Glues less, click, snap, no glue hardwood floors first stared appearing on the market in 2001 and 2002. What makes them stand apart from other glued floating floors? The reason for their popularity has to do with the DIY(do it yourself) market. Manufacturers will do whatever means to increase sales with the huge swing towards do it yourself the last 20 years.

How Do They Work?

Most glue less floors have a built in locking mechanism milled into the tongue and groove system itself. Gone are the days of messy glue cleanup, but are they actually easier to install? If you're installing a square room the answer is yes. On the other hand when the installation runs into several areas and under door casings it gets a lot trickier because these types of floors need to be installed on an angle (shown right). It's the only method of getting the tongue to lock into the groove properly.

In some areas a portion of the grove has to be tapered or cut off so the flooring will slide together. At this point the locking mechanism is partially gone and glue is needed to keep the boards intact.

Losing Favor

Since the introduction of a still more friendlier floor to install in the lock and fold systems this style has lost favor in recent years.