Kitchen & Bath: Hard Facts About Resilient Flooring

Although the pages that my clients tear out of decorating magazines show tile, carpeting, and even marble on kitchen and bath floors, their overwhelming choice is sheet vinyl. And despite the countless number of square yards laid by flooring mechanics each year, it's a product few general contractors know much about. In fact, a lot of us still refer to resilient flooring as "linoleum," which was made of wood fiber and linseed oil with a burlap backing. But enough history. More Than Meets The Eye Today, sheet vinyl floor covering is composed of four layers (see illustration). The bottom layer is the backing or carrier. It's the body of the floor covering on which everything else hangs, and is either felt