Wood floors offer a whole host of benefits. No carpet can provide the same sleek, homey look that wood flooring can give a room.
Wood flooring is often a practical option as well. These floors tend to be straightforward to clean, for instance.
However, wood panels have their difficulties as well. One of the most common complaints among homeowners with wood floors is noticing squeaks, creaks, and other similar noises.
The source of these noises is movement in your wood panels. To prevent these panels from making noise, you can secure them with a wood flooring adhesive.
If you know nothing at all about wood flooring adhesives, that’s alright! In this article, we’ll examine the types of wood flooring adhesives and how to use them. Let’s get started!
Ways of Securing Your Floor
Let’s begin with the essential information. When you want to secure your wood floor panels, there are three options before you. First, you can nail the boards down.
Second, you can glue them down. Lastly, you can use some combination of the two, known as a glue assist.
Your cheapest option is to nail the boards down; however, this is a labour-intensive option that most struggle to get just right. To do this perfectly, you must line the boards up so that there are no spaces or gaps between them.
Otherwise, the boards will continue to move, and you won’t stop those squeaking sounds.
The best choice of the three is to glue the boards down, as it respects the natural movements of the wood. However, it’s also a more expensive option that most people tend to avoid for panels over 15 cm wide.
So, what about panels that exceed 15 cm in width? That tends to be when people opt for a glue assist job. While it doesn’t offer all the benefits of glueing all the panels down, it is a simpler installation process than nailing all the planks down.
As you might have guessed, glueing and glueing assist methods require wood flooring adhesives. For this reason, they are somewhat costlier jobs than nailing down boards. However, they offer far better results than the alternative.
Best Wood Flooring Adhesive Options
There are several types of adhesives on the market, making it difficult to know which is best for your project. However, understand that there are no one-size-fits-all approaches. Different woods respond better to varying adhesives.
For instance, if your floor consists of solid wood, it will require more room to expand and contract with its environment. These movements increase the chance of the floor breaking.
To prevent your floorboards from breaking, you need an adhesive with a great deal of flexibility, or “elasticity,” as the market calls it. For a solid wood floor, you may want to look for an adhesive with 300 to 400% elasticity.
However, you don’t always need such high degrees of elasticity. If your floor consists of engineered wood, a less elastic adhesive will suffice. So long as your adhesive has an elasticity rating of 100 to 300%, the wood should thrive!
Depending on the scope of your project, you may want to consider a multi-function adhesive for wood flooring. Perhaps the most popular of these products are those utilizing all-in-one technology.
These products work on two levels, glueing down wood and working to mitigate your concrete subfloor. This double function allows you to protect your subfloor against sound propagation.
Furthermore, this double function also allows you to bridge any cracks in your substrate. As a bonus, these all-in-one products work on both solid and engineered wood.
How To Apply Wood Flooring Adhesive
Once you decide on the adhesive you want to use, the next step is applying the adhesive. There are several techniques for this, but three primary ones tend to show up in guides. These are the three techniques we’ll cover here.
Serpentine Method
This technique is the most straightforward method for applying adhesives. Once you have a tube of adhesive, apply a thin bead of it to the back of your boards. Alternatively, you can put the adhesive on the subfloor where you’ll place your wood panels.
As you lay the adhesive, be sure to leave a space of approximately 25-30 cm between the “peaks” of the serpentine line.
Trowel Line Method
This method is a more advanced technique than the serpentine one. It often produces top-quality results, so we highly recommend it. To do this, you’ll need a bucket of wood flooring adhesive and a trowel.
In case you’re unfamiliar with trowels, these are small, handheld tools with pointed flat blades. You use them to spread thicker substances, such as mortar or, in this case, flooring adhesive.
Using your trowel, spread straight lines of glue on the subfloor that run perpendicular to your wood panels. When you spread these lines, leave no more than 30 centimetres between them.
Full Trowel Gluing Method
This method is perhaps the most extreme. Rather than spreading individual adhesive lines on the subfloor, this method requires you to spread glue over the entire subfloor. However, make sure you follow the adhesive manufacturer’s instructions when you do this.
While this may seem extreme, it is a helpful method for dealing with fluctuating moisture conditions. It also helps as a glue-assist method, making it much easier to nail down the boards.
Find Your Wood Flooring Adhesive Today
Wood flooring adhesive is a vital asset in tackling your home flooring project. Whether you choose to glue your floors entirely or use a glue assist, its value is indispensable.
When you choose your adhesive, remember to select one whose elasticity will work well with the type of flooring you use. Also, remember the distances you need to maintain when applying the adhesive.
With this information, you’re now ready to purchase your adhesive! Check out our store today for some of the best products on the market.
