Why Glue Down Hardwood Flooring

Glue down hardwood floor installation.

Why glue down hardwood flooring.

The wall coverings and painting should be completed before the installation of the hardwood flooring. Glue down hardwood floors on concrete. They allow the wood board to expand and contract but they do not grow or shrink nearly as much as they would with a floating or nail. Engineered hardwood floors can be glued or nailed into position but they also have the option of being floated over an underlay.

The adhesives used to glue wood down to a subfloor make for an extremely strong bond. The glue down method. Reduces but does not eliminate wood movement. Applications are more prominent with residential construction in sunbelt areas commercial locations and high rise dwellings.

Glue down hardwood flooring often sounds more like real solid hardwood flooring than floating floors do. The glue down method of engineered wood flooring installation is typically the most common and creates a highly stable floor. A glue down floor is usually a better choice in high traffic areas like commercial buildings and industrial spaces because the glue provides extra holding power. Because of the way it is installed there isn t a hollow sound when walking across the floor or a spongy feel this is something that can be an issue with floating floors if they aren t installed perfectly and with optimal conditions.

All wet work such as concrete masonry framing members drywall paint etc should be thoroughly dry. Around the house the rooms with the most traffic such as the front hallway the kitchen and the recreation room are better served by glue down flooring than floating flooring but if you re considering a whole house. While a glue down installation is the most expensive and labor intensive of the three options it s also considered the most stable method of installation. Newer adhesives are elastomeric.

With that said one of the most important factors while dealing with glue down installation is going to be your subfloor. If you choose to fix your hardwood floor into position you then have the choice of either gluing your floor to the subfloor using flexible flooring adhesive to. Boards adhere well to the rough surface of the concrete subfloor and therefore lead to less gaps or planks lifting and buckling. Subfloor preparation is critical on all job sites but especially for glue down.

Solid hardwood floors must be fixed into position by either gluing or nailing down to the subfloor. If installing glue down hardwood flooring in a new house completely close the building in with all outside doors and windows in place. The installation of hardwood floors by the glue down method is used predominately on concrete slabs.