Ask the claims guy - Tips for avoiding issues with glue-down vinyl flooring

The market for glue-down vinyl flooring like Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) and Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP) is booming as manufacturers have developed attractive products that are almost indistinguishable from stone, wood, and other hard surface flooring. While installing these products is normally successful and everyone leaves happy, not every installation ends well. Today Tech Talk speaks with Shawn Mitcham, MAPEI's Claims Supervisor about the claims he typically sees, ways to avoid them, and ways that installers can help themselves when claims do arise.

Tech Talk: Shawn, thank you for answering some questions for us about vinyl failures.  What is the number one cause of failures you see for glue-down vinyl flooring?

Shawn Mitcham: I will give you a two part answer.  One, lack of fully understanding the ramifications of moisture in the slab.  Two, unawareness of the monetary damage of repairs if things turn south. Many times scheduling and budgetary restrictions make testing a business decision “roll of the dice” for even the biggest contractors. Testing can cost anywhere from 4.0% to 5.6% of an installers profit margin on a job. This is a hard, but necessary cost to absorb for long term success and service life of the installation. For example, the cost of properly testing a 5,000’ job is $1,400.00. To tear out and replace the same 5,000’ can cost over $90,000.00. 

Tech Talk: If you could give one tip that would help installers of vinyl flooring avoid a call-back, what would it be?

Shawn Mitcham: Education on the products/systems to be used. So many times, jobs end negatively for reasons as simple as the bucket wasn’t read, or the technical data sheets weren’t consulted prior to the installation. In today’s electronic world, we literally have technical documentation from all major manufacturers at our fingertips. If something is unclear, make sure you talk to the manufacturer representatives to clear up confusion on the front end. “Why is this statement important?” is so much easier and painlessly answered before a square foot is installed and everyone is on the same ‘team’. Another benefit is that often you can even get paid for the preemptive remediation that would had caused a failure otherwise. 

Tech Talk: What advice would you give installers who find themselves dealing with a floor failure?

Shawn Mitcham: Documentation. Document everything you can, before, during, and after the installation. Sometimes a seemingly unimportant picture or test result can exonerate that you did the best you could to conform to the industry and manufacturer requirements. Also, be honest and forthright with the manufacturers involved. If you approach a failure with a ‘we’re in this to figure it out together’ mentality, more often a manufacturer olive branch can be extended your way (albeit not always as large as you may hope for). From a manufacturer perspective (flooring or installation products) the investigation is just that, an exploration and discovery of fact. For an installer it is often much more personal.  Having been an installer myself, I understand what it can mean for you. Protect your bottom line and the reputation on your shirt, truck, or store by documenting as much as possible. 

Tech Talk: What can installers do before and during installation to make it easier to troubleshoot any issues that may arise?

Shawn Mitcham: Work with the manufacturers. Any reputable manufacturer should be willing and eager to provide pre-installation walkthroughs and trainings to assist with identifying potential pitfalls before the job starts. Contrary to some misconceptions, manufacturers desperately want you to succeed, not fail, and an extraordinary amount of resources are annually spent to that end. Your success as an installation company is mutually a success for them, so education is both key and available.  Establish a relationship with your local representatives. If you don’t know who that is, find out before you need them. Manufacturers are there to help you be as profitable as possible, use their experience and expertise of navigating complaint investigations to help you avoid one of your own. 

Tech Talk: Thank you Shawn!  With some training and preparation, installing glue-down vinyl flooring should be a trouble free experience.