glueing 2 floors together

[Guard Diva]

A couple of years ago, I bought a 50X70 floor and cut it down to 45X60. Now I have a larger guard and want to glue that ten foot section back on to make it 45X70. Any suggestions on what kind of glue to use?

[ATXguard]

duct tape on the back, double-sided carpet tape on the top (overlap the two edges of the floor and use the carpet tape in between.

[PC]

I've never heard of using a glue on these types of vinyl coated floors and I'd be suspicious of any glue recommendations - obviously one should make a small test first on an inconspicuous or scrap piece. The companies that assemble these large tarps heat-weld them together. If you have or can rent a relatively high quality heat-gun with accurate heat controls and the right kind of accessory tips for heat-welding you might be able to do it yourself but it's definitely tricky. Most of the time the guards I've helped out just tape them together on the back side with high-quality tape like Gaffers' Tape or Gorilla Tape. Regular duct tape degenerates into a sticky mess with time and should be avoided unless you just plan on trashing the tarp in the very near future - you don't want to have the floor tarp get stuck to a gym floor or competition site floor covering and leave a sticky mess behind.

PC

[combia1]

As mentioned above, double-sided carpet tape and then duct tape on the back to reinforce. Works like a charm. Take your time with the double-sided tape and line the two layers of tarp up neatly and take your time.

[PC]

I just got done building props with vinyl-coated tarp material and double-stick carpet tape. Some tapes stick pretty well to vinyl-coated material but a lot of them didn't. Generally the carpet tapes labelled for "exterior" use were the only ones that stuck very well at all. None of the brands we tried that were labeled for "interior" use stuck very well to vinyl at all. Even some of the "exterior" brands didn't stick very well. Expect to have to test several products before you find one that works well.

[corpsband]

I've never heard of using a glue on these types of vinyl coated floors and I'd be suspicious of any glue recommendations - obviously one should make a small test first on an inconspicuous or scrap piece. The companies that assemble these large tarps heat-weld them together. If you have or can rent a relatively high quality heat-gun with accurate heat controls and the right kind of accessory tips for heat-welding you might be able to do it yourself but it's definitely tricky. Most of the time the guards I've helped out just tape them together on the back side with high-quality tape like Gaffers' Tape or Gorilla Tape. Regular duct tape degenerates into a sticky mess with time and should be avoided unless you just plan on trashing the tarp in the very near future - you don't want to have the floor tarp get stuck to a gym floor or competition site floor covering and leave a sticky mess behind.

PC

This stuff works. Glued 4 "used billboard" pieces to a 40x60 floor to make a really large floor on the cheap. It's pretty easy to work with and works better than double sided tape (although it *does* need ventilation). We gorilla taped the pieces together upside down (on the bottom) and then glued the seams down on the top.

http://www.rochfords...2_A_promoid_E_5

It's not hard to work with (like the ordinary rubber cement you're probably familiar with) and doesn't set so fast that's it's hard to use. We bought a gallon. Glued about 200 linear feet of 1.5-2 foot overlaps and used about half of it.

Edited March 4, 2013 by corpsband

[PC]

This stuff works. Glued 4 "used billboard" pieces to a 40x60 floor to make a really large floor on the cheap. It's pretty easy to work with and works better than double sided tape (although it *does* need ventilation). We gorilla taped the pieces together upside down (on the bottom) and then glued the seams down on the top.

http://www.rochfords...2_A_promoid_E_5

It's not hard to work with (like the ordinary rubber cement you're probably familiar with) and doesn't set so fast that's it's hard to use. We bought a gallon. Glued about 200 linear feet of 1.5-2 foot overlaps and used about half of it.

Thanks for the product tip. I added the supplier to my fabrication bookmarks. Your usage rate of about three linear feet to the ounce is also pretty useful.