A great wooden floor is made up of many parts and the wood flooring adhesive you choose will be one of the major players in the long term success of your flooring installation in terms of durability and service life.
Wood flooring adhesives work by creating a bond between the sub floor and the flooring itself. This bond is created thanks to a chemical reaction which effectively changes the adhesive from liquid to solid. There are essentially three types of wood flooring adhesives and these are: water based; solvent based and urethane based adhesives.
Water based adhesives are arguably the most environmentally friendly option available although they are not necessarily appropriate for every type of installation. Solvent based adhesives on the other hand are considered suitable for a wider range of installations but contain solvents (which are deemed to be non hazardous and disappear after a few weeks of installation). Finally urethane based adhesives, or moisture-cure adhesives as they are often called, offer arguably the broadest range of applications as well as the finest installation security.
It is really important when making decisions about your new wood flooring products that you choose the very best quality your budget will permit across the board, and this is certainly the case when it comes to wood flooring adhesives. It is false economy to skimp on the quality of your wood flooring adhesive, because a poor quality adhesive could have a disastrous effect on the overall result.
Within the different types of adhesive, there are lots of wood flooring adhesive brand options on the market ranging in quality and price. From our point of view, we look for three key features when it comes to wood flooring adhesives and these are strength, durability and compatibility. Strength is important to ensure a good bond between your floor and your sub floor. A durable wood flooring adhesive, as the name suggests will last the test of time. And finally, compatibility, it’s essential that you choose the correct wood flooring adhesive to match the two materials it is bonding.
Any good flooring supplier will give you helpful advice on which adhesive is best for your project if you’re in any doubt. That said, even if you have a professional installer fitting your floor, it is well worth double checking that their choice of wood flooring adhesive matches the flooring manufacturers recommendations to make sure they have made the right choice for your project.