LVT alignment issues with a pattern

masraum · 02:01 PM

The missus liked LVT with a pattern. The pattern is 16" square and there are 3 per plank, so the planks are 16"x48". The Mannington installation video says to stagger the planks by at least 8" (for the model of plank, most of which does not have a pattern). I figured I should stagger them by a pattern. My assumption is that the stagger helps to hold the joints at the ends of the boards, so it seem pretty important. The problem is that when I stagger them, the alignment changes a little at every joint.

These are the joints going down the same row, the gradually get more and more off.

first tiles, pattern matched up, mostly on the right edge

needed to get the seam tighter, and the alignment is starting to drift.

Alignment is more off.

hard to see the alignment issues, but it's the worst here which is furthest from where I started

I laid this out a few weeks back, but was in a hurry with no extra time, so didn't get to mess with them much. I fiddled with a few and figured out how to get the seams tight every time.

I also measured the gap between the points at the corners of 2 patterns. For the gaps in the middle of a pattern, they are 10mm apart. When I measure a couple of the tiles that I just laid down, one is 7.6mm and another is 6.4mm. Craps never going to line up like that. I've got a ticket open with the vendor (for about 2 weeks now, but I'm assuming the lack of contact is due to the holidays). I suppose if they were laid not staggered, they should be OK, although they'll probably never exactly line up.

THen, when I look at the reference photo of this tile from the manufacturer, they don't seem to have staggered the tiles.

reference photo from manufacturer's website where they don't seem to have staggered these tiles.

I think this is Mannington's top of the link LVP. It's their Adura Apex Max (or is that Max Apex).

Rot 911 · 01-03-2022, 02:13 PM

The whole purpose of staggering wood flooring is to make it pleasing to the eye. I would think if you want to look to be tile squares it would not matter if the planks were staggered or not. Although, I would think, if all of the planks were printed with the same imprint it should lineup whether or not you stagger the planks. If it was me, And the only way I could get the pattern to match up would be to not stagger the planks, then I wouldn’t stagger them.

masraum · 01-03-2022, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rot 911

The whole purpose of staggering wood flooring is to make it pleasing to the eye. I would think if you want to look to be tile squares it would not matter if the planks were staggered or not. Although, I would think, if all of the planks were printed with the same imprint it should lineup whether or not you stagger the planks. If it was me, And the only way I could get the pattern to match up would be to not stagger the planks, then I wouldn’t stagger them.

I'm assuming we're either going to have to not stagger them, or we'll have to returns them and get something else (really don't want to incur the extra wait time for that).

I tried calling the manufacturer about my ticket, but they close at 5pm ET, so I am a little late. I'll try again tomorrow. They put my ticket in "waiting client response" status the day after I opened it, but I haven't been contacted as far as I can tell. No big deal, especially around the holidays.

gregpark · 01-03-2022, 04:29 PM

That's going to be one busy floor! The 8" butt joints spacing they call for does not apply to patterned goods. Patterned goods also require more material. Non patterned tiles add 5% for waste, patterned at least double. They won't break cartons for you either.
The planks will stay together without staggering as long as every joint is truly locked. If you want to stagger, start the next course from the middle out to split the difference of the pattern running on at the ends. Your room is 9' ? That's only 2 planks plus a 6" fill on the ends, right? That's a lot of waste, 3' out of the middle of a plank. The planks must be locked together all around and can run in only one direction. It's always adds significant cost to use a Patterned material.

Bugsinrugs · 01-03-2022, 07:21 PM

How flat is your floor? If it’s irregular that will throw patterns off.

masraum · 01-03-2022, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregpark

That's going to be one busy floor! The 8" butt joints spacing they call for does not apply to patterned goods. Patterned goods also require more material. Non patterned tiles add 5% for waste, patterned at least double. They won't break cartons for you either.
The planks will stay together without staggering as long as every joint is truly locked. If you want to stagger, start the next course from the middle out to split the difference of the pattern running on at the ends. Your room is 9' ? That's only 2 planks plus a 6" fill on the ends, right? That's a lot of waste, 3' out of the middle of a plank. The planks must be locked together all around and can run in only one direction. It's always adds significant cost to use a Patterned material.

OK, good to know that these shouldn't be or, at least, don't have to be staggered.

I got a bunch of extra (I think 50%). I was anticipating (waste, screw ups and maybe even having some extra for repairs if necessary.

Yes, a bunch of waste. I think the room is about 9.5' square. Then we've got another ~5'x6' 1/2 bath upstairs where we'll be using the same flooring, so we need about 120-130sqft. I think I ordered ~190sqft.

Hopefully, we have enough extra waste to manage the old 1/2bath which is 4x6. I don't think we planned on doing that room, but depending upon how much waste we have and how I can get it to lay out, I'll see what I can do.

masraum · 01-03-2022, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

How flat is your floor? If it’s irregular that will throw patterns off.

It's pretty flat, but not completely flat. It's not that it's not flat, it's that the pattern isn't perfectly aligned on the planks to preserve the spacing between the patterns at the ends of the planks.

The standard gap between two patterns is 10mm, but I measured two earlier that were 7.6mm and 6.4mm.

gregpark · 01-03-2022, 08:07 PM

The pattern won't run off due to an un-level floor. The pattern shouldn't run off no matter what. Mannington product? Their product's are usually pretty good quality. Industry standard allows a quarter inch in 10 foot discrepancy but that's just to insure the floating floor to lay flat.
You should be able to return unopened cartons with no restock fee unless you purchased on line.

gregpark · 01-03-2022, 08:30 PM

Maybe Mannington is out sourcing to F'ing China. Everyone else is. I think they're based in New Jersey