Shoutout to the old timer in Boise who swore by using a vinyl floor roller filled with hot water for tricky seams

I thought he was pulling my leg for sure, but after trying it on a stubborn glue-down plank job yesterday and seeing the seam lay flat in under a minute, I'm a total convert, has anyone else tried this weird trick?

4 comments

4 Comments

colegarcia9d ago

Seriously? @max_schmidt77, we need a book of these tricks.

max_schmidt779d ago

That old timer knew his stuff, right? Used a warm paint roller on some laminate once when the heat gun was broken and it worked like a charm. Makes you wonder what other simple fixes we're missing.

susan_allen1d ago

Always thought those tricks were just old wives' tales.

the_leo9d ago

My first boss in Phoenix made me use a warm soda can to smooth out a vinyl patch. I felt like an idiot rolling a Dr Pepper back and forth, but it actually worked. I mean, @colegarcia is right, we should write this stuff down before it's lost. I've used a hair dryer on low with a towel over it for lifting old linoleum when a heat gun would burn it. Sometimes the weird fix is just the right tool you already have.