Large floor graphics, overlap?

[kanini]

Hi! Just wondering; with larger floor graphics such as this circle I'm going to make thats 24 ft wide (7,5 meters), do I need to overlap the graphics at the seams (I print the "tiles" 54" wide) or should I try to get them edge-to-edge instead? If I overlap them I'm afraid it will be high "bumps" in the graphic (the laminate is quite thick), but if I make them edge to edge I think it's more difficult to align the graphics? What do you suggest?

Thank you!

[lance]

I've never done this sort of work, but is it possible to print to do an overlap, and then trim it back to flat after laying ?

[bigwater]

I don't think I'd overlap it. The raised edge will create a drag point when people walk across it, and it won't take very many shoe toes bumping that edge before it starts to lift. If you think aligning edge to edge is going to be too difficult, you might want to experiment laying it out as a mosaic in your design program and see what it looks like. Lay it out in a pattern leaving maybe 1/8" or 1/4" between the tiles. On a 24' oval, those gaps won't be that noticeable, and might even give it a more artistic appeal (depending on the design).

[kanini]

Thanks for the replies, I too think the best thing would be not to overlap. Unfortunately the customer thought we would warrant the floor graphics for a full year, instead for three months and they told us at first! I told them that there's almost nothing that would hold up for a year at that place (heavy foot traffic), probably up to 6 months would be maximum - I mean, look at a floor graphic that's 6 months old!! So I gave the customer a new offert for an exchange of the graphic after 6 months but they told me it was out of their budget...? Well, I don't really mind, since the customer didn't seem to know what they wanted... =)
I haven't actually seen any floor laminate that's warranted for more than 9 months at the most...

[bigwater]

I have a friend who specializes in concrete floor finishing. He regularly has me cut templates for him so that he can stain concrete floors with logos into them. He starts with raw concrete floors, and by the time it's finished it looks like polished marble with all sorts of logos and fleurs imbedded in it. If you've got somebody in your area that specializes in that sort of concrete floor refinishing, you might want to pick up the phone and give the guy a referral. Once the customer gets a quote on what that will cost he'll swallow his tongue and when he recovers he'll likely come back to you for another talk.

[kanini]

Yes, I also thought about some kind of embedding at first, but since they also wanted it removed after at first three months and later a year, and for a lower budget and with good durability and and and... so I guess the equation didn't make sense and I think it's better that the customer now reconsiders and think about what they really want, maybe they could afford a couple smaller floor graphics instead, or a hanging banner from the roof or something else that looks great and doesn't stretch the budget. I don't want to deliver something that I know will fail and I also don't want to make it for free =). Thanks for the replies anyway, I will probably someday make some larger floor graphics and then it's good to have the input in mind.

[Squeezie]

Is this going on a gym floor or similar floor that will have several heavy coats of wax over the graphic? If that's the case, I did a large vinyl graphic on a school gym floor a few years ago and had a few places where I had to overlap. Once the wax was down, you couldn't tell where the seams were.

[bigwater]

Yes, I also thought about some kind of embedding at first, but since they also wanted it removed after at first three months and later a year, and for a lower budget and with good durability and and and... so I guess the equation didn't make sense and I think it's better that the customer now reconsiders and think about what they really want, maybe they could afford a couple smaller floor graphics instead, or a hanging banner from the roof or something else that looks great and doesn't stretch the budget. I don't want to deliver something that I know will fail and I also don't want to make it for free =). Thanks for the replies anyway, I will probably someday make some larger floor graphics and then it's good to have the input in mind.

I guess I wasn't clear enough on the way the concept I was trying to explain works. They first grind the concrete down smooth, and then apply a stain finish to the floor, then the template is stuck to the floor used to either stain a certain area of the floor darker, or eradicate it lighter and re-stain that one area. Then the template comes up and the floor is polished. It is not an embedded graphic per-se, the design is just stained into the concrete and will basically last forever. If they wanted to remove the graphic at some point, they'd have to grind the floor and either leave it plain or re-stain it. It's a similar process to refinishing a hardwood floor, only on concrete.

I don't care what types of vinyl graphics you put on a floor, they're not going to stand up to heavy foot traffic for extended periods unless they're sealed. What Squeezie mentioned works on wood floors, but not for concrete. Of course this explanation could be moot since you never even mentioned concrete

[kanini]

It was a tiled floor (large stone/concrete tiles), and also on an airport(!), I don't know what they thought would last a year there, and also - how bad wouldn't it look after a year after everybody walking over it and pulling their trolleys over it... *sigh* Hopefully they end up with some better solution than this, or understand that they need to change it more often. I guess if you have a hardwood floor as Squeezie said, you could put different types of coatings, laquer or wax over it more easily than on the concrete, or? I guess it's much more work to grind down a concrete floor... (I grinded a "raw" concrete floor when we built my office, and will hopefully never have to do it again, at least not with walls in place - talk about dust!) =D I've not heard about the procedure you explained here Ron, but I guess that would create a very durable graphic. Nice to know for the future if someone asks for a graphic that will last forever =D

[bigwater]

Yeah, what I was talking about is unaffected by foot traffic or dragging stuff across it (unless it actually gouges the concrete). You don't coat it, you just run a buffer across it to give it some shine. It still retains the smooth concrete "tooth" so that it's not slippery when it gets wet. Getting graphics off is a bear though. You have to grind down about 1/16" of concrete to get past the existing dye, and for long cured concrete that can be some work especially on a large floor. These guys have large machines that make fairly short order out of the grinding process, but still, it's a lot of work and not cheap.