Problems Installing Glue-Down Wood Floor

[mjb920]

I am installing a Mohawk engineered wood floor, glued over a concrete subfloor. I am using the dry lay method, allowing the adhesive to get tacky before laying the floor, with Mohawk urethane adhesive. I began an area yesterday 15" wide by 20' long but ran into a few serious problems.

1. I am installing the planks with the tongue facing the starter wall and I'm using a hard rubber tapping block on the sides and butt ends of the planks. Since I have to keep the block at an angle to keep it out of the wet adhesive, I am dinging the top edge of some of the planks. I tried using a scrap piece of flooring but that didn't seem to work any better.

1. Some of the planks seemed to separate, even after being butted together tightly. I was not applying 3M Blue Tape until after completing a section. Should I apply the tape to each plank as it is laid? What is the spacing between the strips of tape?

2. When I lifted some of the boards to check them I am not getting good adhesive coverage. I used the correct notched trowel and the subfloor is smooth within specifications.

Thank you for any help you can give me. Jim

[Deke]

Grind the edge off you tapping block so it doesn't touch the top layer of your floor.

Use thicker layers of adhesive and don't wait so long for it to dry.

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Can't speak to the Mohawk stuff but I glued down using Bostick's Best and it was a real mess. I typically taped every board at first and then figured that I could get about 3-4 rows down and just tape them all at the same time, running the tape back to previous rows. As for spacing, well I put it wherever I needed help holding boards together. Generally about a foot apart but in some places, much more and in others, much less. I used a small block but quickly discovered that was a mess. I found that just by putting pressure on the board with my fingers/thumbs, I could get 95% of them tight without the block. Not sure if the Mohawk is similar but if you get that glue anywhere it's not supposed to be, you may want to clean immediately. Once dry, the Bostick's is nearly impossible to remove. Another thing you may ask them is about rolling the floor after the glue has started to setup. With the Bostick's, they recommended using a flooring roller to even out the floor into the glue. I used it on the first parcel of wood and it did fine. The other rooms, I just made sure I walked on it well as I didn't have the roller available. That turned out ok too. Good luck, it's a messy job! Cheers, cc

[mjb920]

10-4 on the mess factor - I'm still peeling it off my hands.

I think because I let the adhesive get tacky before laying the boards it made it harder to slide them together. On some boards that I tapped into place the joint opened up later - like the adhesive stretched when I tapped the board into place and then it pulled the board back into its previous position, opening up the joint. I think I'll try spreading the adhesive and laying the boards right away.

The Mohawk adhesive says rolling is not necessary, and not to walk on it. I'm not sure how you are supposed to get good adhesion this way.

Thanks for the help.