Self-Adhesive vinyl tile floor, shoudn't it be attached to the subfloor?

[W. A. Erickson]

I have a tile floor laid a few days ago. They are self-adhesive vinyl tiles.

You can easily tell the hollow points from the solid points by tapping with your finger and you can also see large sections of tiles flexing in response to pressure. All of the tiles are at least 75% detached from the concrete some are 90-100%.

I expect every square inch to be firmly attached to the cement, but the office personel say "they need time to settle". My understanding is the curing time is 5 days and if they cure while not in contact with the cement that there's no hope.

I suspect that the tile was laid on a dirty floor, or the installer simply didn't press them onto the cement. Is there anything else that could cause this?, or maybe I just have unreasonable expectations.

Anthony.

[Robert Allison]

Self adhesive vinyl tiles are the absolute worst flooring imaginable. They are very prone to releasing even if everything is done properly. You don't mention what brand you are having trouble with, but many times conditions require a primer to be used on the substrate to get the tiles to stick at all.

I installed a few floors using this stuff, and now I refuse to have anything to do with it. If the client demands it, then I let them install it, or let them have someone else do the installation. I do not want my name associated with it.

[Tony]

"W. A. Erickson" wrote

Did you get a quote for _complete_ prep & installation? Many times the consumer wants to do the prep work, or say the underlayment is fine. Should this be the case and you just wanted installation, no guarantee usually accompanies the installation. It does sound like it was installed on an unpreped surface. Was this your responsibility or the company which installed it? Check your contract.