Joints in the vinyl floor are not only unattractive to look at, but sometimes also carry the risk of permanent damage. For this reason, you should already consider what you should consider when laying the vinyl floor and what you can do when joints are in the vinyl floor, see below.
What causes joints in the vinyl floor to fall apart
Like many floor coverings, a vinyl floor reacts to different room conditions.
The material works – joints are created or dissolved.
In most cases, the reasons for joints in the vinyl floor are either heat or moisture.
While parquet and laminate floors are primarily sensitive to moisture, vinyl floors primarily react to heat.
The material expands strongly when the heat is affected and reassembles when the temperature drops. The result is diverging joints.
Especially often joints are created in the vinyl floor in rooms with large windows or direct light. The sun’s irradiation leads to a sharp increase in the temperature on the surface – and consequently to the expansion of the vinyl floor.
But the vinyl floor also expands more strongly with underfloor heating, which is why it is important to make sure that the surface is not heated too fast or too high.
Incoming moisture and subsequent drying also cause joints to rise in the vinyl floor.
Especially in rooms with high humidity or direct water contact (e.g. for example, with vinyl flooring in the bathroom) this can cause permanent damage or mold formation.
Which avoids joints in the vinyl floor
Due to its material properties, the vinyl floor needs sufficient leeway to work.
Therefore, it is important to insert a expansion joint at the time of installation. This applies wherever the vinyl floor meets immovable components (e.g. walls, pipes, columns, built-in furniture) or other floor coverings.
This expansion joint serves to compensate for the elongation and pulling of the material and to allow joints to diverge only where it is intended.
As a rule of thumb for the edge distance, at least 5 mm or in large rooms 1 mm per meter length.
Vinyl floor gets joints – what to do?
There are several ways to close joints in the vinyl floor. Various products are available from specialist retailers to fill, glue or seal joints.
Elastic materials – e.g. silicone – are best suited to fill joints in the vinyl floor. They remain permanently flexible, which allows the soil to expand accordingly and contract again.
Corresponding joint fillers are available in numerous different colours and compositions. Therefore, they are versatile and are ideal for closing joints in the edge area.
It can also be used to seal transitions to connecting joints for doors, skirting boards or stairs.
Sealing joints waterproof is particularly important for vinyl floors in wet rooms to prevent moisture from entering.
Massively laid vinyl can be easily sealed with silicone, e.g. in the edges and connections to tiles, but this is not recommended for floating floors.