Full
Spread Vinyl - Making the Template
Margin
of Error Exact
Most
Common Mistakes
- Neglecting
to make or properly use a template when working with sheet vinyl.
A template or pattern is essential for accurately cutting
your vinyl floor. Craft paper, butcher’s paper, or the paper that
comes in the do-it-yourself installation kits works wonderfully.
The template will enable you to transfer accurate measurements
to the vinyl flooring without making unnecessary or awkward cuts
during installation.
A trick to
keep the pattern from shifting while you work is to cut little
triangles in various areas of the paper. You can then tape it
to the floor with masking tape pressed over the cutouts.
Tape overlapping paper edges together, keeping the
pattern smooth and flat as you progress. For working with a floor
large enough (over 12’) to require two pieces of flooring, there
are special seam-fitting, pattern-matching, and seam-sealing steps.
Usually flooring comes in 12’ widths. It is best to lay out the
flooring so that the seam will fall in a low-traffic area if at
all possible.
Many floors
have irregular, odd shaped, or just plain hard-to-fit objects
like molding, pipes, a commode, or fancy baseboard joints. Use
smaller pieces of paper when trying to pattern an irregular section
of the floor, adding them on to the main template with tape.
If at all possible, when flooring a bathroom, remove
the toilet. This makes it easier to conceal the cut under the
fixture, making the job look more professional. First shut off
the water supply valve, then remove the drain tank and supply
line. Unbolt the toilet and lift it from the drain pipe.
(After you install the new floor, you will need to remove the
old wax seal under the toilet, install a new wax seal, and reseat
the toilet.)
Marking around
pipes and fixtures takes a bit more care. Mark the center of the
objects by butting your paper template up to the object and marking
the center edge. With scissors, cut a slit in your template from
the center edge to the wall. Now crease the paper template along
both sides and cut out the opening. Always check and make any
necessary corrections to be certain the opening is an exact fit.
If you are
unable to remove a door- way molding, slip the template under
and cut it to fit the jamb.
If the wall molding cannot be removed for whatever
reason, you will need to match the edge line made by the molding
very precisely. Do this by pressing pieces of paper into the crease
where the molding meets the floor. Cut these out with scissors
at the crease and tape them to the overall pattern.
If you are
using an installation kit (some manufacturers provide these for
their sheet vinyl products), the accompanying roller disk will
aid you in marking your pattern. When using this roller, leave
about 1/2” gap between your template paper and the wall. The roller
disk is designed to transfer the wall line to the pattern paper,
leaving an exact 1” space between the pencil line and the wall.
This means this line on the template is actually one full inch
shy of the wall everywhere you use that roller disk With this
method, when you transfer your template to the vinyl, you must
be sure to use a 1” wide straightedge placed along your outline
mark. It will put that inch back onto the flooring when you mark
it. If you don’t have a kit, you can use a 1”wide ruler or a paint
stirrer with a ball point pen cartridge taped to its edge. Whether
you use an installation kit with a disk roller, a
makeshift marker, or just press the paper up to the wall, creasing
it for your outline, it is best to work a short distance at a
time. Do not try to mark a wall in one continuous line.
Make a note
on the pattern identifying the position of any object you had
to fit around, so that you can check its fit and its relative
location one last time before you complete the installation. When
you have finished your template, you should have a paper floor
with all of the landmarks” clearly indicated. Now you should be
ready to get an accurate transfer of your paper pattern onto the
vinyl material.
