Linoleum Installation

I'd narrowed down my flooring choice to four different colors of Forbo Marmoluem (natural linoleum), before ultimately deciding on sample #1 (Mist Grey 3032) because it's light and closely resembles concrete (which is the surface surrounding samples #1 and #2).

Renteria Flooring begins the installation by cleaning and grinding the existing subfloor before applying several skim coats of Ardex Feather Finish engineered cement over the entire subfloor. This work moves along at an astonishing pace.

Completed skim coats of Ardex in both bedroom and bathroom. Notice the completed, tiled tub-surround. Tile is Brio opaque glass tile from ModWalls. Color is "Windy City" blend.

Sanding the Ardex skim coat to ensure no trowel marks will "telegraph" through the linoleum.

Completed and sanded Ardex skim coat of entire square footage.

Installation of cork underlayment. It's true what they say about cork having a pungent, not necessarily pleasant odor.

Rolls of uninstalled linoleum. Linoleum is susceptible to a natural process called "ambering" that occurs as the linseed oil within the linoleum oxidizes. When linoleum is not exposed to light, the linseed oil causes the flooring to turn yellow. With darker or more pronounced colors, it is not noticeable, but with light greys, blues, beiges or cream colors, it is very noticeable.

Comparison of fully oxidized sample placed upon newly unwrapped, unoxidized roll. The yellowing effect causes the flooring to appear a sickly green. I call it "pus grey." Luckily, this only lasted a week and the flooring is now just grey. As the flooring continues to oxidize over the years, it will become tougher and less susceptible to "ambering."

Renteria Flooring installing the linoleum and deciding how to handle the seams.

Completed linoleum installation in the bathroom. The ambering present in the linoleum really causes the flooring to look green compared to the grey tub surround tile.

Completed linoleum installation. The crew at Renteria Flooring are real professionals. The seams are virtually imperceptible and the whole job was finished under schedule. Linoluem is such an attractive product that, aside from the maintenance requirements, I don't know why it fell from favor with American consumers. My guess is that vinyl floors came along and were much cheaper...because linoleum isn't necessarily inexpensive.