Repairing Cali Vinyl Pro Classic with Kool Glide

Note: We inserted a demo video at the bottom of this article to help.

Overview:

A great feature, if not, one of the greatest features of most vinyl plank floors today is that they are DIY friendly. This allows more people to install their own flooring, potentially saving them money. However, there is a downside to this. Most people aren’t professionals and more often than not, can’t match an install done by a pro. This can lead to either poor visuals or structural quality in the install.

Another problem is that there is a lot of defective product on the market, or product of low quality. This can be spotted a mile away by a professional, but most homeowners don’t know what to look for. This leads to poor quality material staying on the market. Hidden by low prices, deceptive marketing, and enabled by homeowners who want to save a penny today to spend a dollar tomorrow.

Poorly installed laminate floor with no stagger installed over carpet pad. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!

However, not all poor installs or defective product claims are total losses. Often, it’s just a few vinyl planks here and there. Also, it’s possible your installation came out perfect. You simply need to repair your floors due to pet damage or accidents. In the following paragraphs we will summarize why and how we repaired SPC Cali Vinyl Pro Classic floors using the Kool Glide Iron. To conclude, we’ve also added a Demo Video to help learn about the system.

The Kool Glide System

Kool Glide Seam Iron used for carpet installations and vinyl plank repairs.

The Kool Glide iron is mostly used for carpet installs. It’s also good for repairing Vinyl Backed products, such as floating LVT or LVP. Whether the floor is an SPC or a WPC, we find that the Kool Glide does a very good job at repairing either. However, most WPCs have an attached cork underlayment, so we can’t repair with the Kool Glide in that instance. There is a way to repair those vinyl planks, which we will cover in a different video.

Unlike traditional seam irons, the Kool Glide uses microwaves to heat up their specialized seam tape. The iron never gets hot nor does it make contact with the adhesive. This allows you to heat through carpet with no mess. This also allows you to heat through a thin surface such as a luxury vinyl plank.

We find that most repairs we’ve had to do are in busy areas, such as kitchens or bathrooms. Often a dishwasher or toilet leaks, and that requires us to tear out the floor. In the tear out process, many planks are damaged and won’t click back together. Luckily, by using a Kool Glide, we can

Avoid damaging the surrounding floor
Speed up repair times
Leave a stronger repair using the Kool Glide than repairs using traditional repair techniques.

Kool Glide Repair Video:

Without much further ado, here is our video depicting LVP repairs on Cali Vinyl Pro Classic Products.

Carpet has remained one of the most popular flooring options in our part of the country due to it’s warmth and noise reducing properties. Most people would consider Fargo, North Dakota as a cold state six months out of the year, so carpet really does shine compared to other flooring options such as ceramic tile. Due to it’s popularity coupled with a skilled installer shortage, we’ve found that most carpets are not properly installed. One of the most skipped steps is properly power stretching the carpet.

Vintage Carpet Installation Using Power Stretcher

If your carpet is meant to be stretched but your installer says it’s not necessary, you may want to reconsider having them do your carpet installation. Power stretching carpet has been around almost as long as modern constructed carpets. Brands such as Shaw, Southwind, Mohawk, and Axminister actually require it per their installation instructions. A knee kicker does not apply the same amount of force as a power stretcher does, since the knee kicker can’t hold the wall to wall stretch that the power stretcher can.

Man improperly installing carpet with no power stretcher

Man installing carpet properly with knee kicker and power stretcher

In the two photos above, you can see that two different individuals attempting to install carpet. Use of a knee kicker without assistance of the larger power stretcher will not only leave your carpet improperly stretched, but will also be much harder on the body and knees. This can potentially lead to injuries with a reduced ability to perform future carpet installations.

Power Stretching Helps A Carpet From Developing Wrinkles

A power stretcher helps keep a carpet from developing wrinkles, which means it stays looking and feeling newer for longer. Wrinkles or simply improper stretching can damage the bond between the primary and secondary backings in your carpet. Once your carpet starts to develop damage between it’s two backings, this can lead to what’s known as delamination which would make it next to impossible to stretch as the carpet can no longer attach properly to the tackstrip which holds it in place.

Power Stretching is one of many steps required to properly install your carpet. There are other factors that help determine the longevity of your carpeting, such as carpet padding, fiber type, density, etc. We will cover that in future posts. If you have any questions, feel free to fill reach out to us via our contact us page!

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