Fix messy LVT (Amtico) install - undercut skirting & architrave ?

The new build I bought 5 years ago came with Amtico luxury vinyl tiles, but they have been badly fitted by the flooring contractor.

They did not undercut the skirting and architrave, instead they just filled the expansion gap with silicone and even made a mess of that, now 5 years on its looking much worse.

I'm now considering replacing just the tiles along the edges of the skirting boards and putting an undercut in the skirting and architrave (whilst leaving a gap for expansion) so that I can get rid of all the silicone.

I am even prepared to remove the skirting boards if that makes things easier (I have removed skirting boards several times in the living room for another project).

The skirting is 18mm thick MDF, so how much expansion gap should I allow, is 2mm enough?

By replacing the tiles along the skirting and undercutting I assume there will be no need for silicone ?

Would my plan work and is there any advice I should take ?

I just want to get rid of the nasty silicone rather than replace it because it looks terrible especially as it ages, shrinks, peels off and attracts dirt.

I already have some Amtico left from when I replaced tiles that were water damaged and to replace the MDF door thresholds a year ago (using Amtico SF adhesive).

The Amtico is only fitted in the downstairs toilet, hall way and kitchen (its only a 2 bed so not very big).

The pictures below show how bad the silicone looks and these were taken a year ago so its looking even worse now....

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Below are pictures when I removed painted MDF door thresholds and replaced them with plywood (EN 314-2 Class 3) and Amtico - I seem to have done a better job at fitting the Amtico then the flooring contractor !

 

Had problems placing this post, below are the pictures of the silicone...

 

Ya don’t need expansion for lvt if you’re doing it yourself it might be better to take the skirting off and undercutting architrave looks like the fitter used an heat gun to Fit it if you don’t want to mess about just clean off the skirting and get a good fitter to sort it saves you buying the glue etc shouldn’t cost ya that much

 

New build quality !

 

Just keep in mind the flooring might not be still available and if it is the colour might be chalk and cheese due to batch shading, it might be a possibility you need to do a full uplift and put something else down which would require the sub floor prepping again.


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Thanks all for your replies. Interesting to hear that Amitco does not need an expansion gap ?

I've priced up the cost of new skirting board and it comes to £60 (pre-primed and £16 of that is for delivery). Unfortunately I have to order it online as typical stores don't sell it, even though its only a standard bull nose MDF board.

I last ordered a pack of Amtico (Spacia Sun Bleached Oak) in November 2019 and it still shows its available on the Amtico website. I replaced a few tiles due to water damage and I can't tell any difference with the colour match, so hopefully if I order another box the colour will match. And I've still got 11 tiles left from the last pack.

In the hall way most of the tiles run adjacent to the skirting so this will be less effort, in the downstairs toilet most of the tiles are perpendicular to the skirting so therefore more tiles will need replacing.

I've removed all the silicone and although it looks a mess, it actually looks better with the silicone removed because the silicone looked so bad. But you can see how the tiles have lifted away from the floor (or warped?)

There is also a 'ripple' that has appeared over the years by the door threshold, I can feel the ripple when I run my fingers over it. I've no idea what caused it, presumably another sign of poor workman ship ?

See pictures below...

 

That's bloody awful fitting that is. Heat gun and slash job that is.

That ripple looks like your subfloor has cracked, seen it fair amount of times on newbuilds.
Easily fixed by taking them up and feathering it up.

 

...thats if that ripple started to appear as apposed to was there from day dot when the labourer fitted the amtico

 

Terrible isn’t it. I’ve done a better job myself with the door thresholds. The developer stopped using the contractor as they were doing such a bad job on other properties.

The ripple wasn’t there when I moved in else I would have made them fix it. It started to appear after 2 or 3 years.

What do you mean by using heat gun by the way? How would they have used a heat gun to fit it?

 

Shocking the state of most new builds. No standards and most things done on a price so rushed.

they have heating the planks up and used a hook blade to cut them in.

 

They slot the plank in flapped up against the wall then heat it up so it's soft and 'chop' it in just like you would cut cushion floor against the skirts.

That ripple could be a crack on the subfloor then.

 

When I fitted Amtico to the door thresholds I scored the tile with a stanley knife to cut to shape. Surely thats easier (and more accurate) than using a heat gun ?

 

How do I fix the crack in the sub floor by 'feathering it up' ? What does this mean ? Will I need to screed the crack ?

 

Yes you are right about the 'accurate' part but when you see fitters heat up planks with a heat gun flapped up against the skirts whilst slashing through 6 of them then that's quicker....not the right and accurate way but alot quicker.

 

It's also down to them being to damn lazy aswell

 

Wish I had known what a bad job they had done within the first year, I would have made them refit it properly but it’s too late now so I have to correct it myself. I’m sure I can do a better, though not professional, job myself. Can’t be any worse than the bodge they made !

 

That’s always a problem on new builds, they won’t hire in a professional to do a proper job because it costs them money and more importantly time.


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Yet at the same time they are all over priced ! So the developers are making a fortune

 

They sell them well before they’re ready and make bigger profit margins than they should if the quality of workmanship was there, while it’s true the tradesmen should take some of the blame for cheap materials and less than ideal work, they are put under strain by the developers with unrealistic budgets and an awful schedule to get it done, I have been lucky working with smaller developers in the past that had realistic expectations and made the whole process a joy to work on but it’s really few and far between.


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I've removed a few small pieces of skirting and a few tiles, the ripple in the Amtico is obviously caused by a crack in the sub floor as can be seen in the picture below.

Unfortunately some of the screed came up with one of the tiles too.

1. How do I repair this damaged screed, do I just fill with new screed and if so what screed do I use ?

2. Whats the best way to lift the tiles, without causing damage to the screed and surrounding tiles ?