Glue Down Hardwood Floors On Concrete
The installation of hardwood floors by the glue down method is used predominately on concrete slabs. Applications are more prominent with residential construction in sunbelt areas, commercial locations and high-rise dwellings.
How Are They Installed?
Gluedowns are installed by trowel spreading of adhesive on the subfloor in a pre determined area (shown). Usually professionals will measure out three feet or enough for twelve rows to cover, using a three inch wide board as an example. Each and every individual board is placed one at a time into the adhesive until the glued area is covered. Once completed, another area is marked and laid.
Glue Down Basics Video
Not All Types Of Hardwood Should Be Glued
Contrary to what you may hear, not all products can be glued easily. Put another way, gluing solid 3/4" hardwood has always been risky business, but some premium urethane glue manufacturers will warrant their use. The difficulty encountered with solid hardwood is the lack of flexibility compared to more engineered products that are glued.
Higher Quality Engineered - Ideal For Wide Plank
Common types used for gluing down are engineered hardwoods. Quality hardwood thicknesses vary from 3/8 inch up to 3/4" depending on the manufacturer. During manufacturing the bottom sides of many products are milled with relief cuts (below). This insures the flooring can bend to minor irregularities in the contour of the subfloor it is being installed, while increasing the bonding contact with adhesive at the same time. This is definitely not an excuse to skip floor preparation; stressed heavily on this site.
Pros and Cons Of Gluing
Most consumers prefer the solid feeling of hardwood floors underfoot. Floating floors for the most part do not offer this benefit unless a premium underlayment is used and a very flat subfloor is maintained prior to installation. After the addition some still complain of the hollow effect floating floors exhibit. A properly glued hardwood floor will feel and sound very much like a traditional solid floor.
Adhesives
Adhesives used for these types of installations do not come by cheaply. More preferred types recommended cost upwards of eighty cents a square foot depending on where it is purchased. With any glue down installation, do not take the suggestion of ill informed persons that any old glue will work while saving you bunches in the same breath.
How Long Does It Take To Install? Are Adhesives Toxic?
Assuming we have a 400 square foot, square room with furniture moved and everything is ready to go, one experienced installer can complete a 3 inch wide glue down installation in 10 -12 hours. Adhesives used today are predominantly three types. Water based, urethane based, or acrylic, with the most often used urethane.
Older more toxic adhesives are long gone, with newer more environmentally friendly varieties. If you are chemically sensitive it may be wise to vacate the premises when work is being done. With glue downs, curing time is typically one day or an overnight period before furniture can be moved back into place.
Costs Involved On Our Job
In this glue down segment the product used was our prefinished engineered five and one quarter inch Hickory Reserve. Total square footage tallied to 1,250 which was purchased by a customer in the Chicago area and installed by a local installer.
Other materials used on the job included Taylor MS Plus Advance that serves as the adhesive and moisture barrier membrane. Spread rates for the adhesive came in at 30 square feet per gallon (using Taylor Glide on Trowel below) which translates into 10 containers.
Preparation
Preparation on the job consisted of scraping the entire concrete 
sub floor with a hand held four inch scraper. Also about 200 pounds of floor leveling compound was used to fill low spots. Typically concrete scraping is included in the installation rate, unless conditions are severe; not this case.
Additionally, installers often factor in minor floor prep into the going installation labor rate. What constitutes minor? Professionals will vary, but anything over a half hour generally calls for additional costs. On this job three hours were billed at the rate of $60.00 per hour. Materials added another $ 170.00 to the bill.
Others
Considering this was new construction no existing floor removal was necessary. The customer also took care of all waste disposal.
Breakdown Of Costs
| Description | Cost/Rate |
Quantity |
Total |
| Material Hardwood (S/F) | $ 8.40 |
1,250 |
$ 10,500.00 |
| Material Adhesive ¹ | 135.00 |
10 |
1,350.00 |
| Material Floor Leveling | 170.00 |
1 |
170.00 |
| Installation Labor Floor (S/F) | 2.50 |
1,250 |
3,125.00 |
| Floor Preparation Labor (hour) | 60.00 |
3 |
180.00 |
| Freight To Chicago | 500.00 |
1 |
500.00 |
| Sales Tax ² | 0 |
0 |
0 |
| Total | $ 15,825.00 |
S/F- Square Feet
¹ Purchased at local Home Depot
² No sales taxes except Florida residents
Finished Job Pictures
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