Find
out how much fitting would cost with this handy form: lino fittng costsThe History of Lino
During the ‘boom and bust’ industry which dominated Fife back in the 1820’3 Michael Nairn started his career as a linen manufacture.
Kirkcaldy was situated on Scotland’s busy East Coast, which was going to be the responsible for Nairns new form of floor covering. Michael noticed the sails on ships were painted and laid to protect the decking. He then adopted the process and produced his firth floor cloth. Manufacturing was time consuming. Layer upon layer of paint was applied by hand and then hung to dry for 6 months.
Today’s manufacturing process has adopted jute for the backing, flour and lino seed oils to make linoleum so tough and versatile. ‘It’s said if you remember the 60’s you weren’t really there, For the record it was the decade that brought consumer choice, increased freedom, the white heat of technology, the miniskirt and vinyl flooring which is now commonly mistaken for linoleum.’
Man-made vs. Natural
Among the most important difference between the two is that vinyl is entirely fabricated of a man-made, petroleum-based textile. It is composed of a sandwich of beds, starting with a vinyl (or felt) back and is commonly covered with a clear layer of urethane which assists to resist scuff-marks, scrapes and stains, besides as fighting off dirt and moisture. Good choice vinyl is among the most hard-wearing forms of flooring available and can hold out indenting from heavy objects outstandingly well. Vinyl is also common because it can replicate the look of other types of hard surfaces, such as tile and woods, but at the equal times, still continuing easy to care for, quiet and softening underfoot and most of all, low-cost.
Lino, is entirely biological natural. It was manufactured in the late 1800s and is derived from linseed oil (thus its name) which is pressed out from flax seeds then dried out and crushed into a fine powder, named linoleum cement'. These are then combined with fine plant material, such as cork, wood flour and pine resins and then pressed out on jute fibre backing.
As society becomes more environmentally-conscious, lino is now making a comeback as a preferred natural option for flooring as it is composed of entirely natural materials from highly sustainable sources and thus is 100% recyclable. This means all of the waste products from its production can be re-used in future production. Its main source material also comes from flax seed which is a renewable resource.
Installation and fitting of lino
To install lino professionally follow this method:
Aim to make a paper template/pattern of the floor area.
Tools:
Cut a rectangle of scrap lino/vinyl 3 inches x 6 inches to use as a template marker.
Pencil
Concave Blades
Hooked Bladed
Have your lino laid out flat in another room prior in install
Using a roll of 2 meter wide felt paper roll by the length of room, trim/cut paper one inch short around the perimeter. This includes toilets doors etc.
Place the marker against the skirting’s/walls and draw a 6 inch line on the paper every 2/3 feet or so. When you reach doors, toilets use the marker more often and draw much smaller lines on the paper and follow the shape you are drawing.
When you have completed drawing marks on the paper, move paper onto lino lay/fix with tape, make sure the paper is completely inside the lino.
Start re drawing your marks back onto the lino with the marker. When you have drawn the room on the lino remove the paper, use a straight edge, sharp concave knife blade and score the lines. This is similar to joining dot to dots.
Finally change knife to a hooked blade and pull through the scores.
With a bit of practice you will have a near identical floor pattern!
