Vinyl and Linoleum Flooring - Floor ripping

Hi, i have a quick question for you guys

i have a concrete floor with a floor covering material on top of it, and in recent weeks it has began to show signs of air pockets. I am wonder what are the cause of this and what is the best way to get rid of these air pockets?

thanks!

Welcome to the forums! "A floor covering" covers a vast array of items. Let us know what the floor covering is.

hi thx for the reply, but because i've only got a picture sent from my friend, i am not sure what material it is. Does the cause and fix for this problem depend solely on the material? or are there some general tips to fixing this problem

Well, yeah!:o If it is linoleum it will stretch a good ways before it splits. If it is tile, then it will crack immediately. If it is wood the pieces will separate. If it is paint, it will show the crack.
Now, if the picture was a digital one, post it on a site such as photobucket.com and copy/paste the HTML code to your reply post so we can see what you see.

well the picture he showed me was in really bad quality and B&W but i managed to find a similar picture that shows the same problem as his. http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9943/4726.jpg

instead of small sheets you see there, he has 1 large sheet and air bubble are popping up under it

Looks like poorly laid linoleum. Was the linoleum glued down? Was a 100# roller used to secure the linoleum to the glue? Looks like it was laid and the temperature and moisture of the room took its toll.

so i guess it was a combination of poor workmanship in the beginning and like you said, coupled with the temperature and moisture. One question, is there any place you can point me to, to read about how temperature and moisture can slowly cause this problem? like i want to know how this happen but more in depth

OK, let's look at the environment. Is it in a basement below grade, or on grade living area? I would think a continuous 1/8" v joint troweling of the glue over the entire floor and rolling with a linoleum roller (rental center item) would keep the bubbling from happening. However, if there is any water problem with the floor, all the work will have been in vain.

when you say water problem do you mean, spills from top of it or leaks from under it? Also i believe that this is laid on the basement concrete, however he has this material laid in the kitchen on the main floor also. Since he lives in Canada would that make the basement more vulnerable to air pockets? Will the main floor also be seeing this problem in the future?

Another question, is there a easy fix for this without ripping up the either material and re-doing the whole floor? Someone told me that you could just pop the air bubble and fix it that way, tho i have some doubts about that as it would pretty much make a hole between your interior and the floor resulting in more harmful materials getting under the mat.

Thanks a lot so far, i've really learned a lot! :)

Generally basements are "moist" whether it be from leaks in the walls or from moisture finding its way through the concrete. What should have been done prior to this installation was to lay clear plastic sheeting (4 mil plastic) on the floor in an area about 8x8 and taped down. If, after 24 hours or so, there was moisture in the floor, it would show up as condensation on the plastic. No condensation, you're good to go.
You won't be able to "pop" the bubbles, as it will leave a scar (unless that doesn't bother you) It would be easier than replacing the entire floor. Now, the problem comes in with the glue possibly being dry under the bubble. You will have nothing to hold down the linoleum even if you do roll it.
The same material on a different floor would act differently from the concrete, so we can't use that as a standard.
I know it is a possibly expensive undertaking, but IMO, I would remove the flooring while it is still "young" and scrape the glue off, start over with the moisture test and go from there.

hey wow interesting idea with the plastic sheeting to test moisture, i guess that would of be a good thing to do before laying down those matting. Do you know of any place i can read more about these tips and tricks on this topic in general?