Nearly invisible: Repairing a vinyl floor

By Tresa Erickson

It wasn’t that long ago that you installed new vinyl flooring in your kitchen. Unfortunately, you came home one day to find a small rip in it. The felt pads on the bottom of one of the table legs fell off and the metal foot caught on the vinyl as your teens were sliding it over to make room for their buddies. You weren’t real happy, but rather than get upset about it, you decided to throw down a rug for the time being. Now that you’ve got some time, you’d like to patch the tear. Here are some instructions.

Supplies:
• Scrap vinyl
• Utility knife
• Painter’s tape
• Straightedge
• Putty knife
• Vinyl adhesive
• Vinyl seam sealer
• Rags

Directions:
1. Take your scrap vinyl and cut out a piece to match the pattern in the damaged area. It should be about four inches wider and longer than the damaged area.
2. Match up the new piece of vinyl to the damaged area and tape it down. 3. Using a straightedge and a sharp utility knife, cut around the new piece into the damaged vinyl underneath. If needed, score the vinyl and cut it a few times.
4. Remove the tape, set the freshly cut patch aside and take up the old vinyl that has now been cut. Use a putty knife to break up the adhesive underneath.
5. Clean off any remaining adhesive and dry-fit the patch. Trim the patch if necessary and bevel the bottom edges to make it fit better.
6. Use a putty knife to apply adhesive to the back of the patch. Press the patch into place.
7. Clean up any adhesive that squeezes out from under the seams with a damp rag.
8. Set a heavy object on top of the patch to prevent curling.
9. Allow the adhesive to dry according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 10. Apply a vinyl seam sealer to the seams to bring them together and make the patch nearly invisible.

If you do it right, your patch should blend right in and be hard to detect. Only you and your family will know where the rip was. Good luck!

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