How to Glue Engineered Wood Floor
Engineered wood flooring is a pre-finished hardwood veneer on top of particle board or some other wood structure, with tongue-and-groove connections on the sides. It tends to be thinner and straighter than traditional hardwood flooring, making it easier to work with during installation. Gluing the floor down, as opposed to nailing it, is often an option with engineered flooring (check the packaging on your flooring to make sure). A glue-down installation is a good approach if you're installing over a concrete slab or particle board underlayment, which doesn't hold nails well.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Flooring adhesive
- Notched flooring trowel
- 3/8 inch thick wood lath, enough to encircle the floor
- Engineered wood flooring (tongue-and-groove)
- Miter saw
- Scrap piece of floor (to tap the other flooring into place)
- Hammer
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1
Lay strips of wood lath on their narrow edges on the floor next to the walls all around the room. Don't attach the pieces.
-
2
Spread flooring adhesive on the floor along the wall furthest from the doorway, covering the floor in two-foot increments
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3
Lay your first pieces of flooring with the grooved side facing the wall and pressing up to the pieces of lath standing there. Clip the flooring pieces end to end. Cut the pieces at the ends to fit, using your miter saw.
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4
Install the second course of flooring by pressing the grooved side of the new course into the tongue side of the first course. With each board you lay, set a piece of scrap flooring against the side of it and tap the scrap flooring with your hammer to lock and tighten the pieces together. Cut the end pieces as needed on your miter saw.
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5
Continue working your way across the floor, laying more adhesive as needed. Make sure not to step or kneel on the newly-laid flooring. Stop when you run out of room to work because of the opposing wall. Let the flooring set overnight.
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6
Resume flooring the next day, standing on the previously installed flooring to work on the last section. Once it's all in, let it set for another day. Remove all the lath from the sides, leaving an expansion gap at the edge of the walls to allow for natural movement of the wood (the gap will be covered up when you Install your floor trim).
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1
Tips & Warnings
Ventilate the room as you apply your flooring adhesive.
