can also be used for a much wider range of jobs. Manual welders can be used to manufacture and repair products, seal plastic membranes, and many other unique jobs. They are usually shaped like large elongated tubes with many different nozzles that can be changed according to the type of job you need to do.

• Automatic welding machines: Automatic hot air welders can be used on roofing and flooring jobs, generally for welding around corners and other hard-to-reach spots, but can also be used for a much wider range of jobs. Automatic welders can be used to manufacture and repair products, seal plastic membranes, and many other unique jobs. They are usually shaped like large elongated tubes with many different nozzles that can be changed according to the type of job you need to do.

Choosing the Right PVC Weld Rods

For a successful weld, you must ensure that you are using the correct type of plastic PVC rods. In short, the material of the bar must be the same as the plastic you are trying to weld. If you are not sure what material you are trying to weld, there are a few ways to check it. You can often identify a type of plastic by looking for an etched mark on the plastic. If the plastic does not have such an engraving, then you can recognize it using an identification kit in a section of the plastic. To identify what type of vinyl rod to use:

• Clean a section of the plastic you are trying to identify

• Use a hot air gun to pendulum weld different plastic rods to the prepared area

• Try to forcefully remove the plastic rods

• If the rods do not stick, then they are not of the same material

• Continue until you find a PVC rod that is fully welded

Follow the below steps to heat welding PVC Floor Sheets properly:

• Step 1. Preparation: With the gouging knife or scraper, you have to draw a recess along the welding line between both PVC edges. The trapezoidal or semicircular channel forms the bed for later insertion of the welding wire. The gutter depth should make up about two thirds of the total thickness of the covering.

• Step 2. Warming: After pushing the bumps together and securing the position with fixing weights, both sides of the welding channel must be heated evenly so that they start to change color after about five seconds.

• Step 3. Connect rod: As you insert the welding wire, cord, or rod, you must build up welding pressure at the same time. You can do this by hand with an assistant or you can use a welding machine with an integrated print head.

• Step 4. Trim PVC Rod: Use a spatula knife to smooth out any excess seams. The rod should be trimmed in two passes when using a spatula knife. While the rod is still warm, using the spatula knife with the trim plate.

• Step 4. Cooling down: Allow the weld seam to cool down without changing the pressure and do not relieve pressure until it has cooled down.

• Step 5. Smooth out excess seams: Once the rod is cooled to room temperature, the rod can be trimmed flushed to the edge of the sheet vinyl. The trimmed rod should be heat glazed by directing a flow of hot air from the heat gun over the rod. 

• Step 6. Apply seam sealer: Chemical glazing can be achieved by applying an application of managing commercial mcs 42 seam sealer over the rod, then wiping with a clean white cloth, do not wipe off the seam sealer when using camouflage weld rod.

• Step 7. Make more compatible: To make the finished welded seam even more compatible with the high-performance wear layer, easy to apply quantum guard HP pen. Simply run the felt tip down the seam to cover the seam area with a protective coating. This coating protects the seam area from dirt and grime pick up, delay maintenance procedure.

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