Konecto in a damp church basement?

[Sarah N]

I'm starting an interior design bus. and already have taken on a job for the updating of a church basement. I would like to propose a Konecto floor to the church, but have some concerns about moisture. Currently there is VCT (like in every church basement, school or hospital in 1955). It Probably contains the a - word , asebestos. So I would like to put the new floor ontop of the old. I've been told to look under a rubber backed floor matt, to see if there is moisture accumulation. I found one at the foot of the stairs, and there is a fair amount of moisture under it, (in the middle of a 2' X 4' matt.) Would a konecto floor trap moisture under it just like the matt is doing? I have a friend in the business who does commercial floors for a living. He has a moisture testing machine. He will also be advising me on this, but I wanted to get input from any of you who are familiar with the product. My friend advised that we may need to use a product that would breathe to allow moisture through it like a clay based product, I think he said. Any opinions out there? I think Konecto would look pretty good.

[stullis]

Yes the Konecto will act like the mat.
While the moisture won't hurt the Konecto the added moisture could cause the VCT/VAT to have problems, debonding and/or curling. If it debonds probably not a big issue but if it curls that could cause problems.

As far as clay based product, I don't think that will be of any benefit.

Any chance of removing the tiles? Usually they will pop off quite easily.

[Sarah N]

We could have the old vct tiles removed.
Also I was reading in the maintenance section of Konecto- it says you are not supposed to wear high heals on it. That's crazy. We want to rent the hall out for weddings, where 1/2 the people would be wearing high heels. Also states that heavy objects need a 2" diameter glide and chairs a 1". That wouldn't be a problem, but what they are saying is that is quite impressionable. Maybe this is not the product for us after all.

[Barry Carlton]

Sarah N said We could have the old vct tiles removed. Also I was reading in the maintenance section of Konecto- it says you are not supposed to wear high heals on it. That's crazy. We want to rent the hall out for weddings, where 1/2 the people would be wearing high heels. Also states that heavy objects need a 2" diameter glide and chairs a 1". That wouldn't be a problem, but what they are saying is that is quite impressionable. Maybe this is not the product for us after all.

The physics of high heels are surprising! A 120 pound woman in stiletto heels exerts OVER 2000 lbs. psi (per square inch) this will dent hard wood and can chip ceramic.
A 250 pound man in dress shoes exerts LESS than 150 psi.
Konecto is not an inferior product to any other resilient floating floor. But high heels can cause indentations. As they can on very many products.

This used to be on fliers that installers were to leave after completing an Armstrong job.

barry

[stullis]

Generally what they are referring to is stilleto high heels but as Barry points out that is a common issue with whatever floor product you pick out.

Removal of the VCT would be best and then get accurate moisture emission readings.

[jay f]

I remember years ago when I was still doing hardwood, a lady complained that I installed a damaged hardwood and wanted it replaced. I was sent to go to her home to try and repair what I could, then later replace what was still bad. Got to the house, saw little 1/4" indentions all over. Began to analize the traffic pattern, and then asked the customer to follow me. We went from the front entry, down the hallway, to the master bedroom, still following these little indentions. Got to her closet, opened the door, found her (favorite) pair of stilletto heels, and lo and behold, the little heel fit these indentions perfectly. End of complaint.