Repairing an old Solarian Supreme floor

[highup]

The floor was damaged from a dropped cutting board. It landed on the sharp edged corner and isn't something that a coat of sealer will fix. It actually 'chipped' off a 1/4" by 1/2" piece of the vinyl flooring........... but not all the way through the entire material......... weird.
The little piece that was chipped loose was only 50% to 75% of the thickness of the material............. in other words, if this was felt backed goods, it would be like chipping off and separating the top vinyl layer from the paper backing.
For those that remember, this old Solarian Supreme (25+ years old) was the good stuff with the wear layer and color chips composing a substantial amount of the material's thickness just like the original Solarian's paper version did.
The total damaged area is about an inch square. I could just fix (cut out and replace) that one inch area. The old material is slightly darker from age than the rem he saved and the patch would be in the middle of a colored area, and not near a grout line. Darn!
If that smaller repair doesn't look good because of the color difference, I'd need to cut out substantially larger a section following along the grout lines. That repair would be a 2 1/2" by 5" rectangle with a 45 degree point on one end. They don't make the original adhesive anymore......... but that's being worked on.

If I do the larger repair option, I suppose that I glue the repair and surrounding area directly to the floor? ........remember, this floor "floats" in the middle ......it's only adhered around the perimeter.
Is there a repair procedure that 'honors' the floating part of the installation? ......or just glue it to the underlayment like the edges were done?
Anyhow, long story short, (you know me well) I don't recall the correct repair procedure for this old perimeter adhered material.......... Double faced tape under the repair area, then sealer? Or do I need adhesive then sealer?
I do know that once the floor is cut, it shrinks and pulls open because of it's design............ ie: If you cut a perfect 6" square to repair the vinyl, the sides of the cut opening will soon distort into a convexed sided square from the shrinkage of the material. The cut sides will not remain straight for very long.

Anyone recall the repair procedure for Solarian Supreme? This was called the Interflex System.

 

[Incognito]

I believe I recall the Armstrong training instructor assured us the new seam sealer they're using IS the old Interflex adhesive with a new number and label.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Armstrong-8-oz-Floor-Seam-Adhesive-00761123/203468100

If I'm mistaken about that-----as far as being the S-761 then it's another one of their newer adhesives that just Interflex glue under a different name.

 

[Nick]

I tried to do a live chat with them today . Forget about it .

 

[highup]

I believe I recall the Armstrong training instructor assured us the new seam sealer they're using IS the old Interflex adhesive with a new number and label.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Armstrong-8-oz-Floor-Seam-Adhesive-00761123/203468100

If I'm mistaken about that-----as far as being the S-761 then it's another one of their newer adhesives that just Interflex glue under a different name.

Wow, you dug up a relic. Much appreciated.
Here's the damage.
I discovered today that the vinyl backing layer of the material can actually be separated from the upper granular layer............. in theory, with a repair so small.
I'm actually thinking that it might be possible to cut/carve away only the damaged upper inlayed material, and leave the lower vinyl backing layer intact.
If that works, I'd then inset a custom fit section of the upper inlayed layer and glue it onto the lower backing layer. It's a smaller area than I recalled............ I really don't want to cut out a large section, following the grout lines.
I found that it is possible to peel apart the upper and lower layers by just slowly pulling them apart.
.............kinda like if you scraped the frosting off of a cake, then replaced the damaged frosting rather than carving down through the entire cake till you hit the plate.
enough for now .............I just had a strong urge for some dessert.

 

[Nick]

Put a piece of furniture on it .

 

[havasu]

Years ago, I had a tear in a new linoleum floor that was installed in my kitchen. I laid a scrap piece with the exact pattern match, then used a razor blade to cut into both pieces on an inconspicuous line. Yeah, in theory, it worked, but they say to use clear fingernail polish on the newly cut seam, to keep the piece from lifting, but found it to discolor very quickly and hated how I knew where that spot was.

 

[Ernesto]

I'd patch that section doing the peel off method you described and call it a day. Done that before. Or you can buy one of these kits.

http://cal-flor.com/Products/Mix2Match-VinylFix.aspx?catID=4

 

[highup]

Years ago, I had a tear in a new linoleum floor that was installed in my kitchen. I laid a scrap piece with the exact pattern match, then used a razor blade to cut into both pieces on an inconspicuous line. Yeah, in theory, it worked, but they say to use clear fingernail polish on the newly cut seam, to keep the piece from lifting, but found it to discolor very quickly and hated how I knew where that spot was.

The location of this one is in a bad location. You take one step into the kitchen and the damage is dead center in a 6 foot wide kitchen prep area. 16 feet past that damaged spot are the big kitchen windows above the sink. In other words, there's lots of light reflecting off the floor as you walk towards the kitchen doorway.
Cutting on the grout lines would probably be better as far as making it invisible. I just wanted to avoid gluing this repair area to the underlayment. If this was old school paper backed Solarian and I had some S-200, I'd just go right at it and replace the section along those grout lines.
I might just try the smaller repair first, but I need an adhesive that works on vinyl to vinyl if I can successfully peel off the damaged surface and replace it with a graft.

 

[Ernesto]

Its gonna be very visible unless you cut along the grout lines I guarantee it. Sundial Solarian was my fav.

 

[Incognito]

I also think it's a real bad idea do try anything other than the standard patch along grout lines. ESPECIALLY because of the location---traffic and lighting issues.

 

[highup]

Its gonna be very visible unless you cut along the grout lines I guarantee it. Sundial Solarian was my fav.

I also think it's a real bad idea do try anything other than the standard patch along grout lines. ESPECIALLY because of the location---traffic and lighting issues.

I still need to find an adhesive that would work well for each method. I may do a test with 288 tomorrow.
I wonder how far it needs to get back under the repair area. That's gonna be tricky getting the right amount under there being its a relatively small opening. I may need to convert a 1" wide putty knife into a trowel if I go for the larger repair.
The underlayment is that wonderful old 1/4" Weyerhauser Structurewood.
I'm on another project and wont go back to this one untill a sealer kit comes in....... knowbody stocks the Armstrong kits, they just order them when they need one for a job.

 

[highup]

Its gonna be very visible unless you cut along the grout lines I guarantee it. Sundial Solarian was my fav.

Your guarantee is worth it's weight in cow crap bucko.
I can run circles around your repair work.
On my screen, the image of the circular cutout/repair is about 5" in diameter for reference, meaning that this is a very close-up and personal view compared to a person's visual at standing height. The lighting is from a halogen work light positioned at a low angle, 15 feet way to amplify any irregularities in the repair height or ledging issues of the repair. Click off the strong halogen light and stand up normally and that isn't a repair any more.............. it don't exist.
The actual diameter of the repair is just over 1 1/8 inches. ..........and yes I made a tool to do this ......and no, I don't have a name for it yet. Circle Cutter 2016 comes to mind.
Buy one, get the second one free. Just pay separate postage and handling.

The blue tapes point towards the completed repair.
I ordered some Armstrong high gloss sealer and was sent the low gloss sealer, S-500, so I asked them to re-order and send me the high gloss kit.
Other than a tiny smear of seam sealer, it's a done-did repair.
I might even use a Mannington or Congoleum 2 part high gloss sealer to complete this repair.
The last image is the damaged piece that I removed with the Circle Cutter 2016
(Buy one, get the second one free. Just pay separate postage and handling)
next to the completed repair.

 

[Jon]

You clever boy
Looks good to me
You can have Sunday off

 

[highup]

Send me your credit card number to get your free Circle Cutter 2000 instruction manual. It will arrive in 6 to 190 business days. (tool is optional)

 

[highup]

You clever boy
Looks good to me
You can have Sunday off

.......'BE A LOT EASIER IF THE FLOOR WASN'T FREEKIN WHITE.

 

[Nick]

Good job Hi, How much was the cutter ?

 

[DarisMulkin]

I want one of those cutters so I enclosed a dollar 3-80 in this post.

Daris

 

[Floorist]

Great job, Highup.

 

[Incognito]

Looks good to me

 

[highup]

I want one of those cutters so I enclosed a dollar 3-80 in this post.

Daris

Go buy one at your local True Value Hardware store. They are found in isles 17, 25, 43 and the metal rack on the northwest wall ....some assembly required

Good job Hi, How much was the cutter ?

'bout $20 including the 10-32 tap and hex head machines screws
I used two 4" ABS drain pipe end caps. One is the type that you glue on and the other is threaded for opening a pipe for cleaning it out. The screw in cap has a large square "nut" thing embossed in the molding process so you can turn it with a wrench........ that large nut thing acts as the gripping device so you can rotate the cutter. The inside cavity of that same part of the cap is where I screwed the cutter to.........the plastic is thick and strong.

I cut a hole in the 'glue on' pipe cap.......... that's where the cutter fits into when the device is assembled.
Place the piece with the hole in it over the damaged area, centering it. Now insert the cutter and slowly turn it one revolution.
This isn't adjustable. I found pipe end caps that just happened to be close to what I needed. I wish I had machine tools so it could be made to be adjustable.