DIY Network

I've just started installing a new glue down engineered wood floor on a concrete subfloor. This is my first time installing a wood floor, and I think I may be a bit in over my head. I dry fit the first 5 rows of the floor without any problem, and cutting the flooring doesn't worry me. However, when I went back and started laying it down with the actual adhesive, the problems started.

The first row went in just fine, I used spacers to leave an appropriate expansion gap, and I made sure it made a straight line rather than following the not-quite-straight wall. I encountered my first problem with the second row, where I had a great deal of difficulty getting a piece's tongue to fit into the first row's groove. This was a minor problem during the dry run, but with the adhesive it was significantly more difficult. I did eventually get it in, though.

After that, I managed the last 3 rows without incident, giving me a good 5 rows. I actually thought that I might have been getting the hang of it. However, when I went to lay down the 6th row, I discovered that one plank of my 5th row had come apart from the previous row some. I spent more than an hour trying to get it back into place with no luck. It will not budge. I can't even yank it out to try a different piece.

I can lift it up off the floor, and I guess if I remove all of the planks before it I should be able to get it up. But it seems like there must be a better way. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, I'm beginning to think my technique for laying down the adhesive then the planks is no good. I've read about a couple of alternatives that I wondered if anyone had experience with.

The first is to not glue the floor to the subfloor at all, except around the edges, and treating it almost like a floating floor. A small amount of glue would be applied in the grooves to hold the pieces together. This sounds like a whole lot less of a mess, but also doesn't really jibe with the manufacturer's recommendations.

The second is to apply the glue to the bottom of the plank, one plank at a time, instead of stretches of the floor. I imagine this would take longer, but may be more forgiving and less of a mess.

Any input is appreciated.

Hi Andy Molloy,

Before beginning the installation did you do a moisture test on your concrete slab, by taking a 24" square piece of plastic and tape it securely to the concrete sealing all edges and let it sit for 2 days?

If you have a moisture problem in the concrete you would see condensation on the plastic. Concrete naturally wicks up moisture and putting down a work floor means it will be in contact with that moisture and this will cause wood to expand. This could be the reason you are having a problem removing that one piece you've installed. If you have a dehumidifier set it up and if it has a digital read out set it for 40% humidity. It will dry out the air and the wood.

If you haven't done the moisture test, I'd do it. You may also be wise to remove all flooring and scrap off any adhesive from the wood and floor until you know the test results. If you find you have a high moisture content, you may need to change the method of applying the wood to the floor.

Others may have additional suggestions.

Good Luck!

I think applying the glue to the floor as you are doing is the best method. You need to make sure you use a notched trowel per the gluing instructions. Don't put down more than you can glue down in 30 minutes or so. Cut some 2x6 inch blocks of soft 3/4" wood (fir is good) to use to hammer the material together (the 6" width won't harm the tongue to badly). No matter how well it is made, some pieces won't go together without some persuasion. Make sure each plank is hammered in tight as you go. As you have found out, if you fail to get them pulled up, it becomes difficult to move them later. Keep some rags and some mineral spirits close by to clean your hands and glue off the finished surface. Neatness here will save dividends in the final cleanup. This is a job that looks easy, but it is more time consuming than I thought it would be. It took me and two of my sons about 30 hours to do 500 square feet recently.

Good Luck!

i spent the extra 20 bucks on the hammer block and the tapping bar.these turned out to be very handy tools to have are you using the manfuctured recomended glue

Check each and every piece of flooring before it goes in for damage to the grove or tonge. Did you let the flooring sit in the room for at least 48 hours before installing?
If this is Bruce flooring, good luck. The boxes I bought were so croocked, curled, missing tonges, damage or shallow grooves I took it back and install another brand.

I agree with JoeC - you need to check every tongue and grove. I use a razor knife to clean out any pieces of wood that are not right.

Also, put down a small amount of glue at one time - maybe two or three rows worth.

Best of luck.

are you using wet set or tackset glue?

wet sets are comb out glue, lay down in flooring immediately

dry set are comb out an area, let it tack up, then lay in pieces

the problem with dry tack is that you have to be very precise, as once it grabs, it a bear to adjust much less remove

i prefer wet sets as you open time and adjustment room, however the pieces can shift
so what i always do on wet set is to tape ( with scotch tape or blue tape ) the smaller likely to shift pieces here and there, after a while you have enough rows that prevent the whole assembly from shifting. I also screw in wooden shims to the wall ( i always remove all baseboard and sometimes under cut drywall to allow for the required expansion gap ) to give me the require expansion gap, this further helps lock in the floor while setting,

and if a pattern repeats and you know your cut size in advance ( as most floors do ). i'll pre cut the end cuts in advance so as not to stop the work flow when i am setting

as for adhesives, i only use Bosticks' Best, a wet set polyurethane and keep a can of paint thinner handy to clean up any "stickies" on the woof floor itself from oozes, and plenty of white rags. i use about a 15" piece of floor stock to tap and adjust as i got and hit it with a white rubber mallet and use it as a beat block to ensure contact with the glue. like others have said i will cull bad pieces and damaged ones for cut stock and keep a razor knife handy just in case of a little shaving is necessary

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeRios,

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I took it all into account and managed to get most of the rest of the floor done this weekend, with very few problems. Only a little left, which I expect to be able to bang out in half a day next weekend.

Thanks, everyone!