| Q: I was wondering if I could lay vinyl flooring on cement floor. Or do I need an underlayment before I lay down the squares? Generally speaking, concrete floors have damp chalky surfaces that are not friendly to the adhesives used to install vinyl floor coverings. Concrete also has a high pH factor that is not suitable for most adhesives. Some of the experts I talked with say the surface of the concrete needs to be cleaned and sealed before applying an adhesive. Others say a good cleaning alone will do the trick. In my case I knew that there was a vapor barrier under the concrete floor to prevent moisture migration through the concrete. I allowed the floor to dry for one year with the home's air conditioning running during the warmer months to remove moisture. I then simply swept the floor clean and applied a mastic floor adhesive and installed sheet vinyl. To date, I have not had any problems. When moisture is present, however, the vinyl can discolor, curl at the seams or the adhesive can fail. Talk to your flooring dealer about the various mastics available for concrete floors and the precautions suggested by the manufacturers. Peal-and-stick vinyl tiles will eventually fail unless the concrete is properly prepared. Use a mild solution of 1 part muriatic acid to 9 parts wate
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