Hardwood Flooring Trowels

Hardwood floor trowels are an important part of any installers tool box. Unfortunately what many wanna be installers fail to Hardwood floor trowel with glue recognize is what type should be used. All products are different. One type of installation may require a different sized trowel than another. Wrong sized trowels used are one leading contributor to failure with glue down floors.

Manufacturers Specifications

When buying hardwood flooring adhesive it is vital to look at the manufacturers specifications. While some hardwood manufacturers make their own proprietary glues and others recommend Bostiks, Sika, Franklin, and DriTac to mention a few, none of them have the exact same specs.

In addition to the proper trowel requirement, too little or too much adhesive can affect the installation. For instance a heavy amount of adhesive spread can create fitting problems if you're not experienced using the stuff. Essentially what happens is glue is scooped or lodged between boards when trying to push boards into place.

Considering the properties of some adhesives, cleanup is sometimes not an easy chore. Using less than the recommended amount of adhesive (often directly related to the trowel notch size) can create voids between the subfloor and hardwood. Hollow spots may prevail or popping sounds, and squeaks at a later date are likely to occur.

From Our Readers:

Subject: Glue Slumps After Spreading

Question: I have been installing some floors with the Bostiks glue recommended and wondered; it calls for a 3/16" thick V notched trowel but after it's spread and sits for awhile the stuff flattens out. Do I have some defective glue?

Reply: No it's okay. The Bostiks adhesive may seem tough to work with but what you're seeing is common.

Related Pages:

• Cleaning Glue Off Hardwood Floors