Saw a huge difference in my glue-down vinyl work after switching to a 100lb roller

I was doing a 1200 sq ft office job with 5mm LVT and kept getting small bubbles. My old 50lb roller just wasn't cutting it. After the first day, I went and rented a 100lb floor roller from the supplier. The next section I did was perfectly flat, zero bubbles or ridges. It added about an hour to my process for rolling each area twice, but the result was night and day. Anyone have a favorite heavy roller brand they stick with for big commercial glue-down jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_morgan28d ago

That 50 to 100 pound roller jump is no joke, is it. I had the exact same bubble problem on a school cafeteria job last year. You just can't get that final squeeze of adhesive without the serious weight. Renting a big roller feels like a hassle but then you see that glassy finish. Makes you wonder why we even try with the lighter tools sometimes.

the_olivia28d ago

A school cafeteria floor with that kind of adhesive issue sounds like a nightmare. Those floors get absolutely destroyed every single day. The thought of trying to fix a bubble problem there with a light roller is actually painful. You must have been fighting a losing battle from the start. It really does prove the point that some jobs just need the heavy gear from the beginning.

karenb9728d ago

Oh, I learned that lesson the hard way. I spent a whole afternoon on my knees with a hand roller, pressing out the same bubble that just kept coming back like a bad penny. My arms were jelly and the floor still looked like a topographical map. The next day I got the big roller and it was flat in two passes. Felt like I'd brought a squirt gun to a house fire the first time.