Baked Vinyl Flooring

[Bruce Breedlove]

This vinyl flooring appears to be baked where the sun hits it at the sliding glass door. The affected area does not extend past the door shade. This side of the house faces east. The surface of the flooring was not damaged, only discolored. A new sliding glass door was recently installed; I don't know what was there before.

Any ideas on what would cause this? Obviously either UV rays or heat from the sun shining on the floor reacted with or acted as a catalyst for something in or on the vinyl flooring.

[Gunnar Alquist]

Bruce,

Yeah, I've seen that as well. I believe (but have no direct evidence) that it is a material that is not UV resistant. I typically see it on south and west facing doors.

[wayne soper]

My guess would be small poodle dancing at the doors excited by something in the backyard and pissing as they always do. then dancing around in the mess. The acidity in the urine may cause the stain. Not just one day. Every day for who knows how long.

[Jim Luttrall]

I have seen similar on church entry where the rubber backed door mats had covered. I was not UV in this case since the opaque mat blocked the UV. I was told the dye in the vinyl flooring was the culprit.
Jim

[Jerry Peck]

I suspect it is partially due to heat, much more so than UV.

With UV, the area would 'fade' from dark to light gradually.

With heat, such as the glass becoming a magnifying glass, would concentrate the heat in an area like that shown. Was those doors, perchance, double glazed? That could contribute to the magnification?

Also, combine the heat with a little leakage getting in under the door ... except that, you can see where the divider was, which mostly rules out leakage and mostly confirms heat.

[Wesley Holley]

Normally the heat from sunlight or appliances has to be over 125 deg F to cause discoloration in resiliant flooring. I have seen vinyl floors turn yellow,burgundy and brown from UV degradation. From the photos, you can see the spot on the right is slightly lighter than the other due to the exterior sliding glass/plastic door blocking more UV on the right side.
The homeowner may be able to replace that section of the floor and with use of window treatments, prevent this from re-occuring.
Just my 1.5 cents, this is a common problem.