What Are Vinyl Composition Tile Floors?

Composition

• Vinyl composition tile is primarily ground limestone or calcium carbonate, combined with small amounts of vinyl and plasticizer. Created in the 1970s, VCT provided a safe substitute for Vinyl Asbestos Tile, although VCT is far more chemically-dependent than its Victorian ancestor linoleum.

Appearance

• The preponderance of VCT is uniform in color, with a wide range of neutrals, darks and bright primary colors, depending on the manufacturer. Many tiles display a texture created by incorporating a variety of vinyl chips of closely-related shades of the same color. Others imitate stone surfaces with flecks of one color playing against a contrasting streaked or smooth main color. Flecked or lightly pebbly designs permit easy assembly of tile floors.

Construction

• Tile floors are created with simple measurements and tools. Although institutional and many residential floors are professional laid, VCT floors can be laid successfully by mildly- to moderately-adept do-it-yourselfers. Tiles are fixed with a semi-liquid adhesive or may come as peel-and-stick, with pre-applied adhesive. Their approximately 1/8 inch thickness and square-foot size makes them easy to handle and fairly easy to trim to fit around pipes, forced-air vents or baseboards.

VCT Difficulties and Concerns

• Surface preparation is of critical importance when getting ready to lay a VCT floor. While easy to lay, tiles are unforgiving of even small bumps and cracks. All the extra time spent smoothing the floor before applying tile will be repaid in a smooth, attractive surface. The other difficulty sometimes experienced with VCT is the enlarging of seams between tiles after a floor has be used briefly. While it appears that tiles may have shrunk, that is seldom the case. More frequently, tiles have spread out to fill all available space. In areas where heavy loads may be rolled over the floor, tiles may have been pushed against walls and doorways, leading to the widening of seams through spreading.

The Future of VCT

• While issues of volatile compounds associated with VCT adhesives have been addressed, tile still dictates large quantities of chemically based cleaners to maintain its shining, smooth surface. Proponents of greener industry also point to chemical use in manufacturing, although VCT producers are developing "take-back" and sustainability programs to lessen chemical use in production. New compounds, MCT, Marmoleum Composition Tile, and BBT, Bio-Based Tile constitute significant innovations in floor-tile manufacture and may be followed by other greener substitutes for VCT.