O.T.---wood flooring install

I am having engineered wood flooring installed in several rooms of my home.
There is close to one thousand square feet and subfloor is plywood.
I am dealing with two different companies and one company recommends gluing the wood down and the other recommends stapling down.
Gluing will cost nearly $500.00 more?
Is gluing the way to go and worth that much more?

(quoted from post at 18:08:03 08/02/18) I am having engineered wood flooring installed in several rooms of my home.
There is close to one thousand square feet and subfloor is plywood.
I am dealing with two different companies and one company recommends gluing the wood down and the other recommends stapling down.
Gluing will cost nearly $500.00 more?
Is gluing the way to go and worth that much more?

Click to expand...

I would not. The flooring should have a rubber underlayment that it either sits on or is attached to the flooring. The flooring should be floating to allow it to move with humidity changes. It should also have a 1/4" gap all around that is covered by the baseboard. Also a gap at door thresholds. We did 1700 sqft at our home in 4 days, though we bought the flooring in February and laid it in April to allow the humidity to equalize. Also make sure to stagger the joints.

Good luck

I'm not disputing LNK's post below here, I've never seen rubber underlay on engineered flooring but that doesn't mean it
doesn't exist or his post is incorrect. Below is a pretty good link from a reputable firm, they refer to felt underlayment
being recommended whether you are nailing/stapling or even if it is fully floating (no nails or staples). No mention of
gluing down made. Notice that they mention this is different than roof underlayment, a totally different product.
Installing engineered wood flooring .....

I wouldn't glue the flooring down. If one of them gets damaged it would be H to cut it out and replace it. Stapling the flooring would be fine.

Who ever does it be sure they deliver the flooring and set it in the house and accumulate to the house for a week prior to installing it. If the flooring is lower in moisture content than your house the flooring will swell up and buckle. If it's more moist than your house it can shrink leaving small gaps between the boards.

During the course of my carpentry career, I have probably put down several acres of wood/pseudo wood. Have always put at a minimum heavy building paper under. Nailed, floating (most of which has a thin foam underlay), but never glued, for the obvious repair problems. The product should acclimatize for a minimum of 2 weeks (not really enough unless you spread it out in the areas where it is destined to be). Just sayin' HTH

Different mfgs have different requirements, be sure to go by whatever method they recommend.

The flooring I used can be either glued or stapled directly to the floor.

Part of the house is wood floor, part slab. I put the part over wood down with staples. Rented the pneumatic stapler, went down quick and easy, no problems in 5 years now.

The part over the slab I glued down with the cheap adhesive from HD. The man at the flooring store said it would work, it has had some issues. Didn't adhere well, pops when walked on, but it's not bad enough to go back in.

I since found out from a professional installer to use urethane adhesive. More expensive, but holds.

I?ve installed, removed, reinstalled a lot of different floors
through the years and I guess I would have to say the old
timers had it figured out. If it were mine I?d be leary of glueing.

(quoted from post at 19:08:03 08/02/18) I am having engineered wood flooring installed in several rooms of my home.
There is close to one thousand square feet and subfloor is plywood.
I am dealing with two different companies and one company recommends gluing the wood down and the other recommends stapling down.
Gluing will cost nearly $500.00 more?
Is gluing the way to go and worth that much more?

Click to expand...

When you decide on the flooring to be used, read the install instuctions by the maker.
Then if different the installer says something different, fire that installer.
If the flooring instructions say a separate underlayment is needed, then gluing is stupid as the glue will only stick the floor and underlayment together.

Many people don't realize that a house will
get remodeled several times in its lifetime.
The lifetime of a house can be hundreds of
years or at least several lifetimes of the
average human.
So it's important to Not think of your floor
or remodel as permanent. It really is only
temporary.
Some say, "Well, if it lasts for my
lifetime..."
But I say that's about as short sighted as
those who would scoff at recycling,
conserving resources and not polluting for
the sake of the generations who come behind
us.
I would never glue anything to the subfloor.
Ever. If the flooring product must be glued
down nail (or screw) an underlayment down
first and then glue your flooring to that.
I remodel for a living and am appalled by
some of the things I see people do.
Last spring I did a large (10'x12') bathroom
in a house that was homowner built. He had
glued a 1/2" plywood underlayment to the
original 3/4" subfloor then glued the
ceramic tile to that. The subfloor had been
glued to the joists which of course is the
recommended procedure.
To get a fresh base for a new floor I had to
cut around the perimeter of the entire
bathroom. Then the tile, underlayment and
sub floor had to be pried up in big chunks.
That of course splintered the tops of the
joists off and oh what a fine mess we had to
to remove it and how much extra work -
brutal work - we had.
Think of the sub floor as a canvas that the
artist can paint. He can paint over it
several times. Some famous paintings are a
painting over an earlier painting.
But if he glues stuff to the canvas the
canvas is ruined for future paintings.
If your new floor must be glued down to meet
manufacturer's specs insist that an
underlayment be nailed or screwed down
FIRST.
Personally, I would not use a glue type
flooring. A stapled or nailed flooring is
easily removed to reveal the original sub
floor and a new floor installed. And a new
floor WILL be installed. Maybe not in your
lifetime but surely in the lifetime of the
house.
Sorry this got so long but it's kind of a
pet peeve of mine.

I?ve installed, removed, reinstalled a lot of different floors
through the years and I guess I would have to say the old
timers had it figured out. If it were mine I?d be leary of glueing.