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Small Cabin Forum / General Forum / Cabin flooring and countertops in unheated space
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KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 4 May 2016 22:03 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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At habitat for humanity I've seen the odd partial box of some kind of really thick vinyl planks that you just drop on the floor. No clicking together or gluing. Anyone aware of these?


I'm back. I guess it's called loose lay. - or not.



Beware Linguistic Confusion

If you're interested in researching Looselay further, then be ready for a bit of linguistic detective work because there is a general confusion surrounding the wording of these products. Quite apart from the fact that some write it as Looselay and others as Loose Lay, different manufacturers are using the terms "loose" and "lay" in various ways to describe totally different products.

For example Gerflor has two product lines that cause serious confusion! What they refer to as their LVT Looselay (Senso Clic, Senso Lock and Senso Lock Plus) is actually a Click-Lock floating floor; whilst what they call LVT Removable (Senso Adjust) is what we would actually call Looselay, as there is no Click-Lock or glue or staples involved. Gerflor also has a line they refer to as Vinyl Rolls Looselay (Home Comfort, HQR, Texline, Solidtex and Primetex), and whilst these floors indeed do not require glue, they are in fact vinyl sheet not tiles or planks!
And that's another lingo thing to point out – Looselay vinyl can be in tile or plank format depending on whether you're going for a stone look or a wood look, even though it is mostly referred to as tile!

Loose Lay Reviews

Karndean – This UK based company has ...

http://www.homeflooringpros.com/blog-guides/loose-lay-vinyl-plank-flooring/



KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 24 Dec 2016 20:38 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Interesting publication:



Early 20th-Century Building Materials:
Resilient Flooring
Richa Wilson, Intermountain Regional Architectural Historian Kathleen Snodgrass, Project LeadeR

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Technology & Development Program
August 2007
7300 0773–2322–MTDC


The Washington Office’s “Improvement Handbook” (1937) recommended linoleum for kitchens, bathrooms, and offices where easily cleaned and durable floors were desirable. Linoleum was also preferred as a covering for sink drainboards, as noted in “Principles of Architectural Planning,” published by the Washington Office in 1938. Other resilient flooring of the early 20th century was made of asphalt, cork, rubber, and, in some cases, asbestos. In the 1950s, the use of vinyl flooring became increasingly common because of its lower cost and ease of installation.

Linoleum, Felt-Base, and Cork Flooring
...

The thickest grade (1⁄8- to 1⁄2-inch thick) of plain linoleum was often used on ship decks, so it became known as battleship linoleum. Battleship linoleum was usually manufactured in brown, gray, tan, or green hues. Often it was specified for Forest Service facilities because of its superior durability.
...
Linoleum was common in Forest Service buildings constructed during linoleum’s heyday in the early 20th century. Linoleum is often confused with vinyl flooring, a material with very different qualities that are explained in the “Asphalt and Vinyl Flooring” section below.
...

Maintenance and Repair
With regular maintenance, linoleum and cork flooring can last 50 years or more. ...

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf07732322/pdf07732322dpi72.pdf



AK Seabee
Member
# Posted: 11 Aug 2018 01:12
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Update on the Allure Plus vinyl planks.
The finish has held up well and for the most part I am happy. I do have two spots ( one in each bedroom) where the planks are pulling apart. The separation is minimal but enough that I will look for something else on the bottom level.
I think if this was a full time residence with constant Temps and humidity the planks would be fine. With a part time cabin that's not the case.
If I arrive at -20 F I can get the cabin to 65 F in about three hours. The rapid temp changes are probably causing the issue.
I am curious about the pvc plank flooring as there are no adhesives and the floor is still waterproof.
Any advise on those would be appreciated.

Fanman
Member
# Posted: 15 Aug 2018 17:35
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I used the soft flexible vinyl flooring (I forget what it's called) that the big box stores sell. That was in the kitchen and master bedroom after the renovations... the living room has a floating wood floor that's decades old and somewhat beat up, but hey, it's a cabin, after all. It comes in a variety of woodgrain patterns. You attach it at the edges with double stick tape. Before buying it I put a sample in the freezer to see if it stayed flexible (it did). Being soft it also goes over any unevenness in the floor better. 10 years later it's still holding up fine.

Actually I lucked out... the room is a nominal 18' long, of course I wanted a bit more just to be safe. Got to the store and asked for 19', they unrolled it, and it ran out at 18' even, they didn't have any more. I was trying to work out whether that would be enough when my wife asked, "can you sell it to us as a remnant?" They did, so we got it for half price... and it turned out I only needed 17'9".

KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 19 Aug 2018 02:06 - Edited by: KinAlberta
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The looselay planks are interesting. No click or t&g.

KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 21 Jan 2020 19:00
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Any updates available? New and better products?

justinbowser
Member
# Posted: 22 Jan 2020 18:54 - Edited by: justinbowser
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We installed glue-down vinyl plank flooring in our cabin. Floor is 3/4" treated plywood with 7/16 OSB on top. The floor looked great until the cold weather. After the first cold spell we noticed end-gaps had developed and got worse over the winter (we only visited the cabin a couple of times over the first winter) but I figured the gaps would close up when the hot weather returned. Well, I was wrong. This past summer the end-gaps did not change.

I am a bit bummed by this as it took us two solid days of work to lay and it'll probably need to come up and be replaced with solid-sheet linoleum, or something. I suppose it might be OK in a structure with a more steady climate but not in something that constantly fluctuates in temp during the off-season.

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