The developments in adhesive technology have made it possible to safely
glue solid timber flooring straight onto a screed. Timber is a natural
product and will move as the climate changes. Only adhesives that are
elastic and do not become hard and brittle are there-fore suitable. Many
of the older two part adhesives do not fall in this category and we would
only recommend the products of SIKA and Bostik that have been specifically
developed for this purpose.
Gluing your solid timber floor down has the advantage that the final
floor level is much lower than when using battens. This is especially
convenient when replacing tiles or carpets and you have to work with
existing levels. Gluing is also usually more cost effective than installing
on battens.
A very important requisite for gluing the solid timber flooring down
is the quality of the screed. The screed has to be level (3mm variation
in 3m), strong and dry. Moisture is one of the biggest enemies of a timber
floor and it is therefore essential that the screed is sufficiently dry
before gluing the floor down. In the cases where the moisture level is
too high, both the Bostik and SIKA adhesives come with supplementary
moisture barriers that must be applied. Planning the levels and preparing
a suitable screed should be done well in advance to ensure ease of
installation.
(See our resource section for more details on
screed preparation).
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