How to Install a Commercial Vinyl Floor Covering

Commercial vinyl tiles are a thicker, harder, more durable form of the regular vinyl tiles that you might normally install in your home. Known as "vinyl composite tiles," or "VCT," they're made of vinyl combined with other compounds to give them more strength and durability. Although they're usually installed in stores and offices, you can buy vinyl composite tiles for your home for use in kids' playrooms, workshops and other areas where the floor takes some abuse.

• 1

  Use your chalk snap line to divide the floor into four squares, with two wall-to-wall lines that intersect in the middle of the floor. Use a carpenter's square to ensure the lines are exactly perpendicular to one another.

• 2

  Lay a layer of vinyl tile adhesive over the intersection of the two lines, covering as much area as you can reach from one position. You should be able to see the lines through the adhesive.

• 3

  Set your first commercial vinyl tiles in the adhesive, lined up with the lines at the intersection. Press the edges of the tiles tightly together as you lay them. Press each tile firmly into the adhesive, using both palms of your hands.

• 4

  Spread more adhesive and start working your way out from the middle of the floor toward the edges of the room, using the lines to keep the grid straight. Cover the whole floor, stopping near the walls where there isn't room for more full tiles.

• 5

  Let the full tiles set overnight. Measure and cut the tiles for the edges of the room, using your tile cutter. Set them with their cuts facing the walls. Let them dry overnight.