Cutting vinyl floor tiles: Can I use the TS 55? What blade?

[JBBenson]

I am building a pair of tack rooms that will sit on an oversize concrete slab. I want to isolate the floor framing from the slab in the event of rain, and also from water vapor coming through the slab itself.

I thought using vinyl floor tiles, cut into 2" strips, would isolate the wood from the slab without jacking the entire thing up in the air, but still allowing air to flow though. The tiles are also self-sticking, which will help with the install. They are also cheap and readily available.

Has anyone ever cut vinyl floor tiles using the TS 55? If so, what blade did you use?

Thanks in advance for any advice, even if it's "don't do it"......

 

[tjbnwi]

Rent a vinyl tile cutter or a utility knife with a square as a guide.

Tom

 

[AlexThePalex]

Vinyl is soft, so it could be done with any blade I guess, but the more teeth the better.

But I would really worry about the edge you're leaving on the vinyl, probably not as sharp as when you use a knife.

So +1 on what Tom said. 

 

[Johnny5]

That would take more time than its worth, plus the self stick tiles have that gooey glue that you'd be flinging all over the inside of the blade housing.  All they need is to be scored with a knife and they'll snap real easy.

 

[peter halle]

Or if you get a non-adhesive backed tile (i.e. a commercial grade) that is thicker and stiffer then you can heat the cut line area with a heat gun and then use a square and utility knife.

Peter

 

[Brent Taylor]

I agree with the above posts, but why are you covering the concrete slab. I was a stable keep for a lot of years & because of that background I built & remodeled a lot of stables & ranches & slab were almost always the floor of choice. Just asking. Oh, by the way cutting those tile with a saw will make a hell of a mess & dull the blade in a hurry.

 

[tbellemare]

I just cut a bunch of them with a utility knife and square. I then tried a pair of scissors and it was a lot easier but sort of dulled them.

Tom

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Any cutting method that relies on scoring/breaking the tile will not leave a clean edge for abutting tiles. That works (arguably) great when the only cuts are against the wall, but not against other tiles. I laid my entire shop using Kapex to cut all of the tiles, and didn't hesitate to use the cut edge to abut to other tiles--that you can't do with a scored edge. That also includes the transition between rooms where there was narrow strip of transition tiles plus the field tiles that mitered to change direction.

Sawing the tiles, even for just against the walls, was dramatically faster than scoring. And it was a lot more accurate.The cut edge was even cleaner than the factory cut edge. So many times I used the new cut edge against the laid tile instead of against the wall. Where it really came in handy was for small cuts. Shaving a tiny amount is very difficult with a score/break method.

It shouldn't matter which blade you use, as long as it is fine-toothed. I probably used the plastic blade for my Kapex simply because I had one. The tile is soft and cuts nicely. The triple-chip blade will last longer when making as many cuts as I made, though. I probably ran the motor speed slow, but I also use lower speed for most cuts anyway.

 

[tjbnwi]

From what I read, the tiles in the OP are the cheep soft vinyl ones that are self adhesive. They should cut with one pull of the knife across them.

Rick, the tiles in your post appear to be glue down about 1/8" thick, hard body vinyl.

I own a guillotine style VCT cutter, that would be my go to for cutting any of these types of tiles.

Tom

 

[JBBenson]

Thanks for the replies. I didn't know about vinyl tile cutters, but Home Depot has them for 50 bucks, so I will use that.

The tiles were just to isolate the wood floor framing from the concrete slab, so need a bunch of 12" x 3" pieces, like thin little piers.

 

[tjbnwi]

This is the style I have. You may be able to rent one for the day.

http://www.amazon.com/Marshalltown-18-Vinyl-Tile-Cutter/dp/B00A8QI8HS/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_0

Tom

 

[AlexThePalex]

To be honest, I have never seen vinyl tiles over here. We always use vinyl on rolls of 2 or 4 meters wide. But not tiles. Never. Looks like a lot of work to me, and a lot of seams you'd rather want to avoid. Do you guys also use vinyl rolls in America?   

 

[tjbnwi]

To be honest, I have never seen vinyl tiles over here. We always use vinyl on rolls of 2 or 4 meters wide. But not tiles. Never. Looks like a lot of work to me, and a lot of seams you'd rather want to avoid. Do you guys also use vinyl rolls in America? 

Yes, vinyl flooring can be purchased as tiles or sheet (comes in a roll).

Tom

 

[Jim Metzger]

I hope you are putting continuous moisture barrier (typically 6 mil plastic, lapped and tapped seams, run up the wall 6" at the edges)  between the concrete and the wood floor. The idea is to separate the high moisture content of the concrete from the low humidity of the space above.

The minimal space provided by the vinyl tile you are contemplating will keep direct water from the wood sleepers, assuming the water table is below the slab, even during heavy rain events, but moisture will not "move through' the floor channels like it might do in a properly ventilated roof. The channels will trap and maintain high humidity without any means of vapor draw and venting and will eventually lead to mold or rot in the wood.

Good luck with your project, this is one of those areas that need to be thought out carefully, you may want to look at a few more details online in addition to figuring out what the appropriate tools are to complete your install.

regards,

Jim

 

[fshanno]

Interesting that you should ask.  You can certainly do it on a table saw cause I just did it on mine.  I used a cheap thin kerf blade with 40 teeth.

The project is a doll house for my granddaughter's 18" American dolls.

I just cut up 10 12" VCT tiles.  I made a bunch of 3.5 x 3.5 squares. 

Also cut up a bunch of vinyl wood grain peel and stick.  The original pieces are 3.5" wide blanks that are about 3' long.  I ripped them down to 1" wide strips.  This is soft and pliable stuff but it cut well on the table saw.  Looks like a scaled down hardwood floor.

It's a big dollhouse, about 6' wide by 7' tall by 2' deep.