Allure: lessons learned

[Wecanoe]

Good morning,

Just finished (mostly) getting commercial grade Allure onto the kitchen floor. Wanted to forward some observations for other diy'ers (and maybe pros) who head down this path.

1. Directions were on the back of one of the seven boxes I received; another box (about the third opened) held a booklet of more detailed directions. No other directions were found.

2. To roll or not to roll. The box said roll the seams. The booklet advised rolliing seams but said that normal walking would suffice. I followed advice from the pros here and rolled seams as I went. Used small wallpaper roller, but worked ok. Gave it max pressure and lots of repitition. Some pieces had wrinkles. May rent 100# roller and try to smooth 'em out.

3. Before seam rolling, pieces can be nudged into place, or removed and reset fairly easily. There is a technique. See instructions. After seams rolled, whew, the stuff does stick.

4. Occasionally, despite best nudging efforts, a crack would not go away. Thats life. Ended up midway with a corner beginning to be offset by about 1/2 mm or so. Carefully trimmed it with knife to make for smooth connection. Worked; no visible crack.

5. The directions say "score and snap." Hah! This stuff is tough! It ain't namby-pamby sheetrock. It took me ~5 light scores (reasonably sharp knife) to get through the upper wear layer. Then beared down for about 5 more. Bearing down on the first cuts usually sent the knife askew. Then bend, flex and snap. Even easier if the bottom side is scored. Learned to be patient. At times, wished I'd set up the table saw.

6. Allure, per instructions, is forgiving of irregular underlayment. I peeled the old faux tile vinyl surface off and feathered edges best I could with scraper and belt sander. Yep, figgered stuff was new enough not to contain asbestos (if not, well, mesothelioma takes about 20 years to develop and I'll be ready to shuffle off then anyway). Replaced ~2x4 feet of osb underlayment where dishwasher had leaked. The heavy Allure planks (~3/16' thickness) cover it all.

7. Starting the rows. I used similar method as for the Tarkett engineered wood planks. Snapped chalk line 13" from wall, locating from ends of wall (the wall curved outward ~1/4"). Tacked two small nails (1 1/4" underlayment) carefully on line to locate ends of each piece . Assembled first course using nails to line up edges (do NOT yet roll seams). Pulled nails. Double and triple checked straightness against string line, nudged as needed. Snapped second chalk line 25" from wall ends. Assembled second course on first. Double and triple checking for straightness against line. When ok, rolled seams, slid against wall (1/8" gap) and weighted to hold. Applied double back carpet tape (~24" per each tile) to anchor third course. Set the tape ~8" away from the adhesive tile edge so that it was hopefully the last sticky thing the tile contacted. Again, checked for straightness and distance from wall. Layed up remaining tiles. Applied tabs of double back tape under tile ends ending each course. Rolling the tape onto the floor made removing backing much easier.

That's about it. Bottom line for me, looks good, low maintenance, and complements the Tarket engineered oak.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Best, Wecanoe

[Wecanoe]

Allure p.s.;

1. Seams (Topstone Artica pattern, kinda looks like granite) are a bit more obvious than those in a friends's wood grain that are invisible without very close inspection. But I wanted a smoother surface and a non-wood pattern. About 1/3 seams are nearly invisible, 1/3 hard to detect, then are are some others......
2. Really GOOD knee pads again proved their cost-effectiveness.
3. Kept vacuum cleaner, broom and dust pan handy, cleaning before setting each plank or course. The adhesive strips are premier dust magnets.
4. Probably did not need to peel off the old vinyl surface layer. The Allure planks could have handled it and it would have added a waterproof layer. One pro response advised against it. But thats water under the bridge (hopefully not under the floor). Far be it from me to always listen to the voice of experience....

Wecanoe