Selecting the Right Adhesive for Your DIY Flooring Project

If you’re doing DIY flooring installation, you’re making a smart choice. Take it from E Hardwoods & Flooring, where you can buy hardwood flooring online! You’ll be saving loads of money, avoiding pushy salespeople, and doing a job you can be proud of with your own two hands. What’s not to love about tackling home improvement projects yourself?

However, that’s not to say that you should go into this unprepared. DIY flooring installation is a serious undertaking – just check out our hardwood flooring blog’s entry on the subject. Preparation is key, along with researching your installation methods and noting potentially difficult areas of the room and devising ways to handle them.

One thing that new flooring installers hardly ever pay attention to: flooring adhesive.

No, you can’t just slap down any sort of glue when it comes to installing waterproof flooring, solid hardwood flooring, or any flooring at all really. This facet of your flooring installation deserves just as much attention as the flooring choice itself. Luckily, E Hardwoods & Flooring is here with a few tips to help you choose the right kind of flooring adhesive for your upcoming project.

Understanding Flooring Adhesives

It’s important to remember that not all flooring types require adhesive for installation; some require that they be nailed directly to the subfloor. Whether you even need to deal with adhesive depends on your flooring’s type and installation method. Glue-down vinyl flooring, for example, obviously needs it.

If you are using adhesive, know that different chemical compounds within that adhesive behave differently and thus have different pros and cons. While this is a complicated concept that’s far too detailed to delve into in a single blog post, here are a couple rules of thumb to keep in mind...

• When in doubt, use the manufacturer-recommended adhesive. Otherwise, you may risk your warranty. Plus, you know the flooring you’re buying from E Hardwoods & Flooring is top-notch, so you’ll feel good buying an adhesive that’s endorsed by a great brand.

• You’ll need special tools to get the job done right. Specific tool requirements will often be found on the packaging of your adhesive, on the manufacturer’s website, or on DIY flooring blogs.

• Read about the toxicity that certain flooring adhesives possess. VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, are harmful substances that are contained in some flooring adhesives and which can negatively influence health. Research the rating system to choose an option that’s right for your circumstances.

Shop a Variety of Flooring at E Hardwoods & Flooring Today!

From engineered hardwood flooring to waterproof flooring, we sell it all and partner with all the top brands to boot. Take a look at our huge online stock today!