Question: I just got a new vinyl kitchen floor. It's less than a year old. I laid a small rug with non-skid backing on the floor in front of the sink. Now, my flooring has discolored where the rug was.
I called the store where I purchased the vinyl. It sold me a product that is supposed to remove the discoloration. Another product, which I also purchased, is supposed to restore the shine.I used the products. The shine is still there. So is the discoloring.
I called the store manager. He conferred with the vinyl manufacturer and the store's head office, which is located in another state.
The manufacturer told the store that it's well-known that non-skid backings on rugs discolor vinyl floors.
I was never informed about this by the store, the vinyl manufacturer or the rug company.
No one wants to take responsibility for this. I just get the runaround. I call this person, then that person. My insurance man had never heard of this, either, but my deductible is too high anyway.
I would like to have my kitchen floor replaced. It's a small floor. I think that between the store or the vinyl manufacturer someone should take the blame for not informing me up front that such damage could occur.
- K.T., Salt Lake City.
Dear K.T.: We spoke to two major vinyl flooring manufacturers (both are in New Jersey), as well as the Resilient Floor Covering Institute, a trade organization in Rockville, Md.
The Resilient Floor Covering Institute is studying the problem of vinyl discoloration from non-skid area rugs as we speak. Walter D. Anderson, the managing director, says some rugs with non-skid backing stain vinyl flooring and some don't. The Institute is working with carpet and rug makers to try to determine which ingredient in the backing might be the culprit.
Anti-oxidants used in the backing are a prime suspect. One theory (yet to be proved as far as we know) is that the anti-oxidant reacts with the PVCs or urethane that are part of the outer wear layer of the vinyl to produce the discoloration.
Congoleum Corp. suggests to its consumers that they use rugs backed with 100 percent latex, which it claims has no anti-oxidants.
The problem then becomes finding an area-rug salesperson who knows whether the non-skid backing on a particularl rug is 100 percent latex.
Can the discoloration be fixed (without replacing the flooring)?
Probably not, according to Anderson of the trade association.
Mannington, which manufactured the flooring involved in this problem, recommends using its heavy-duty cleaner/stripper followed by a high-gloss polish. But our reader presumably tried that and it didn't work.
As far as our reader's problem is concerned, we called the store where she purchased the flooring. We believe it's plausible that she may not have been given a written warranty that includes instructions for care and maintenance. The warranty specifically mentions that consumers should not use rubber-backed, latex-backed or cocofiber mats on the floor because they will stain or damage the surface.
The store may well have some responsibility if, indeed, it failed to verbally warn our reader of the problem and it didn't give her a written warranty.
We'll contact the store again, after we've conferred with her (she was on vacation when we called), and then let her know what's happening.