Installing engineered wood flooring: glue down or floating?
Engineered wood boards come with two joint types – tongue-and-groove and click – and can be installed in two ways: floating on an underlay or glued to the subfloor.
Tongue-and-groove boards are only glued down on a properly prepared subfloor. Click boards can be installed either floating or glued.
Which is better? There is no single answer. Below are the pros and cons of each method – the choice is yours.
Floating installation
Pros
- Fast: about 20 m² in 4–6 hours.
- Cheaper: no adhesive, lower fitting rates, and you can even lay the floor yourself.
- The floor can be taken up and re-laid elsewhere, or single boards replaced.
Cons
- The floor sounds hollower than a glued one.
- It cannot be sanded.
- Less stable construction, especially under uneven loads or on a subfloor that is not perfectly flat.
- Transition profiles are needed where the floor meets tiles.
- Replacing one board means emptying the room and taking the floor apart.
Glue-down installation
Pros
- Bonding to the subfloor makes the floor stiffer and more resistant to changes in humidity and temperature.
- No drum effect – a glued floor is quieter.
- A glued floor can be sanded, extending its life several times over.
- A damaged board can be replaced without dismantling the whole floor.
Cons
- Higher cost: materials (parquet adhesive, primer) plus subfloor preparation and a specialist fitter.
- The floor cannot be taken up and reused elsewhere; replacing a board needs an experienced fitter.
For glue-down installation we use elastic MS polymer adhesives such as WAKOL MS 228 and MS 230 (both in stock in Vilnius) and a primer for the subfloor. See the full range in Parquet adhesives.
Knowing these points, your own wishes and experience, you will choose easily and correctly.
You will find engineered wood flooring for both installation methods in our catalogue – the joint type is listed for each model.
