its all in the bounce
One role I play in the construction of my projects is Construction Administrator.
After the design is done and the bids have been reviewed and accepted, I gear up for construction. My role for this next phase of the project has me working closely with the contractors, answering their questions, certifying payment applications and reviewing the overall progress.
The focus of this post is to share a small trick. I learned this highly scientific method for checking vinyl floor tile installations from an old general contractor that I admired a lot. It is definitely NOT the industry approved method, but it gives you a basic idea if the vinyl tiles have been adhered properly to floor’s substrate.
It’s All In The Bounce
My contractor friend taught me to take a golf ball with me on my site visits. When a vinyl floor tile installation is complete, bounce the golf ball on the tile floor. Just as you would a regular ball, drop it from waist high.
If it bounces solidly back up to you, the rule of thumb is that the tile has the proper adhesion and has been installed correctly. If you drop the golf ball and you hear a “thud” or a hollow sound and does not bounce back, there might be a problem. I mainly use this trick as a preliminary way to see if the installation is alright. If it is not, we may need to do the REAL adhesion test or use some other way to check.
The pros to using this test is it is quick. The cons is that it is quick and very localized. You would have to bounce the golf ball on every single tile to really have an understanding if everything was installed properly.
Regardless, I like to use this simple test.
Do you have any tricks to share?
photo credit: dwyman
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