Heat welding creates a thermally-fused bond between two sheets of vinyl flooring that provides an integral seam preventing contaminants and topical moisture from migrating into the seam. Heat welding is extremely popular and often required in vinyl sheet applications in laboratories, clean rooms, and medical environments such as operating suites and patient rooms.
While this article is focused on the basics of heat welding, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention starting with a concrete floor that has been properly prepared as described in ASTM F710 “Standard Practice for Preparing Concrete Floors to Receive Resilient Flooring”. Undulations and unevenness in the slab can create challenges and impact the grooving, welding and skiving processes.